Review: Plus-Plus Isoscapes Cabin

Today, I’m sharing my review of the Plus-Plus Isoscapes Cabin creative building set.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary set for review from Timberdoodle. All views expressed are my own.

Plus-Plus Isoscapes

What in the world is an isoscape? According to Wikipedia:

• “An isoscape is a geological map of isotope distribution. It is a spatially explicit prediction of elemental isotope ratios that is produced by executing process-level models of elemental isotope fractionation or distribution in a geographic information system.”

Uh-huh. Okay. Got it.

Actually, I have no idea what that means.

However, the Plus-Plus Isoscapes series seems to include three-dimensional landscapes—”geological maps,” you might say—such as an A-frame cabin situated in the mountain wilderness, a sailboat on the ocean waves, or a city skyline.

Do you know about Plus-Plus? It’s a building set with identical pieces, each in the shape of two plusses ++ smooshed together. Six “tabs” and two “slots” on each piece allow for fitting them together in endless configurations. The pieces are slightly rubbery (softer than LEGO) and come in various colors, depending on the set. They fit together tightly but aren’t too hard to pull apart.

What’s Included

The Plus-Plus Isoscapes Cabin set includes the pieces needed to build a mountain cabin scene, complete with evergreen trees, a campfire, and a stream with a waterfall.

• a sturdy wooden BOKS (that’s Danish for “box”!) to hold your Plus-Plus and serve as a display platform once the build is complete
• a green baseplate that fits onto the box as a lid
• Plus-Plus pieces (Gray, Brown, Yellow, Pastel Blue, Neon Orange, Transparent, Tan, Forest, Smoke, Apple, Camel, Avocado, Copper) of the quantity needed to construct the scene
• An instruction card with a QR code that takes you to the building instructions online

How to Build

The online instructions guide you through the building process step-by-step, showing where to place each piece and how to connect them. Some lie flat, some stand up horizontally, others vertically, and a few even lean. It definitely helps to have the base plate as your foundation.

Following the directions does require careful attention to detail, but I also found that the process was somewhat forgiving. If I put a piece on “wrong” and didn’t discover it until a few steps later, it was usually okay to just continue and work around the mistake. “Happy little accidents,” as Bob Ross would say.

That being said, I did seem to run short on a couple of the colors. I don’t know if that’s because I put some in the wrong place, or if I dropped a piece and lost it without realizing it, or if the set was actually missing some pieces. I guess I could go back and count the pieces to see if they match up with what the “what’s included” list says, but I’m not going to do that.

My Thoughts

I love the versatility of Plus-Plus building sets and how they engage both convergent and divergent processing. I enjoyed building in my lap (while listening to the TV with Lyle) over several evenings. It would make a great fidget for read-aloud time or audiobooks.

I would have preferred a printed instruction booklet rather than the online instructions. I had to access it with my phone, and the screen was really too small to be practical. I would recommend a tablet instead. Also, there didn’t seem to be a way to bookmark my place. I had to start at the beginning and scroll past all the steps I’d already done every time I was ready to continue. That was definitely not convenient.

Overall, though, I highly recommend the Plus-Plus Isoscapes Cabin set. It is well-made and fun to work with. And the end result makes an interesting conversation piece to display on your desk.

Other Plus-Plus Isoscapes

Mountain Cabin not your thing? Timberdoodle also carries the Maritime Sailboat and Metropolis sets.