There’s a new party game in town and Mario and his mates should be shaking in their boots. For too long Nintendo has had a grip on the board/minigame combo — why hasn’t anyone thought of taking them on sooner? LEGO Party is the classic Mario Party formula reimagined with a LEGO twist. Unlock and create Minifigures, move across a vibrant game board and compete in 60 unique minigames for glory.
SMG Studio are no strangers to excellent party games, the small Aussie team is behind the hit series Moving Out and Death Squared. Having this experience under their belts, they’re more than qualified to play with the LEGO and create a Mario Party rival.
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After spending the past week jumping across platforms, battling it out on pirate ships, swinging through caverns and operating LEGO cranes, I couldn’t be more impressed. LEGO Party clicks into place perfectly — a new party favourite in my household.
Getting The Party Started
Like Mario Party, the game is set across a large board and players “roll” to move ahead. Though they’re not rolling, they’re stopping the counter on a specific number — there’s also roll power ups like Slow Roll. Instead of Gold Stars, there’s Golden Bricks — and you’re not collecting coins, you’re collecting studs.
These minigames are accessible for all ages, my mum even had a go against the kids and held her own. The games generally don’t require too many buttons, with a variety of different game types and challenges. The whole premise is simple, familiar and a whole lot of fun.
Ten Pin Rolling sees your Lego character balance atop a bowling ball and weave through a track knocking down pins. This was tough, but after the kids had a couple of practice goes in the pre-game screen they both made it to the end.
Yes, the pre-game tutorial sequences have made their way to LEGO Party too, allowing players to get a feel for the game before taking it on for real.
The board evolves as you play, with hazard and bonus spaces escalating their actions. You can also visit a “Build Space” to create a new area for players to visit — like a pirate cove that allows players to steal coins.
My favourite board is Space, with teleporters taking you to different stations across the map. Players will be visited by a Cat Space Station and have a major showdown with a giant alien.
Bonus Bricks
While Mario Party hands out bonus stars at the end of a game for a variety of reasons — player with the most coins or lowest dice rolls — in LEGO Party, the final results from the board is what stays.
After each game there’s a trophy ceremony and the winner is officially announced, though most players will already know the winner by that point.
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Throughout the series, Mario Party has inconsistently included a setting to turn off bonus stars in games, though I see them as nothing more than competition disrupters and booby prizes.
A World Of Creativity
The commentator voice overs are genuinely funny. LEGO has long had an excellent sense of humour, and that stays true for LEGO Party.
The developers say everything in the game can be built in real life from the boards to the bosses — it’s very impressive. Loading screens, while very short on the PS5, also highlight little facts about the development of the game.
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For a new game, there’s not a whole lot of licensed content at hand. LEGO Ninjago is the driving force here, as well as classic LEGO sets like Pirates and Space. I guess LEGO is waiting to see how this one stacks up before handing over the big guns.
On the PlayStation 5, the main game runs uninterrupted. Though there’s an occasional stutter while navigating menus — nothing game breaking.
We’ve spent half the school holidays playing this game, with the kids extra determined to unlock all the “pretty” LEGO characters. We now have a full squad of glammed up Minifigs. The devs say there’s “gazillions of customization options”, and I can’t confirm due to lack of time on earth to count them.
You unlock these Minifigs by completing boards, earning experience points and gaining carrots. Carrots are the in-game currency, though thankfully what you see is what you get — there’s no microtransactions here.
Should you buy LEGO Party?
LEGO Party has refined the formula and created the ultimate holiday hit. Parents, if you’re looking for something to keep the kids busy this school holidays — LEGO Party is for you. Non-parents and party game-enthusiasts, add this one to your next game night. There’s also online play available.
I look forward to seeing what else they can do with this game in the future. LEGO has a huge range of IP and if we could get Star Wars and Disney themed LEGO characters and boards… The possibilities are endless.
Quest Daily scores LEGO Party:
8.5/10
LEGO Party is out now on PlayStation, Xbox, PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch and retails for around $40 — an absolute steal.
The writer was supplied with a review copy of LEGO Party for the purpose of this article.
