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Giving a Nex Playground is already a win, but giving one that’s ready to play the moment it’s unwrapped? That’s next-level gifting. A little prep beforehand ensures your family (or the lucky recipient) can jump right into active play without waiting on updates or downloads.
Here’s your simple step-by-step guide to setting up Nex Playground - quietly, quickly, and without spoiling the surprise. The process is simple, truly an easy setup experience, but downloading the optional Play Pass game library can take 2-3 hours, depending on your WiFi connection. We suggest you do this after the kids have gone to sleep, or when they are still in school.
Open the box carefully so you can repack it later. Remove the Nex Playground device, remote, power cable, and HDMI cable. Keep all the packaging so we can repack it shortly! The paper wrapping around the Nex Playground console itself is difficult to reuse, so you may want to skip.
Plug Nex Playground into your TV HDMI port and power it on.
Follow the on-screen prompts to connect your device to your home Wi-Fi.
This ensures you can complete all updates and downloads in advance.
Once connected, go to Settings → System → Updates.
Run the update
Try a few of the five Starter Games to confirm everything runs smoothly. Experiencing lag? Enable Game Mode on your TV.
If you want access to our full game catalog, you can connect a Play Pass if you already have one, or purchase one within the system.
What is Play Pass?
Play Pass is our golden ticket to unlimited access to our entire game library, growing every month with new ways to jump, move, laugh, and learn together.
Connecting a new Play Pass does start your subscription period. If you don’t want to lose time with your subscription you may want to wait for this step until after you have gifted the Nex Playground but do keep in mind that the Playground will need 2-3 hours to download all the games.
Pros of connecting your Play Pass before gifting:
• You can test out the games
• Allow all games to download (see next section)
• Ability to hide games that you may not want your child playing
Cons of connecting your Play Pass before gifting:
• You will lose the time between connecting and using, this is a personal decision if having the system ready for your big day is worth the time you lose.
To activate or purchase a Play Pass:
Settings → Play Pass
Once you connect your optional Play Pass, the entire library of games (40+) will automatically download in the background, we recommend leaving the device powered on for 2–3 hours so everything installs smoothly. You don’t need to do anything - just let it work its magic.
Once all the games are downloaded, you can hide the games in settings if you don't want the kids to play/see certain games or coming soon tiles. Some parents want to pick age-appropriate games for their younger kids to avoid frustration, or limit the selections at first.
Once your updates and downloads are complete, carefully repack everything just as you found it.
Quick Tip:
If your Nex Playground will live on this TV, leave the HDMI cable plugged into the TV and tuck it neatly out of sight. That way, setup on gift-opening day takes less than a minute, and you don’t have to wrangle plugging in the cord to your TV again.
Place everything back in the box, add your gift wrap of choice, and you’re officially ready to deliver a “ready-to-play” experience!
Quick Tip:
Do you know where the Nex Playground will be used? Think about where it will be sitting, and the playing space needed to be ready for a quick transition to playing after the Nex Playground is unwrapped!
Our Insider Circle Community is the heart of Nex Playground, where thousands of families share tips, favorite games, room setups, and joyful wins. We’d love for you to hop in, say hello, and share your gift-day moments with us!
Yes, your Play Pass starts working the moment you activate it on your Nex Playground. If you connect your device now but wait to activate the Play Pass later (for example, on Christmas Day), you will lose the days between, but for some families, it is worth the peace of mind knowing the Playground is ready to use right away.
Absolutely! If your child is old enough to notice that the first-time tutorials are missing or there is progress in the games, we suggest a Factory Reset. Settings -> System -> Reset to Factory Settings. You will need to reconnect the Play Pass after a factory reset. Please take note of which email address you picked during setup - this is tied to your Play Pass moving forward.
Your Play Pass can be activated on 2 different Nex Playgrounds. You’ll need to remember the email used at Play Pass activation.
Do you have more technical questions? Visit our support page.
