Play pattern

In the world of toy design, play pattern is fancy murky industry-speak for "how are kids supposed to use this toy?" You'll find it used a lot in the written description of patent applications. Any feature of a toy that is intended to be used in a particular, specific way is part of some play pattern.

Some sample play patterns:

• "Micro play" - used by Hasbro reps at BotCon 2002 to describe the play pattern of the tiny Mini-Con toys in Armada (and, by extension, their Micromaster predecessors.)
• Combination
• Conversion - toys that transform from robot to vehicle, of course. The fundamental play pattern that defines the Transformers brand.