The LEGO brand is no stranger to the video game world. LEGO games have topped lists over the years, with multiple adaptations of IPs and even some originals. Now, LEGO is back with LEGO Party! from SMG Studio and published by Fictions. LEGO Party is a four-player party game in which players compete against each other within the expansive world made entirely of LEGO.
At Summer Game Fest, we got to go hands-on with LEGO Party and play one game with six rounds. We tried out the Challenge Zone called Kraken Up, which is based on the LEGO Pirates and has a giant Kraken hanging out in the middle of the map, ready to sling you around if you land on specific spaces.
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LEGO Party is relatively simple. Like other board-based party games, players have a singular goal: to be the player who ends the game with the most Golden Bricks. Players take turns making their way around Challenge Zones before battling it out in various minigames as teams of two or individuals. Players can gain Golden Bricks in a variety of ways, such as buying one that is placed on the Challenge Zone or stealing one from another player via a board trap.
SMG Studio makes sure that LEGO Party! has its own unique flair.
This may seem familiar to fans of the party game genre. In many ways, LEGO Party functions like the popular Mario Party franchise. While I’m sure there will be plenty of comparisons between the two, LEGO Party still has plenty of uniqueness that will set it apart from the other popular franchises.
The first distinction is that it takes place within the LEGO universe, so players will get to set up plenty of their favorite LEGO sets, building on the board as they go. This includes the already mentioned LEGO Pirates, LEGO Space, and LEGO NINJAGO, to name a few. Every Challenge Zone is made entirely of LEGOs. That means it can be built in real life if it’s built in the game. It engages with this by allowing players to build specific sets as they move around the board.
The most noticeable difference, and actually something I really enjoyed about playing the game, was that the winner of the minigame got to roll first each round. As your position changed after the minigame, so did when you got to roll, making the turn order very dependent on how well each player performed in the minigames.
Additionally, while you can get Golden Bricks by just finding them on Challenge Zone Spaces, LEGO Party also has a battle challenge tile. This tile is where players battle in a 2v2 minigame where teams are chosen randomly. The winning team of the battle challenge will each receive a Golden Brick, which can be a wildcard as your turns continue.
LEGO Party! keeps changing things up, making it engaging from the first turn to the last.
One of the things I really enjoyed about the game was that as players got closer to the final round, the stakes got higher. Instead of changing everything up just on the last round, there were more and more random chests, increases to how much landing on studs was worth, and even increased rewards from winning the minigames. In just our six-round session, everything had doubled, making even the final round tense no matter the lead a player held.
As the order changes, the announcers calling your game get funnier (or humously meaner) as you rise or fall in the ranks. With personalities that stand out, the color commentary of your choices, movements, and wins (or losses) makes LEGO Party engaging. If you’re not talking with your friends, don’t worry, the announcers will keep you laughing.
Finally, if you’re looking to play with people beyond couch co-op, LEGO Party is not only multiplatform but also supports cross-platform play. This makes the party game for everyone, as being able to play with friends across various platforms should make matchmaking way easier. While multiplatform is important, one could argue that in 2025, crossplay is a must if you are developing a multiplayer game. SMG Studio ensuring that it will be included at launch is a huge win right out of the gate for LEGO Party.
We could only see a limited amount of LEGO Party since we only played nine minigames and the one Challenge Zone, but from that single session, we came away ready to battle some more. LEGO Party! is easy to start, fun to keep playing, and with great announcers, something I don’t think anyone will tire of.
LEGO Party! is set to release sometime in 2025 with no set official date on PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
