Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch
Genre: No-pressure LEGO building simulator with themed worlds

Most LEGO games are co-op kid’s fare where you smash things or re-enact scenes from pop culture milestones from your Star Wars to Marvel movies. There are rarely a few that just focuses on what LEGO is: building things out of pre-existing blocks that stick together and have great foundation. LEGO Bricktales from developer Clockstone and publisher Thunderful is just that: this year’s entry where you build and solve puzzles involving the wonderful click-filled snap-laden tools of Denmark’s biggest export since Hans Christian Andersen’s stories and pork.

Laying Bricks, Having Fun

The premise of LEGO Bricktales is this: you’re helping your granddad build his amusement park and bring it back from inactivity. To do this, you have to travel to five different biomes with your flying robot companion to get special macguffins to power up the park. All problems in LEGO Bricktales can be solved by using your creative and building noodle.

Said puzzles range from building simple bridges that do not break upon applied weight, to building pyramids and making sure the top brick parts are filled up. Many of these tasks and quests have certain requirements, be it using certain pieces or building it to a certain height. The most fun puzzles involve building structures that need to trigger switches upon activation; these can stress your brain a tad, but not to maddening levels since this is an all-ages game and there’s no time limit. It’s just you, the LEGO bricks, the puzzle, and loads of time to kill.

In fact, the whole of LEGO Bricktales is relaxing. Yes, you have to rescue folks trapped in jungle ruins or solve a pyramid tomb puzzle or three, but the game’s humourous vibe and chuckle-worthy all-ages dialogue make the atmosphere and adventure all the more inviting. You get an assortment of powers like a ground pound or an x-ray vision globe thing to reveal and materialize invisible objects. And the building itself is pretty fun and intuitive. Sure, you may need to get used to the snapping options and turning the camera a lot and zooming in and out to get certain pieces in place, but the keyboard and mouse combo is easy enough for you to get to the construction.

And you don’t need to stop after you’ve solved the given puzzle; you can choose to revisit them to build them up with more pieces so that they look masterful and beautiful. While curmudgeons like me just blaze through the game, I feel that speeding through the game is missing the point of the build-a-thing gameplay on tap here. You are given a playground of sorts to experiment in the most low-key environment.

Snap Judgment

Having said all that, the controls can get a bit fiddly especially if you’re using a controller. The keyboard and mouse are not completely perfect, the auto-snap option makes wrong assumptions as you’re trying to place the bricks you want properly; a lot of camera-moving work is needed here. Protip: just build everything from the bottom up to make your life easier.

Despite that, LEGO Bricktales is still a fun time to be had. Whether it’s the soft-but-distinct “click” sound you hear when you’re piecing LEGO bricks together, or you spend way too much time with a puzzle you solved hours ago because you want to stack it up with more vertical bricks, you’ll have a ball with this relaxing building simulator. If you manage your expectations, you’ll find a lot to appreciate here; it’s definitely for the creative fun types.

Final Score: 70/100

Review copy provided by the publisher.