The LEGO brick has charmed generations of people with an eye for the creative. The versatile building block has taken many forms over its long history, but perhaps one of the most fascinating thing that has been made with LEGO is an iconic video game franchise. The LEGO series is known for taking some of the biggest film franchises and adapting them into family-friendly puzzle games, but there are times where the franchise deviates from that formula. LEGO Builder's Journey is one recent example of this, as it give gamers a LEGO experience like no other.

LEGO Builder's Journey puts players through a series of artistic levels where they must guide a young child to their parent. The game combines orchestral music with intuitive puzzle-based gameplay to create an experience that is poetically captivating. Developed by Light Brick Studio, LEGO Builder's Journey is an intimate game made by a small team compared to other LEGO games. Game Rant spoke with LEGO Games Creative Director Karsten Lund about working with such a close team, as well as the game's inspirations and expansion to consoles. Interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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Q: How did you become a part of LEGO Games and Light Brick Studio?

A: I started at LEGO Games in 2014 as a creative director overseeing the awesome LEGO Games portfolio. Light Brick started in 2018 as a small experiment to see how close we could get to the core promise of LEGO play as a digital game, with brick-by-brick building as a game mechanic.

lego builders journey june 2021

Q: How did it feel to work on such a small and intimate project like LEGO Builder's Journey, when most LEGO games are big, licensed titles?

A: It felt fresh, as I think we were trying something that had never been done before, yet felt very obvious to do. It turned out it wasn't without problems and we spent many months testing and iterating to get to the experience we have today. It was a great learning process for all of us and not being big was a strength while we experimented with new mechanics and gameplay features.

Q: How would you describe the closeness of the team at Light Brick?

A: Nothing brings a team closer than having to build and ship a game in a short period of time! I think we were very aligned on what we were trying to do, but also very good at disagreeing and being candid about what we believe. We test a lot and get a lot of input. We're also very quality focused and that is often tough, but we stubbornly hold to our "quality first" mission together.

Q: Did the game's narrative or gameplay focus come first?

A: Gameplay came first, but actually I think it quickly became a parallel focus, where narrative and gameplay ideas fed off each other. Our goal was to make the gameplay feel intuitive, yet challenging, and tell a story at the same time. We spent a lot of time striking a balance between these elements since they are very hard to clearly communicate, especially without words.

Q: Where did the inspiration for the game's story come from?

A: We all know the feeling of losing the sense of time while engaged in play and the feeling of not having enough time to play. We wanted to speak to both kids and their parents about the value of taking the time to let imagination and creativity run free and just play. It is one of the most important things we can do together and something we need to take the time to do more of.

Q: The game's mechanics are easy to grasp but still convey the same puzzle-based gameplay of other LEGO games. How did you approach crafting each of the levels to fit the game's scale?

A: We build digital LEGO models first in gray bricks while we design the puzzles. We then put them in front of players without any explanation and see if they can figure it out. We adjust until the balance is right, through countless iterations. When we think the play is right, we make a detailed color model out of it, light it, and put it in the game. Sometimes we reiterate after this point as well to make the whole experience even more coherent. So in essence, we play with bricks everyday and ask players to continue.

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LEGO Builder's Journey

Q: Compared to marketplaces like Steam, Apple Arcade is still fairly new. Was there a desire to become an early adopter of the platform from the start, or did Apple approach the team personally for exclusivity?

A: We felt from the very beginning that there was a value fit with what we wanted to do and what the platform was trying to achieve, so the partnership came pretty naturally. It was a great place for a new team to try out new things and it worked out beautifully in our opinion. We couldn't be happier with the support we got.

Q: What benefits the team find in having this exclusivity?

A: The focus on fewer platforms helped us focus on the experience we wanted to make.

Q: A lot of games on this "indie" scale tend to stick to digital releases only. With how big the LEGO name is, do you think there's a market for a physical release?

A: For us it makes sense to digitally distribute since it gives us more flexibility, but it could be cool to have a box someday. It's not in the plans at the moment though.

Q: Is there any audience in particular that you're trying to reach by expanding the game to consoles?

A: We're trying to reach as many players as possible with this. We got a lot of positive feedback from the audience, so we have a feeling that many more players will enjoy this little title. We're super excited to hear what players on the new platforms think about it.

Q: Considering how touch and keyboard controls tend to be more precise than using a controller, how much of a challenge was it to translate the game's mechanics to this new control scheme?

A: Actually, Apple Arcade is a multi-platform service, so we already supported controllers and mouse and keyboard from day one. We did refine controls for the updated version on all platforms, but we've managed to keep the game's mechanics intact and the same on all platforms.

Q: How will the console version of LEGO Builder's Journey differ from previous versions? Should gamers anticipate some special new features?

A: We've expanded the game considerably on all platforms, but other than that we've tried to give the broader audience a very similar experience regardless of platform. That said, it has been important for us that the title felt right for the platform and not just like a port, and I think we succeeded with that mission.

Q: Developing a LEGO game, there has to be some familiarity with the toy bricks themselves. How did it feel to apply that knowledge to LEGO Builder's Journey?

A: The LEGO brick is a design icon that everybody knows, and it intuitively communicates how it's used and where it goes. It's been great to see the audience relate to this familiarity while trying to surprise them with new and interesting ways to play with this awesome play material. We believe that the LEGO bricks are beautiful, and there are still so many more ways they can be used to express ideas.

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LEGO Builder's Journey is available now on Apple Arcade and iOS. It will be available for PC and Switch on June 22.

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