LEGO Builder’s Journey

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

LEGO Builder’s Journey is a character-based Puzzle game released on mobile devices in 2019 and then ported to PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2021. This game is played almost in abstract, which has you moving a figure shaped like a child (not a “minifig”, to be clear, but a few LEGO pieces stuck together representing a child) to meet up with a figure shaped like an adult, using LEGO pieces to bridge the gap across uneven and treacherous terrain.

Builder’s Journey is a far cry from the usual LEGO games, and plays nothing like Traveller’s Tales’ games, and may be seen as something of a palate cleanser for those who grew weary of the franchise, particularly after its latest disastrous release of The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame. In contrast, Builder’s Journey is almost zen-like, offering a much more quiet and thoughtful experience.

This tone is partly set by the game’s soft, relaxed music, a sound broken only by the clacking of the LEGO pieces themselves. This plays against the game’s 3D visuals depicting a square of LEGO pieces in an empty void, which still manages to look good in an understated way due to some nice atmospheric and lighting effects and small animations.

The gameplay here has players using the D-Pad or analog stick and a single button to select a piece, rotate it, and place it by holding down the button. Alternately, players who are playing the game in handheld mode can opt to use the touchscreen instead. Both control methods work well enough, but aren’t perfect. In particular, selecting a piece can be frustrating as the way the highlight showing which piece you’re selecting doesn’t always seem to move where you want it. Thankfully, the gameplay here is rarely time-sensitive… though sometimes it is.

When it comes to that gameplay, the main idea here is that yellow pieces are used to designate where your character will jump, but you can’t jump too far, too high, or too far down. As such, you need to place other LEGO pieces to form bridges, stairs, or walkways to give you a path to place the yellow pieces on so you can progress. There are other elements here too, which make for some nice little surprises. And the game also includes a creative mode, for those who want to craft their own little dioramas (though they can’t create playable levels, unfortunately). The game is only a few hours long, though for only $20, it’s a decent bite-sized videogame that’s enjoyable while it lasts.

Overall, I found LEGO Builder’s Journey to be a delight, a wonderfully contemplative game with a quiet, thoughtful tone that reminds us that there are other great ways to interpret the LEGO toys in videogame form other than the usual Traveller’s Tales formula.

tl;dr – LEGO Builder’s Journey is a character-based Puzzle game that differs from the usual LEGO videogame, instead presenting a thoughtful, almost zen-like experience. It’s a short game, and the controls have some issues, but overall this is a wonderfully unique take on these popular toys that’s well worth a look for Puzzle fans.

Grade: B

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