LEGO Bricktales Reviews

A satisfying, imperfect new step forward for LEGO games.

Lego Bricktales is a relaxing and entertaining way to spend your time that does manage to recreate that tranquil vibe of building something, anything, out of Lego. It has its appeal and that's not weighed down too heavily by the lackluster exploratory parts, but with a little more attention it could've really explored what it means to play with Lego bricks creatively.

If you enjoy building things with LEGO then Bricktales is here to offer a unique and entertaining experience with plenty of clever puzzles.

Developer ClockStone gave this a good effort, but there wasn't enough in LEGO Bricktales to keep me feeling interested. Even the story, which is typically a franchise strong suit felt underwhelming with half-hearted humor and nothing really memorable. That's not to say there isn't a foundation for something better in the future. The concept of using LEGO building to progress and doing it in your own way is a strong one, but without better tools, like blueprints and the like, the novelty wears off quickly. For now, LEGO Bricktales is a fun curiosity and little more than that.

Unfortunately, Lego Bricktales crashed on me a good few times. Sometimes this would reset my progress to before the most recent build, which could be anywhere from 5-30 minutes of time. Hopefully, this is easy to patch, as it puts a real damper on the whole thing. Once in a while, there’ll be a strangely stringent build that can be a bit of a roadblock, but this is a rare occurrence. I also wish you could run somehow. Perhaps I missed it, but I tried every button to move a bit faster through the overworld and was unable to.

LEGO Bricktales is a fresh and clever twist on the puzzle genre, even if the controls could be more intuitive.

Lego Bricktales returns the IP to its block-placing origins with fun puzzles that can certainly challenge the mind. While it doesn't allow you to do whatever you want, the satisfaction that comes with problem-solving each puzzle is quite notable.

Since solving Lego-based puzzles is at the forefront, Bricktales doesn't feel like it's aimed directly at the younger crowd; the sometimes difficult-to-solve conundrums might turn kids off. There is plenty for them to get into, like collecting in-game items or the Lego player customization. The physics-based puzzles to solve were excellent; some were easy, and others were a challenge, but all were rewarding. Even with the challenge, Lego Bricktales is the closest I've come to feeling like I was playing with physical Lego bricks. Playing Lego Bricktales is not the same as sitting on your bedroom floor and letting your imagination run wild, but it's close.

So LEGO: Brick Tales then – a bright, colourful and certainly more creative take on LEGO in its digital form. While there’s some fiddly controls at times, it’s all quite charming and relaxing – and as the rest of the package is so wonderfully put together, it’s hard to gripe too much about a fussy control scheme. Besides, back in my day, I never used a manual to build my spaceship, and had to spend quite some time searching for just the right brick to make the whole thing work. Either way, it was a great dose of nostalgia.

A soothing and enjoyable adventure with a smattering of smart LEGO-building puzzles and a dose of metroidvania exploration, LEGO Bricktales is a polished and fun way to while away a few quiet evenings.

Lego Bricktales is a wonderful adventure that's full of the charms of playing with the iconic construction toy in real life. It's a gorgeous digital rendition with all its exquisitely crafted dioramas a delight to behold, and with puzzles that lean on Lego's greatest strengths. Just beware that the Switch version is hampered by intrusive performance issues in places.

Building things out of LEGO is amazing fun. In theory, a game about this timeless activity would totally rule, right? It does! Sort of. You see, putting the pieces together just right requires patience and precision. It also requires an instruction manual. I had about half of one of these three things during my playthrough. For the right audience, LEGO Bricktales will be a smash hit. For everyone else, some caveats need to be laid out.

Lego Bricktales carries the energy of the finest and most experimental Lego video games of the 90s – and it’s a wonderful low-key game of the year contender.

Once finished with the LEGO Bricktales tutorial area, Grandpa reveals his old amusement park and a portal that will whisk the player to one of the five differently-themed biomes. This is where the game really begins to open up as each biome is beautifully constructed and contains multiple LEGO puzzles and possible builds for the player to engage with. The restrictions placed on the number of bricks given for each puzzle really force the player to use critical thinking when building toward the required task. The easy-to-use interface, alongside the excellent brick-snapping sound design, makes for an enjoyable experience for every new puzzle.

Despite being a bit rough around the edges, it is a daring and welcoming venture into the puzzle genre of the LEGO universe.

LEGO Bricktales is exactly the kind of game you would expect as both a work of Thunderful Games and a product of the LEGO brand. Seeing your creations come to life, even visually sickening ones, is a rewarding experience and a must-play for LEGO enthusiasts.

What’s better than building your own LEGO structures? Not having to clean up after yourself when you are done playing. Lucky for you—LEGO Bricktales lets you do just that.