A Board Game Bash with Brick-Sized Chaos
A few weeks ago I had the privilege of reviewing LEGO Voyagers, a co-op journey returning you to the innocent charm of youth. Recently, I again had the privilege to play a co-op LEGO game – LEGO Party!, which, despite the drastic change in gameplay and narrative, shows LEGO titles are back in full force, yet still only stepping stones for bigger things.
It sees us introduced to the board game come-to-life world commentated by Paige Turner and Ted Talker (yes if you couldn’t tell LEGO Party! gracefully leans into its stupidity). They both combine for a cacophony of self-deprecation yet strange charm constantly belittling us players. We’re asked to choose a game-mode, map or mini-games, depending on your answer to the former question, and finally a mini figure to unleash your imagination.
Board Mechanics and Currency
As I suspect many will, I opted for the classic party game style of challenge zone, choosing the first map of pirates, and of course adorned in my yeti mini figure.
Off the bat, you’re dropped into the mode with very brief explanations of the rules, so I feel obliged to provide them here. Much like its predecessors in the genre – most of all Mario Party – there are two main currencies, gold LEGO bricks and LEGO studs, with the former always outweighing the latter in terms of value. You can acquire them through mini games (also used to decide the order of each round) along with interactions with the map such as spaces to give or remove LEGO studs. At its core, every challenge zone game will be decided upon who has the most gold bricks and studs, so it’s crucial to understand these core mechanics. It’s very clear to see the influence (if we’re being polite about it) from previous incarnations of the party game formula, but how does LEGO Party! allow itself to branch off?
Building Blocks of Mayhem
The gameplay extends far beyond just mini games, and each map feels like it is living and breathing with the drastic range of encounters and challenges to face. The first you’ll most likely stumble across are traps, they vary between maps, but the main premise is always the same – to ruin the other players experience. In the pirate map, this comes in the form of a crab you can land on, ultimately taking a player’s golden brick if unfortunate enough to stumble past. With each map having a design tailored to the environment, it’s the first of many additions that give LEGO Party! a distinct personality.
To take this personality further, arguably the most recognisable aspect of LEGO is introduced… building. As you journey through the spaces on each board, you’ll encounter building spaces in which you must choose between two distinct blueprints. For example, two different pirate ships, in which each build will affect the game in different ways, such as a cannon that will attack players and take their currency.
This feature creates dynamic boards and dynamic map events, each working in harmony to make them feel like living areas rather than a board game. To add to these dynamic boards to a greater extent, event spaces are introduced ranging from a volcano explosion to space shenanigans, overall creating a true LEGO Party! (see what I did there).
Game-Altering Mechanics
Finally, we have the dynamic map, yet also high stakes, game altering mechanics. First of these are chance tiles, which up the ante the further into the game you are, always providing a chance for mayhem or rewards, be it getting a golden brick, or stealing someone else’s. The thief mechanic acts largely the same; freely take someone else’s studs, or pay to steal their golden brick.
Last of all, escalation time occurs as you progress, granting more effective spaces, whether that be to lose or gain more studs. I’m sure you get the gist. Each and every unique mechanic takes precedence over LEGO Party! leaving a title that’s somewhat derivative, yet manages to create an outline of a personality.
Mini-Games: The Glue That Holds It Together
It’s probably time I should now speak about the glue that holds all these varying mechanics together. That comes in the form of mini games.
I’ll give it to LEGO Party!, mini games are an absolute blast; there’s around sixty, with recurring gameplay motifs such as learning how to use the rockets or grapples that appear in many of them. It’s made sure a diverse range are present too: trivia questions, grappling through caves, remembering games, and so many more to keep gameplay refreshing.
To add further diversity, 2v2 mini games show up, pitting two teams of randomly selected players together, the reward? A golden brick. Higher stakes, higher rewards, higher intensity. Despite again being largely derivative – much like the overall gameplay – the mini games are such perfectly presented party pleasantries that it makes no difference. Original or not, LEGO Party! is a ton of fun.
Map design is no slouch either. Out of the four maps, all of them contain diverging, intentionally thought out paths to reward bravery, intelligence and tactics. Not to say there’s not a huge factor of luck (it is a party game after all) however, map design heavily leans into rewarding player intelligence through mechanics such as traps, ships and power-ups. They all feel distinct, large in personality, and most of all, fun to play on.
Throw into the metaphorical boiling pot around three-hundred mini figures and various game modes to specifically focus on mini games, and it’s easy to see LEGO Party! can be taken seriously against other party games.
A Derivative Delight in a Box
LEGO Party! is certainly enjoyable, there’s no denying that; the huge range of mini games and mini figures encourage customisation, contrasted by the larger than life personality the title oozes. Sadly, the clear derivative gameplay hardly creates anything original, and that means LEGO Party! is left to lean heavily on its predecessors.
Important Links
Everything is Awesome – The Chaotic LEGO Party! is OUT NOW – https://www.thexboxhub.com/everything-is-awesome-the-chaotic-lego-party-is-out-now/
Buy LEGO Party! on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/lego-party/9phh78zgbf96
