LEGO Party! - Switch Review

SMG Studio is taking on the titan of the party game genre with LEGO Party! their cross-play party game that’s filled to the brim with LEGO game humour, minigames, and minifigs to collect. The Sydney-based developers have staked their ground and provided a fun experience to play with friends and family, while embracing the chaotic nature that comes with LEGO games. Come collect your countless studs, get yourself some golden bricks and build your way to victory over everyone else.

The Good

So let's get the obvious comparison out of the way first, LEGO Party! Immediately calls to mind the Mario Party franchise, and it’s able to stand up as valid competition. My favourite alternative take on the genre is the switch around where you start a turn with the minigame, and where you place decides the turn order of going around the board. This adds a whole other layer of strategy in minigames where you could sacrifice studs to go later in a turn and make an impact, or go first and steal the golden brick before someone else who is right in front of it.

One of the coolest features of LEGO Party! is the build sections of maps where the first player to the space gets to decide between two options to expand on the level. Generally they’ll boil down to ways to gain a golden brick, steal one from an opponent, or make first place lose some golden bricks. It can be as easy as landing on a certain space, making a detour from the main path with a guaranteed result at the end, or passing a selection of micro games.

One thing you have to get right with party games is the mini-games, and the selection here are for the most part pretty fun. There are some that are definitely inspired by other minigames across the genre, with the one I noticed the most being one where you have to defend your goal from an ever-increasing amount of balls being added to the field, which is just like Crash Bash’s Ballistix. The minigames do embrace their LEGO nature, with one where you have to stack plate pieces, with any overhang disappearing, giving you a smaller space to stack the tower.

Being based on LEGO, there is an absolute plethora of customisation options for players to choose from aside from the aforementioned build sections on the map. You get to choose from a wide array of minifigs as your avatar, with themed minifigs for each world to unlock and a huge selection to purchase with in-game currency on top of the starting options. Then you can also mix and match ANY piece from your unlocked minifigs.

TL;DR

• Fun alternative
• Exciting minigames
• Lots of customisation

The Bad

LEGO Party! has a massive chance aspect that is a lot more of the deciding factor behind who wins the game than any skill. There was a game where the build section of a level was one where the leading player loses golden bricks, and they’re placed on the map randomly. I went from a comfortable lead to last in the span of two turns, and it was so frustrating. Also the chance time spaces overtake the shops on the final turn, which lead to even more ridiculous final moment swings to end the game. Which is exacerbated by no bonus bricks being handed out at the end, so you know who wins when that final turn wraps up.

Aside from the main party mode and playing minigames, there is just nothing you can do, which is more noticeable when you play single player. It just feels like there’s nothing to do outside of the main game mode, especially once you’ve unlocked all the minifig options to use. There is a great framework here; there just need to be more LEGO bricks added to the build to add more details and bring it to life.

TL;DR

• More down to chance
• Not much to do

Final Score: 8/10

A genuinely strong competitor in the party game genre, LEGO Party! has made a splash for players to cause chaos together. While there are a few things that could be worked on, like more content and slightly turning down the chance aspects, there was a fun night spent collecting golden bricks and building on the worlds. Grab some friends and family, customise your minifig, and strap in because you’ll end the night with a smile on your face.

Thank you for checking out our LEGO Party! Switch review, thank you to Fictions (via Five Star Games) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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