It goes without saying that Lego bricks have been linked to creativity and design for a long time. But it’s been a long time since there was a Lego videogame that really took advantage of letting players use their engineering and artistic skills in a free form way. So, Lego Bricktales is a pretty unique game in the vast sea of Lego games.
Lego Bricktales Review – Build & Play Brick Better
The point of this game is to use your mind to solve puzzles. As you explore different Lego-filled biomes, you’ll face different challenges that will make you put on your plastic thinking cap. I think my cap has melted a little bit because I’ve been thinking too much.
Mold your mind
Lego Bricktales threw me for a loop as soon as I got to the first real puzzle in its Story mode. I probably spent about an hour and a half trying to figure out how to put together a simple staircase. I finally figured out the code after a lot of trial and error, frustration, tears, pain, and coffee. My brain must be as hard as the minifigures themselves.
In some ways, Bricktales makes it pretty clear what you need to do. But for most problems, it just lets you figure out how to solve them on your own. So, even if you and a friend are working on the same puzzle, your designs may be very different.
After having so much trouble with the first challenge, I realized that I was overthinking the whole thing, which is something I do a lot in life. But around here, sometimes a little goes a long way.
Each puzzle gives you a certain number of Lego bricks that you need to use to make the design. Your job is to snap, turn, and balance the bricks to make a structure that doesn’t fall apart.
Since Thunderful made the Bridge Constructor series, which has similar building-based puzzles, it’s not surprising that physics also plays a role in Lego Bricktales. Also, you don’t have to use every available piece to finish the challenge. The key is to be efficient.
Snapping into place
As you move through the Story, you’ll keep running into problems that can only be solved by making the right design. Before you can move on, you have to make sure that your design is rigid. Using the design, a robot will try to simulate your character. If it succeeds, your blocks will be added to the level, letting you continue with the Story.
One trick I had to learn quickly was to test my design all the time as I built it to make sure it would work. So, I had to keep taking my build apart and putting it back together again and again.
There will be times when you want to give up, especially if you are building something. It’s just part of the job, and I definitely felt like giving up many times. In fact, I have done that more than once. I would just stop what I was doing for a while and come back to it after a while.
Most puzzles can be solved by looking at them again with fresh eyes. Since you get to choose the design, though, it can be a bit more time-consuming than trying to put specific pieces in predetermined places.
I would have liked a system of hints that could be turned on or off, or that would show up after a few minutes or restarts. There are small hints that tell you things like how high a step can go or how wide a path needs to be.
Even though these smaller clues are helpful, you’re still pretty much on your own when it comes to finding a solution. This can be hard for younger players or people who have trouble solving problems. Still, the whole point of Lego Bricktales is to solve problems, so this isn’t really a flaw. Still, it would be nice if the hints were more helpful.
Change it, Twist it, Make it
No matter how long it takes to solve a Lego Bricktales puzzle—five minutes or fifty—you’ll feel very good about yourself when you’re done. The building mechanics are pretty easy to understand, and you can even make tiny changes to how each piece is placed.
Even though it can be hard to tell where a piece can or can’t go, you can zoom in and move the camera to get a better look. Even though the camera isn’t perfect, it does the job. There are also indicators that show how many of the individual snapping points can be used and if a brick is out of bounds.
The only real problem is that you can only stack bricks horizontally, so you can’t flip one over and put it vertically. This seems more like a design choice than a restriction, but it does make the game harder.
Even though the game fully supports controllers, I still liked using the keyboard and mouse because it felt more natural. It can also work with devices that have touch screens. I think that option is still better than using a controller just because it is more precise.
Plastic pleasantries
Like Kerbal Space Program, Lego Bricktales is a building game, but it doesn’t let you do whatever you want. Instead, it gives you a lot of tools and challenges to really work your mind. Its hands-off approach to solving problems might scare off some players but completing the different challenges does give a good feeling of accomplishment. How long you can play the game will depend on how patient and creative you are.
Its depth of quality is also shown by the way it looks and sounds. The worlds in Lego Bricktales are beautifully made out of bright plastic pieces and are full of personality. It’s finished off with nice lighting and shading effects, making it a well-rounded package.
Bricktales is very different from the large-scale action-adventure Lego games we’ve been playing for the past few years. Still, it’s a refreshingly different way to use the IP that fits in quite well.
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