Lego Bricktales review: The near-perfect video game representation of LEGO Ideas

lego blocks It’s the kind of game that rocked me as a kid. I’ve been obsessed with LEGOs from the moment I got my first set, but I still feel that LEGO video games often evade the freedom of expression and creativity that these amazing little bricks allow in the real world, on purpose or accidentally. When a game includes this angle, it’s usually gold, like many classic Lego games from the nineties. In Lego Bricktales, we finally have another game like this – and it’s pretty awesome.

Bricktales is a clever, casual, and challenging experience. It’s an understated genre mashup that combines puzzle-solving curios with elements of light-hearted adventure and exploration. LEGO Aesthetics isn’t an action game franchise…well, an aesthetic, and here’s the core of the experience: it’s a game about building.

Bricktales basically take place in small dioramas, many of which are based on classic Lego themes like pirates, castles and theme parks. Your protagonist travels across the world with a superpower: the ability to build. Your job is to move through each stage of the game by building items and structures that help solve puzzles and break new ground. Along the way, you’ll also gain some non-building abilities and solve some light traversal puzzles.

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The focus on brick building might not be all that surprising if you know the game’s development pedigree. Developer ClockStone is the studio responsible for the Bridge Constructor series, and honestly, it’s a genius fit for the LEGO world.

Building in Bricktales is the closest approximation to experimenting with real bricks that I’ve seen in a licensed LEGO video game, though it differs in one key way: it’s not entirely free as the story progresses. Instead, you will have clear goals: you may need to build a bridge, for example, to cross a gap and reach a new area. Given the Bridge Constructor connection, a bridge is a perfect example of what makes this experience so wonderful. It’s also one of the first things you’ll be challenged with – they come up repeatedly, in slightly different formats.

So, let’s say you need a bridge. The game will give you the appropriate choice of building blocks, but what you build is entirely up to you. There is no “right” answer to these puzzles – as far as a bridge is concerned, as long as it’s properly constructed – you have to test whether it will actually stand or collapse under pressure when it is crossed – it is considered a victory.

That’s what makes this feel like Lego. It’s also what makes the game accessible to everyone – even though some of its challenges are difficult. Your creation can be practical: ugly, simple, and a structural behemoth. The kind of thing that little kids put together out of loose bricks. Again, you can spend hours on a simple build, perfecting it. Your creations are dropped into these beautiful diorama worlds and left there, however – which motivates you to go back, edit and do things I never imagined in Bridge Constructor – to make it even better. Why is there a bridge that is just a heavily reinforced slab? Truss bridge or girder bridge? Can a cantilever in LEGO form be okay? Bricktales gleefully invites you to speculate.

I’m the kind of LEGO nerd (MOC, as we AFOL – adult fans of LEGO – nerds call it) who’s built a lot of habits, and this captures exactly how I feel when trying to create with real life bricks . When I look at my work, I am happy…but then I go back. I tinker. I adjust. The desire for aesthetic perfection in this blocky form is a constant companion – a feeling that is exhilarating when something clicks. Lego Bricktales has this energy. awesome.

Of course, you’re not just building bridges. In fact, you’ll be building all sorts of things – all of which have their own requirements that you have to meet in order to progress. For example, a helicopter needs to have the propeller in the correct position and be well balanced or it will tip over on takeoff. Sometimes you build vehicles, sometimes it’s a way to help those vehicles travel through the world. I could give more specific examples, but I don’t want to: Part of the fun of the game is finding out what you’re going to be asked to build next.

All of this is plagued by one key problem: cumbersome controls. I started playing Bricktales on the Steam Deck (which works great by the way), but I found it a little frustrating to build with a controller. I switched to PC, but the results were similar for the keyboard and mouse; a finicky camera, and the bricks didn’t plug in exactly where you wanted them easily enough. There are fine-grained controls there, so you always get the results you want, but sometimes things take too long to get where you want because the automatic snapping makes incorrect assumptions. This is especially true if you’re building in a slightly non-linear fashion; the game expects you to build from the bottom up, and anything else seems to confuse automatic snapping.

However, it’s a relatively minor thing, and the more I play with it over time, the more I’ve definitely gotten used to the slightly cumbersome controls. What’s more important is the game’s light-hearted energy and engaging challenges. Even with the controls on, it’s a blissful, relaxing experience, a fluffy game that’s perfect for a cold winter end.

Crucially, LEGO Bricktales are more of a licensed experimental LEGO game from the ’90s. After I announced that I missed those games, this game came so quickly, it felt like this game, I was meant to be. The fact that the title is so immersed in the energy and idea of ​​real-life plastic bricks also makes it the perfect tribute to LEGO’s 90th anniversary this year.

Lego bricks are a breath of fresh air and a huge surprise. It wasn’t the longest experience in the world – but I loved every minute of it and still felt compelled to go back and improve some builds I wasn’t quite happy with. Damn tricky controls – this is a low-key game for the contender of the year.

Disclaimer: Tested on PC, including on Steam. The publisher provided a copy of the game for review.