LEGO games and co-op have long gone hand in hand, but it’s usually a messy pairing.LEGO Voyagers, developed by Light Brick Studio and published by Annapurna, takes a more elegant approach. Following up Light Brick’s similarly relaxedLEGO Builder’s Journey, two small bricks take on relaxed challenges like crossing gaps and scaling heights, with no frantic brawling or constantly shifting split screen to be found.
What really matters in a LEGO game is the charm. Even without a comedic focus,LEGO is all about the spontaneity of discovery, and a stud-filled environment begs to be more than a backdrop. After checking out a small slice ofLEGO Voyagersthrough a press preview build, I’m happy to report that the game delivers where it counts, although just how far it takes these ideas remains to be seen in the full release.
LEGO Voyagers Is Full Of Simple Charms
A Charming World To Explore
LEGO Voyagersstarts with a simple journey, taking the two starring bricks from a small beach to their cliff-top homes and laying out the most basic rules along the way.Rather than hopping around, you roll, tumbling over uneven surfaces, and jump when you need to. When you’re looking for a little more stability, you may attach yourself to any of the open studs dotted throughout the landscape.
In the opening area, the latter feature is mainly used for cute environmental interactions, which sold me on the game more quickly than anything else. From jumping on a tire swing to launching a toy rocket,there’s a lot of minor, auxiliary funto be had.
Once you leave the starting area,attaching to studs becomes the core mechanicforLEGO Voyagers' light puzzles. If a gap is too wide to leap across, you can connect any spare bricks and tumble them on over to snap in place. You can stack your attachments as well, and flopping around with several connected bricks adds adash ofKatamari Damacyto the affair.
A Quietly Promising Co-Op Experience
LEGO Voyagers Has A Strong Foundation
LEGO Voyagers’embrace of physics is one of its strong points, opening up a variety of cooperative puzzling actions.It’s fun to fling your fellow brick across gapsor weigh down a dangling structure to set up a ramp. Nothing in the preview suggests the potential for players to turn against each other in frustration, although that could always come later.
Either way, cooperative chaos isn’t the goal.LEGO Voyagersis about trundling across landscapes in a shared journey, one built more aroundLEGO’s propensity for collaborative playthan a desire for high-octane gameplay. From popping the buds off of fauna to jumping on a scenic seesaw,the game’s chief pleasures are its simplest charms.
Whether the full experience is worthwhile will depend on how wellLEGO Voyagerssustains its momentum, but the preview experience is promising. Even ifLEGO Voyagersdoesn’t revolutionize co-op gaming, it does provide an appreciably low-key expedition that might just get to the core of what makesLEGOgreat.
