LEGO ISLANDS

LEGO BUILDER’S JOURNEY captures the joy of those little plastic bricks

- Alistair Jones

When I was little, I had a crate of Lego pieces. Once new sets had been built and enjoyed, they were dismantled to become more fuel for the crate, a seemingly bottomless well of colorful, constructive opportunity from which entire worlds could spill forth. Lego has been incorporated into dozens of games since the mid-1990s, but none of them bring the magic of my crate to life-like Lego Builder’s Journey. Each of the dioramas that make up Lego Builder’s Journey is shaped by a single goal – to bring your character from one side of the level to the other. There is, however, no prescribed solution to any puzzle. In true Lego style, you’re free to use the blocks provided any way you like. It’s often an iterative process, but one with no-fail states or wrong answers. Your solution needn’t be elegant or efficient. If the pieces fit together, there will be some kind of way forward.

The pieces themselves handle in a way almost as satisfying as the real thing, snapping into place or rattling against each other as you comb through them. It’s an amazingly tactile experience, bolstered by the incredible detail on offer in each diorama, all of which are created entirely from actual pieces.