Best Lego Games

Whether a Harry Potter or Marvel-licensed Lego game is your bag or you prefer the simple pleasure of piercing those iconic Lego bricks together in the virtual realm, there’s a Lego game out there for you. We’ve set ourselves the task of highlighting some of the best to grace our storied medium to extend a guiding hand to those interested by, but a little baffled, by the busy world of Lego video games.

There are nearly six dozen Lego games, so we’ve had to make some hard decisions and whittle down our picks. Fortunately, there’ve been some pretty miserable Lego games in the past few decades, but conversely, plenty of stellar efforts continue to delight children and adults to this day. If we missed out on one that’s close to your heart, let us know in the comments section at the end.

Related news: check out the brand new LEGO Atari 2600 that’s just been announced.

Without any further ado, here are our top picks for the best Lego games out there.

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens

While Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens can’t be counted among the best Star Wars games, it certainly ranks up there as one of the better Lego games.

There’s been no shortage of licensed Lego Star Wars games, but Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens stands out for being laser-focused on a single film rather than biting off more than it can chew by covering a trilogy or series. And, it chooses to hone in on the most well-received of the latest Disney-led Star Wars movies, retaining all the film’s charm without watering it down to suit the Lego formula. It even throws in story beats covering the events between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, treading into uncharted ground and fresh character backstories in the process.

As we’ve come to expect from the Lego games, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens doesn’t shy away from throwing in tasteful comedic interludes to round off the expertly recounted narrative from the film. There are over 200 playable characters, including fan-favorites from The Force Awakens such as Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren, along with s Star Wars staples such as C-3PO and Han Solo, to name a few. Most are voiced by their cinematic counterparts for an added touch of authenticity.

For those left unmoved by the Star Wars license, there’s plenty to like in the gameplay: blaster battles, open-worlds to explore, fun puzzles to solve, building sections to gain access to new areas, and endlessly replayable dogfighting.

Lego Dimensions

Lego Dimensions is a glorious pop cultural mashup that blurs the line between toys and video games. Dipping into the full range of licensed characters and franchises as well as a few new ones, Lego Dimension is the game for those who’ve always wanted to see The A-Team alongside Harry Potter or The Simpsons join forces with characters from The Lord of the Rings.

Lego Dimensions uses the toys-to-life format. The game ships with a real-world USB pad, on which are placed purchased mini-figures and Lego sets. These then enter and appear in the game with themed levels, special abilities, and environments to play and explore, each one granting instructions to continue building the real-world set on the pad. The gameplay is standard fare for Lego game fans; brawl with enemies, follow a reasonably rudimentary narrative, smirk at just the right amount of silly humor, and gather all manner of bricks along the way to customize and improve characters and vehicles.

It’s delightfully fun, promoting both real-world Lego construction as much as the video game aspects for a genuinely unique experience. Seeing real-world Lego pieces come to life in a virtual world rarely loses its shine, and Lego Dimensions packs in hours of content for both younger and more seasoned players.

The only catch is a high cost of entry for those eager to pick up all the over forty story, level, team, and fun packs pulling together franchises as diverse as Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, The Wizard of Oz, and Adventure Time.

Lego City Undercover

Dumbing down and sterilizing Grand Theft Auto to weed out all the wanton violence, prostitution, profanities, guns, and gore doesn’t sound like a recipe for a good time. But, Lego City Undercover largely succeeded in doing just that, wrapping up some of the same thrill and chaos of Rockstar’s acclaimed series in a game suitable for younger players.

In Lego City Undercover, you play Chase McCain, a shunned undercover cop, who returns to Lego City to tackle an out-of-control crime wave spearheaded by seedy crime boss Rex Fury. With a sprawling open-world inspired by Lego’s long-running city life-themed sets to explore, players track down criminals dishing out swift justice with the playful combat the Lego games are known for, donning all manner of disguises, infiltrating gangs, and driving everything from helicopters to police cruisers.

Lego City Undercover delivers hours of wholesome fun with a reasonably meaty main story with some strong writing, plenty of captivating side quests, and a suitably diverse urban playground to explore.

A remaster for PC and consoles released in 2017 means the game’s never looked better. Nearly a decade from the original Wii U release, Lego City Undercover is arguably still one of the best Lego games ever made, proof that the franchise doesn’t need a license to deliver a memorable experience. Ostensibly for kids, adults will find plenty to love in this good-humored crime-fighting romp.

Lego Lord of the Rings

Another heavyweight franchise to receive the Lego video game treatment, Lego Lord of the Rings, is getting a little long in the tooth but remains one of the best there’s been.

Lego Lord of the Rings condenses everything from Frodo’s humble beginning in the Shire to the ring’s destruction into a tight re-imagined experience with plenty of lighthearted humor, but does so without missing any of the most pivotal story beats, even borrowing voice acting and the score from the Peter Jackson trilogy. Hardcore fans may scoff at this, but Lego Lord of the Rings is just too damn fun to miss and still stands up graphically even a decade after release.

Rather than concentrating solely on Frodo, Lego The Lord of the Rings presents players with over 80 characters to play, ranging from heavyweights like Gandalf and Aragorn to more obscure figures from the books like Tom Bombadil and even the Ringwraiths themselves. Each has their own inventory of items and special abilities used to further the story or access new areas.

There are 19 linear story levels to complete, each offering an enjoyable blend of melee and ranged combat, puzzle-solving, and collectible hunting. Alongside, you can freely roam an open-world covering most of Middle-Earth and iconic spots such as Bag End, Helm’s Deep, and Isengard in search of side quests, hidden characters, collectibles, and more.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes

Although capitalizing on the hype around Marvel, Lego Marvel Superheroes is far more than a slapdash money grab. Delving deep into the Marvel Universe to present a game oozing with style and substance, Lego Marvel Superheroes offers a massive playground in the shape of New York for players to explore from Central Park to the S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier.

Add to that a massive roster of 180 playable characters, including everyone from Spider-Man to the Hulk, by way of Black Window. And, there’s even some narration from none other than Deadpool and voice acting work from the likes of Troy Baker and the late Stan Lee himself. In action, Lego Marvel Super Heroes offers hours of engaging fun with a thrilling story, stacks of interesting side quests, collectibles, and even a custom creator to fashion your very own superhero.

Full of heart and Lego’s signature comedic relief, it ties in the very best of the Marvel franchise, something that will please purists as well as more casual players. Should you want more, the Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 sequel is worth visiting, although it lacks some of the original’s charm.

Lego Harry Potter Collection

Lego Harry Potter Collection is a remaster of the acclaimed Lego Harry Potter: Years 1–4 and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5–7 for modern consoles. The game packs in the entire Potter film and movie saga from start to finish in an open-world adventure brimming with familiar locations, iconic events, and characters. It’s fan service, but also an excellent time for those who aren’t all that invested in J.K. Rowling’s worldwide phenomenon.

Where the Lego Harry Potter Collection truly excels is in paying suitable homage to the source material and rejuvenating the Lego formula while also maintaining all the wit and humor we’ve come to expect. It’s not just one of the best Lego games but also the definitive Harry Potter video game experience to date.

Easy on the player in terms of difficulty, the Lego Harry Potter Collection doesn’t lack content with countless puzzles, collectibles, areas to explore, students to help, and, of course, Harry’s epic tale to live out. Loads of playable characters and fun combat wielding wands and dishing out all manner of spells help in that respect, too.

Lego Worlds

Lego Worlds is as close as a Lego game has come to replicating the limitless building potential of gaming phenomenon Minecraft. With a dizzying array of bricks at your disposal, you’re dropped into an open-ended sandbox. You can terraform mountains, drain oceans, build any structure you can imagine, alter existing ones at your leisure, or otherwise alter every facet of these colorful worlds.

Apart from a brief tutorial, a largely forgettable story mode, a smattering of fetch and straightforward combat quests, and a guiding narrator popping up sporadically, the player is left to their own devices to make their own fun. Lego Worlds procedurally-generated worlds produce all manner of biomes from modest towns to deserts through to snow-carpeted forests and volcanic peaks. Exploring them in search of discoveries – Lego figures, animals, bricks, items, and more – guarantees hours of fun alongside the simple delight of building unhindered by any meaningful limits.

If you can look past the sometimes clunky and frustrating building controls, Lego Worlds is a truly wondrous and diverse sandbox full of versatile tools to build virtually anything your mind can conjure up. For children, in particular, it comes close to replicating the delight of plunging a hand into a crate of mixed Lego, laying down that first brick, and letting creativity guide a free-form building session.

Lego DC Super-Villains

Released relatively recently in 2018, Lego DC Super-Villains plunges into the DC Universe to present a game focused on the evil-doers and antiheroes famed for making Batman, Superman, and co’s life difficult. The DC catalog has no shortage of compelling villains with plenty of attitude and mischievous charm, which Lego DC Super-Villains put to great use.

While villains such as Lex Luther, The Joker, Harley Quinn, and more can be unlocked and are great fun, Lego DC Super-Villains also allows the player to create their own custom villain, deciding their moniker, fighting style, and even abilities as the game progresses. With both a single and two-play co-op mode, there’s a new band of villains known as the Justice Syndicate to deal with, puzzles to solve, and plenty of silly laughs to enjoy.

The game doesn’t reinvent the established Lego licensed formula and won’t pose much of a challenge in keeping with its aim of targeting a younger audience. Still, it makes full use of the license to deliver a strong story, plenty of playable characters, and a fun open-world marrying DC fan favorite locations such as Gotham and Metropolis. Voice acting contributions from an all-star cast featuring the likes of Mark Hamill elevate the experience, too.

Lego Builder’s Journey

Released this year for PC, Lego Builder’s Journey serves up something different to the sea of licensed lego games: emulating the simple joy of snapping and clicking together those famous plastic bricks. The game plays out in beautifully animated and meticulously detailed dioramas, each presenting a puzzle that’s solved through the free-form placing, rotating and positioning of bricks.

To solve each puzzle, you’re handed an assortment of bricks of different shapes and sizes. How you use them is up to you. The game only asks that you reach a simple goal, which often comes down to paving a path from one point to another. There’s no set route to success or stringent rules to follow. In many ways, the open-ended play mimics the sense of possibility presented by an assorted box of Lego on a rainy afternoon.

Thanks to the magic of RTX, Lego Builder’s Journey doesn’t look far removed from the real thing. Bricky water laps gently, mud expands in charming bubbles before popping, and the rudimentary characters hop around with a playful fluidity.

The game’s superb audio design perks up at just the right moments to beam out a satisfying click or rattle, complementing the satisfyingly responsive yet simple controls for a peculiar tactile aspect – the bricks behave almost as they would in your hands.