One of the most impressive party games to whip out this year is, surprisingly, LEGO Party. If you’ve ever played Mario Party, you’ll be familiar with its general shape and form. Just swap out all the minigames, replace the toads and Italian plumbers with LEGO figurines, and add a dash of surprise from developer SMG Studio.
LEGO Party has a soft spot in my heart in this review-heavy year full of hits, where I spent dozens of hours solving puzzles in Blue Prince and wading through the ethereal waters of Lumiere in Expedition 33. It’s a great palate cleanser, and a good party icebreaker when most of my friends are late and a couple of guests are just waiting around. But most of all, LEGO Party captured my attention at June’s Summer Game Fest showcase because, even as a total Mario Party newbie, I was handily able to beat my fellow journalists. While that was great for my ego, what it really signaled to me was that the game is accessible, and good for enlisting friends who only casually dip their toes into video games.
“We had a great time with our minigames, it’s a studio passion and many of these could be games in their own right,” says SMG Studio game director Mark Fennell.
Curious to learn more, I chatted with Fennell about the main inspirations behind LEGO Party and its varied minigames, like DJing by swinging on a grappling hook and a LEGO-shaped variation on Dance Dance Revolution, whether the game has done enough to stand out in a saturated year of releases, and tips for taking home the trophy.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
LEGO Party adds a brick-based twist to the Mario Party formula.
SMG Studio
What were your primary inspirations for LEGO Party? Can you share a story about how one of the more unique minigames came to be?
Fennell: As a game studio, one of the most fun things we do is come up with new ideas and mechanics for players to enjoy. We’ve got a long history of Flash games for those who remember Flash, and also mobile games in the hyper-casual space.
The party game genre is a really fun way to wrap these minigames into a fun overall experience, and it’s a great way to keep a minigame mechanic super engaging, as you only get it for a short and satisfying time. So, being able to combine our love of mechanics with the creative potential of LEGO has really been a dream project for us.
Mario Party has dominated the party game genre for decades. Where do you see LEGO Party fitting into that landscape, and what does it do differently to challenge the status quo?
With LEGO Party, our goal is to bring something new to the genre, while also keeping the hallmarks of what makes a party game great.
We have build spaces that tap into LEGO as well, but allow our Challenge Zones (how we refer to our maps/board) to be changed each time you play, changing up the spaces and events that players can experience. We had a great time with our minigames; it’s a studio passion, and many of these could be games in their own right.
We’ve mixed up how players take turns, adding more weight to minigames, each minigame player positions determines the turn order on the next turn. This adds a lot of fun tension and drama. The balance is finely tuned, so an early lead can easily be changed in the final rounds. And to top it off, we’ve layered it in copious humor from our hosts (it’s set in a game show). With over 13,000 lines of voice-over, to visual gags, and hilarious events, it is sure to bring a laugh.
LEGO Party is full of ridiculous mini-games.
SMG Studio
Now that the game is out, has its reception and performance lived up to your team’s expectations? It feels like a bit of a hidden gem for those who have played it.
The reception has been great, we’ve been loving the reviews. An absolute highlight has been the pickup by streamers, and we’ve lost countless hours watching and laughing at how people are playing it together. It’s great content for streamers, as they have their own friendships and rivalries, which this game plays into perfectly.
The LEGO brand attracts a wide audience. Are you expecting players from games like LEGO Fortnite or the classic LEGO Batman series to jump on this, or is this designed for a new type of LEGO fan?
This is a game for everyone! From “I don’t play games” parents and their kids, to crews of hardcore game streamers, it’s got a huge audience range. I think this game will appeal to all types of players, but like all party games, it’s always better with friends.
“This is a game for everyone! From “I don’t play games” parents and their kids, to crews of hardcore game streamers.”
I had a blast with the grappling hook in the DJ minigame. Could you talk about the process of designing these tools to make them both fun and skillful?
The general process for any of our minigames was to come up with a mechanic. These would then be prototyped, we would internally iterate to get the feeling right, and then we would validate on a wider playtesting audience.
After the feeling was nailed, we then came in with a visual concept to find appropriate and fun ways for the games to look. The crazier the better, and the amazing thing about LEGO is that no matter what ideas we came up with, it just looks great when built with bricks!
There’s an option to customize your character in full LEGO fashion.
SMG Studio
During my demo, the guide took pity on me and taught me to use a buff called the Slow Roller. What are some of your favorite mechanics or advanced strategies you hope players discover?
One of the things I really like about this game is the potential strategies in the [maps]. We call them Challenge Zones, as that sounds way cooler when our game show hosts talk about them.
When we built and playtested these, and we have thousands of hours playing these, we would play them without minigames. As such, our goal was to make these Challenge Zones fun and interesting on their own. We were really happy with how they turned out. They are approachable for any new player, as they will keep players moving forward, but there are definite strategies for players with more skill.
So the best pro strategy: the cashed-up thief reverso combo megamove. We have a power-up that lets you move backwards for a turn. Over three turns, you pass a thief space, use the reverso, pass over the thief space backwards, then on the third turn, you can pass over it a third time. It’s an absolute power move.
I had a funny experience where, because I was struggling, other players helped me, which ultimately allowed me to hustle my way to a victory. Is that broader psychological meta game something you intentionally designed for?
We spent a lot of time in playtesting on making a game that feels balanced, but in the spirit of a good party game, anything can happen, and players can turn last place to first in the last round.
There’s a lot of elements, such as the use of a thief space, that allow a leader to be brought back into the pack by other players working together. Luck can play a part, but strategy is also rewarded, and the more you play, the more depth you can discover.