The perspectives of a 37-year-old and a 6-year-old – a joy for all ages
Lego Party is the latest release in Lego’s ever-expanding stable of titles that utilise the world-renowned blocks as a basis for chaotic gameplay. Bright, fast-paced and full of laughs, Party takes an even lighter-hearted approach to the genre birthed by Nintendo in the late 90s. It is hard to begin talking about Lego Party without referencing the Godfather of party games, Mario Party. Lego Party operates in a similar style – choose your character, navigate a game board against either AI or friends, try to score the most golden bricks (stars) to win, and play a host of mini-games littered between each round to assist progression. Despite having clear similarities, Lego Party manages to refine the concept and use its own strengths. This includes having such a wide range of options in constructing playable characters, piece by piece, and unlocking more sets along the way. I spent a dozen hours playing Lego Party with my six-year-old son (and a couple of sessions alone to test the ‘hard’ NPCs) and both of us enjoyed an experience that was always throwing surprises and new challenges at us. Sometimes we would gang up against the AI characters, other times we duked it out on each other, but every result felt earned. The rounds were more based on skill than luck, different from the Nintendo comparison, and the sessions never overstayed their welcome. If you are looking for the perfect couch game with family and friends, Lego Party has you sorted.
Lego has dabbled in nearly every family friendly franchise when it comes to games. Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jurassic Park – you name it. But as a brand, Lego has plenty of charm without needing the licensed IPs. Starting up Lego Party is proof, with the camera zooming around a gameshow set with hundreds of different brick-based characters. My son wanted to build his own character rather than use a randomly generated one, navigating to the mini-figure creator and soon being wowed by the many, many options available. This only expands further when finishing boards and unlocking more bricks, or buying (no micro-transactions, all carrots are earned) fully decked characters in crazy themes. His wolf-headed pirate and my assassin-kitted monstrosity were then ready to play the first board of four (the selections are pirate, space, theme park and Ninjago). We went for the pirate-themed, which stated an approximate playtime of 60 mins (they range from 60-75, but can take anywhere between 30 and 90) and the announcers commented on the arrival in their sarcastic presentation. Here we go!
Unlike Mario Party, Lego Party hosts its mini-games before a round to decide the order of rolls. While it took me a moment to calibrate to the change, this is actually a much better method that includes strategy rather than just playing through for currency (I once lost a mini-game on purpose so that I could go last, effectively meaning I could use my in-game items to better effect). Players vote on which mini-game to play out of the randomly generated three, or select random if none are pleasing. With 60+ mini-games, we generally just selected one we hadn’t played before. Party titles live and die by the entertainment value in mini-games. Of the games we played in our 12 hours (I believe we accessed 51 out of the 60+ on offer) most were a pleasure to play through. I was surprised at how much skill was needed in some, like athletics balancing race that needed precision for movement. Many of these did see my son finish last as the NPCs were quite competent, such as their success in the counting cars mini-game. One of the racing games required the use of a different button per wheel, and the bumper balls clone seemed to be more weighted than I remember in Mario Party. But then there were games such as hitting a flying dart board, fish collecting coins and selecting the right shaped bricks from a box that my son excelled in. The games move fast and finish faster, meaning practice is limited outside of the initial tutorial screen. Mini-games can’t be played outside of the boards, meaning every time you play a mini-game feels like the first time. This ensures good balance between human characters. While this may not be the best selection of mini-games I have ever played (that could be nostalgia talking) it definitely felt the most varied and energetic from both of our perspectives. My son’s words after every mini-game: can we play that one again?
The boards have all the staples – green means good, red means bad, other colours host a range of events and options. The themes of each board see different kit builds, characters and random interruptions to provide enough personality when finding a favourite. My son liked the theme park board best, full of colour and rides. I leaned towards the Ninjago board, which seemed a bit darker and action-focused. There are shops to buy buffs (such as changing all numbers on a roll to 8), NPCs to help you steal bricks and traps to set for other players. Each turn can see the leaderboard change drastically when trying to navigate a path to the golden brick holder, and being able to build theme-based kits such as pirate ships made sure that time on the boards wasn’t just waiting for the next mini-game. I do hope that they add more boards to the game over time, as replaying the boards over and over does make the novelty of the themes less absorbing. But as a starting point, all the right decisions were made.
Lego Party is a thrilling party game for all ages, demonstrated by play between generations. Children will find this game perfect in its length, humour and colour, while adults will reminisce with a smile on their face. Though this is not just a nostalgia hit – Lego Party has a strong number of mini-games, a heap of customisable options and most importantly a fantastic base for future additions. Time for another round.
To finish with the words of my son, noticing it’s now dark outside: just one more board, dad. I need to defeat the corn man.
Pros
- Countless options in character creation
- Fast, high-energy mini-games
- Options for all ages
Cons
- Longevity
- Mini-games can be difficult for younger ages
