LEGO Party

LEGO Party was provided by SMG Studio/Fictions for review. Thank you!

When I am sitting down and have some free time to relax with my wife, there are a few games we love to play. Usually, I dock the Switch and we go to either Mario Golf or Mario Party, but the latter is more common. It’s so much fun to race across the board to get as many stars as we can, while simultaneously screwing each other over. I have played many other versions of these party games, like Pummel Party, but they all feel very familiar to Mario Party. I went into LEGO Party with that same thought. It looks so similar to Mario Party that I was sure comparisons would be made, and it would be very much the same type of experience. However, there are actually some pretty big core differences that set this game apart, and it turns into a worthy contender against Nintendo’s giant franchise.

If you played Mario Party or any game like it, the core aspects remain the same. Your goal is to go around a board game-like map and collect as many Golden Bricks as you can. Each player takes their turn, with an option of using a power-up to augment their role, and moves across the board. Every space has some effect on it, whether it gives you studs, takes some away, or triggers an event. You will keep going and reach Mr. Gold, where you can buy a Golden Brick for 50 studs. After everyone has taken their turn, you will go into a minigame, where the higher you place, the more studs you receive. This loops over and over until all the rounds are finished, the bricks are tallied up, and the winner is chosen.

LEGO Party finds a way to spice this up, making the experience feel more dynamic in most ways, and less in others. In this case, though, the pros outweigh the cons. 

Minigames are much more meaningful this time around. Instead of playing one after everyone’s turn, you will play it before. Not only do you get studs from these games, but it also determines the next round's turn order. So, 1st place winner will go first, 2nd place goes second, etc, etc. This means every round can have a completely different turn order from the previous one. I love this change, and I feel like it gives those falling behind more chances to come back. It can also be used strategically. For example, if you know someone set up a Crab Trap on the Pirate Ship stage, you can aim for a placement that will make sure someone else goes before you to trigger the trap, saving you from losing a Golden Brick.

The minigames in general feel very well thought out and skill/luck-based. There’s a good amount of variety between the 60 minigames to play through, 51 of which are free for all, with 9 being 2v2, with some I just adored. My favorites are the unicycle balancing gam,e where you have to go forward as much as possible without falling dow,n and the guessing game to see which of the four LEGOs is being built in real time. The latter brings out each piece individually and swirls it around in a circle, so looking closely to see which colors or distinct pieces come in, so we can choose as fast as possible, was a ton of fun.

There were maybe one or two minigames I felt were a little out of place, though. There’s a minigame where you have to guess artwork that has been recreated in LEGO form, and as someone who doesn’t know much about art and paintings, I flubbed it. The most successful minigames don’t need any outside information from the game itself, so this felt like a major departure. Still, most of the minigames are enjoyable; it’s just one or two that stand out.

While Stars in Mario Party are generally a rarity, Golden Bricks go the opposite route. There are multiple ways to get Golden Bricks. We can buy it from Mr. Gold, find free brick spaces around the board, pay lots of studs to steal a brick, trigger a trap that can cause someone to drop a brick on the map that can be picked up, or even trigger a Brick Battle, which is a 2v2 minigame, and the winners get a Golden Brick each. This can lead to a lot of changes in the standings very quickly, and again, making the game feel more dynamic. The importance of having as many Golden Bricks as possible is never lost. If anything, it’s multiplied since you can just as easily lose your bricks as fast as you gain them.

If I had to point out one tiny issue I didn’t care for, it’s that we have to see the standings change each time there’s some Golden Brick change. It essentially pauses the game and shows us a screen to see the Brick changes and who’s in first place now. This isn’t bad in itself, but with how often Golden Bricks can be earned and lost, this screen comes up very often, and it gets in the way of just enjoying and playing through the map.

Speaking of the map, each of the four boards we can play on feels wildly different from the others and also houses some nice changes. While the basic effects are still on the board, like getting and losing currency, lucky and unlucky spaces, event spaces, and thief spaces to steal studs or bricks, we can also modify the board. When a player reaches a certain spot initially, they have the option to choose what gets built in that spot. There are two options each, and usually at least two places that can have new structures built. This changes the board’s layout with new features exclusive to that new section. It’s another great mechanic that I feel highlights what makes LEGO Party so special.

On the other hand, we do lose some of that competitiveness when on the board. Yes, we do have minigames to compete and overall, we are seeing who can get the most Golden Bricks, but items are essentially gone. These have been replaced by power-ups, which boost your roll or take you to hotspots on the board, like the thief or the Mr. Gold space. There aren’t really any items that can affect the others on the field, and any traps that could be set up come from the map itself and not something we pick up. I’m glad that there are still some ways to affect other players, but I did find myself missing being able to target people specifically. I also wasn’t a fan of power-ups that moved you to another space, since that counts as your turn, and you can’t roll after that.

We also don't have saves for games we start, so they all have to be played in one sitting (unless you are all local and using a Steam Deck or Switch). This would have been a great addition, and is something I have used in similar games.

Still, even with my little grievances here and there, I had a blast playing. It was still competitive enough to enjoy, and I reveled in defeating my wife in the variety of unique minigames. There are a couple of other modes, like Minigame Rush (for straight minigame playing) and Score Breaker, a single-player mode that has you try getting the highest score in 5 different minigames, but nothing compares to the main board game mode, also known as Challenge Mode.

Something I didn’t expect to see, and I ended up liking, is the leveling and customization system. The game has experience you get when completing matches, and when you level up, you get new figurines to choose from. Each of the four locations also has its own level, which gives you themed figurines from those respective stages and carrots to purchase more figurines. Not only can you use the figurines you get, but you can also create your own custom figurine to use with the parts provided by each unlocked costume. From what I can tell, the figurines you can unlock with Carrots are separate from the unlockable ones via the leveling system, leading to over 220 figurines to choose from. With the part-by-part customization, there will be a lot of ways to stand out.

LEGO Party - Steam Deck Performance

Even though LEGO Party got Steam Deck Verified, I was a little worried about performance. It looks like a lot is going on, and with multiple people on a giant map, it seemed like there would be some compromises to make. I was wrong. The game runs at a full 60 FPS throughout, with some minor stutters when loading into maps and menus. These are minor, though, and all minigames and the boards run wonderfully at 60 while sticking to an average battery drain of around 10W-12W. There were some spots I noticed it going up to 16W, but it quickly went back down, and it wasn’t during actual gameplay.

The game does start at high-quality settings and a 60 FPS lock, but I recommend just sticking there. Bringing it down to 45 didn’t bring battery drain down, while pushing to 90 did result in some drops. SMG Studio did a great job optimizing the game, for the most part, and I wouldn’t play the game anywhere below 60.

However, there were a couple of little issues I noticed. The game employs two different animation styles. The smooth ones that encompass most of the game, and the rigid ones that usually emphasize building. The contrast looks a little weird and feels off on the Deck. There also seem to be very slight stutters and frame time jumps that happen in certain scenarios, like looking at what figures you can unlock.

This just feels weird on the Deck. Even though it shows 60 FPS the whole time, it very clearly has some extremely minor stutters that I could feel. This doesn’t seem to be a Steam Deck-only issue, though. I saw the same thing happen on two different devices, including the ROG Ally. So, I would say this is more of a fault with the game rather than the Deck itself. I even tried bringing the settings down to low and lowering the framerate, but these issues persisted. It doesn’t make the game unplayable, but it does feel a little off at times.

Accessibility

LEGO Party gives us the options to change language, modify subtitles, toggle ambient camera movement, change which minigames can show up in the main mode, change volume sliders, rebind controls, and change some online options like Crossplay, game invites, and Do Not Disturb.

The game doesn’t support 16:10 resolution, but it does have cloud saves and controller support. There are no HDR settings.

Conclusion

LEGO Party is the first Mario Party-like game that gives the plumber a run for his money. The dynamic nature of each game, the unique minigames, and the cheerful aesthetic make for a worthy alternative to the game that dominates this genre. It’s energetic, fun, and exciting. It doesn’t have as much competitiveness as I’d like, and I do miss the items that could be used to screw over other players, but the pros very much outweigh the cons.

On top of that, the game runs exceptionally well on the Steam Deck. There are some spots with very minor stutters here and there, but it ultimately runs at 60 FPS and sticks below 13W battery drain a majority of the time. It’s a fantastic experience and game to play on the go, and one I’ll definitely be prioritizing on future family vacations.

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

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