Robotic Creatures — eight legs, a hundred, or wings

How this shelf runs

A creature has to survive the moment it is noticed. That means the legs carry the body instead of dragging it, the silicone skin takes a knock from a door frame, and the motor still pulls after an hour of being chased by a dog. We run every creature until the cell is flat before it gets a box.

All four charge over USB and come back for more. The IR remotes share a channel trick: hand a second remote to a friend and two spiders can be driven independently, or lock them together and send the whole pack down the hallway at once. That is the part people keep doing until bedtime.

How kids play with these HEX BOTS robot toys

This shelf holds the big chassis: two remote control robot spiders, a dragon and the Explodapede centipede. Every one is rechargeable, every one brings its own remote, and the movement is what kids notice first — eight legs walking in sequence, a hundred segments rippling over a hard floor, wings and lights on the dragon.

None of these HEX BOTS robot toys pretend to be educational. There is no kit to assemble and no lesson at the end; the fun is in making something crawl at an unsuspecting sibling, and children stay engaged for as long as the charge lasts. Friends take turns on the remote, the actions are forward, reverse and spin, and the design is built to survive carpet.

Control is steady enough to drive around furniture, and nothing on this shelf climbs — for walls and ceilings you want the gecko on the wall crawlers shelf, where climbing is the point. Age on these boxes starts at six years. The first experience most kids have is losing a bot under the sofa; after that the play settles into chases and ambushes down the hallway.

• Wall Crawlers
• Nano Bots
• Nano Playsets
• Pick your crawler
• Charge & care