Under ordinary circumstances, we wouldn’t blame you for hearing “mobile game” and immediately fleeing to the nearest forest, but this is one mobile-game-turned-console-title that’s worth your time. A puzzle game making the most out of everyone’s favorite plastic bricks, LEGO Builder’s Journey is a puzzle game with a whole lot of flair.
Visually, the game is stunning, presenting these assortments of plastic in the best possible light. Literally. The lighting in the game is surprisingly great, given the simplistic nature of the visual presentation. Shadows are nuanced, and the little dioramas that comprise each map react to the changes in light as you move pieces about. A segment in the story mode where you navigate darkened environments with only occasional pulses of illumination makes particular use of this.
The puzzles themselves are generally clever, though more rigid in their solutions than you might expect of something with the limitless creativity of LEGO. You are tasked with navigating a character from one end of a diorama to another by placing pieces to craft pathways for them. Placing them greets you with a satisfying click, though getting the piece to hover exactly where you want will occasionally be a challenge.
Each segment of the game even has its own gimmick. One segment calls for smooth pieces to act as a skateboard track, whereas another requires creating patterns on an industrial press. This flexibility ensures the puzzles never get stale despite their rigidity, although the solutions do get more flexible as you approach the end. Still, with the whole experience clocking in at barely 90 minutes, that freedom doesn’t last long.
Apart from the puzzle mode, there is a creative mode, where you can build your own dioramas. Choosing from one of eight templates, you use a pre-selected assortment of bricks to build whatever your heart desires and then take it over to photo mode to show off your handiwork. Much like with the story mode, it’s not the most robust of systems, but it does what it sets out to do well enough.
Ultimately, the biggest obstacle for the game might be its price. $19.99 for this experience feels like a lot, even if everything being offered is perfectly pleasant. The story mode is nice, but not necessarily worth a replay. Creative mode is fun to tinker around with once or twice, but there’s just no hook to draw you back in to play it again and again.
Comments 17
I want to know how it looks visually on PS4. Are the graphics a massive downgrade like the Switch version?
@sketchturner Switch was downgraded from the iOS version? That’s a shame. It does look great on Apple Arcade but figured Switch would be able to handle it.
@sketchturner I imagine it looks just fine as it does on Switch.
I played this on Switch. I had a great time, but it feels like it doesn't quite reach its potential. If it were expanded upon with some more engaging puzzles it could have been truly great. The length and complexity make it quite obvious that it was a mobile game. There is no platinum for this game, so I have no motivation to go back to it. Maybe I would if it were free on PS+.
The RT effects are not included in the ps5 version right?
@Reeneman I believe the PS5 version does have ray tracing!
@Quintumply oh nice!
Really seems to be with RT like on Series X. I had in mind that even the SX version doesn’t support RT but it was a wrong info than.
Nice.
20 bucks is a bit too much but as a Lego fan I will buy it in a discount sometime
The PS5 version does have RT but you have to go into the settings and turn it on.
@Reeneman It sure does! And it looks phenomenal!
@Apfelschteiner Yeah I think the cost of entry is a major obstacle considering just how much content there is with the game, $20 is steeeeeep
I played this when I tried Apple Arcade and it was unique and enjoyable. But I would NEVER recommend paying $20 for it. If you're on iOS you can pay $5 for AA, finish it in a handful of hours, and then play a whole bunch of other games for 4 weeks. It's just simply not worth $20.
Its a bit expensive for what it is, but this is a well made puzzler, it just doesn't last long! I played it as an RTX 3090 demo on PC, but its nice to see this make its way to PS...
Is this a digital only release? For this price Id want it on a disc.
I enjoyed this a lot and was pleasantly surprised at how much emotion they got out of so few bricks.
I just wish it was longer.
@olwakachangchang At least for now, yeah. I could see it finding its way to disc at some point though. With smaller games like this, you can never tell when they might get a disc release.
At least it translates to £15.99 in the UK rather than £19.99, might give it a go.
@awp69 The harsh reality is the Switch IS less powerful than most modern iPhones.
Look at something like Genshin Impact performing better on mobile in every way than any switch game.
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