Announced during Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest Showcase, LEGO Party is exactly what it says it is: a LEGO themed-variation of Mario Party.
At Summer Game Fest, we had the opportunity to play a 6-round demo match for the game. If you have played Mario Party before, you know what to expect regarding the fundamental flow of the game: a four-person match moving through a set board, taking turns via a dice roll as they make their way to a golden collectible, playing mini-games in between, and whoever has collected the most at the end wins.
As a bit of background, I’m someone that used to love the hijinks that would ensue in the early entries of the Mario Party series. I have such great recollection of the madness of playing some of the infuriating mini-games and insane board rules that would get close to ruining friendships. Further entries in the Mario Party franchise started complicating things, causing me to enjoy them less over time. Based on the time I had playing LEGO Party with our Editor-in-Chief, Ains, and the rest of our four-player squad (for which I was the ultimate winner)…editor’s note: he cheated this new entry seems well on its way to deliver on the 4-player board insanity of earlier, simpler Mario Party.
LEGO Party doesn’t fundamentally change the flow of this kind of game, but it sure has taken some strides to make the approach its own. Apart from the LEGO aesthetic, which the developer claims continues the approach of photo scanning real-life LEGO sets and rendering them in game, the game has also added a few quality-of-life features that add a more competitive slant to the moment to moment.
For one, you’re not locked in to a specific order on who goes first in the board. Instead, it is determined by who wins first to fourth place in each mini-game, which allows for a competitive push that keeps you engaged while doing any of the reported 60+ mini-games that will be included at the game’s launch.
As for said mini-games, based on the few we got to test in our 6-round demo, it absolutely delivers on the typical “WHAT HAPPENED, HOW COULD I NOT WIN!?” last-second hijinks that are trademark for this kind of game. I really enjoyed variations of things like table tennis, board balancing, and a few others that seemed like variations of things I’ve seen in LEGO Party’s progenitor, but given a fresh vibe and unique LEGO coat of paint that still felt fresh despite the familiarity.
The board also takes advantage of being a LEGO set to switch itself around in specific moments, adding variety to how the board game flows per round, including a fun, final sudden death round that spices things up one last time before the big win. Add in the typical Mario Party style “screw the player around” that you can set up against the different players, and it all adds up to what’s looking like a really fun variation of these kinds of games.
Slated to release later this year on all platforms, with cross-play planned between all systems on a friend invite basis and a plan to expand the addition of mini-games over time, LEGO Party seems like it has all the ingredients to deliver on that Mario Party style game with the LEGO aesthetic. And with all the LEGO content that’s planned to be included, like their famous Ninjago sets, the sky’s the limit on how this game could expand going forward. Keep an eye out on this one later in 2025.
