It’s going to be a blocky summer, but don’t take that to mean there’s a high chance of pixelation or voxelation. I’m talking Lego here. If 2015 is going to be the year of something, it’s the time of our favorite childhood building blocks. And instead of a summer blockbuster this year, we’re looking at brickbusters (I’m so sorry)!
Think about it. We’ve been deluged by digital versions of our favorite, plastic blocks, and it’s great. The games keep coming, and each one is filled with some sort of promise and potential. The feeling you get when loading up one of these titles is the exact oppositive of the pain you feel when you’re walking around barefoot and accidentally step on a brick.
It all started with Lego Worlds appearing on Steam Early Access. Now, I may personally feel that it’s going to have trouble catching up, given that games like Minecraft and Terraria are filling the sorts of creative gaps to which this title applies, but that’s just me. A lot of people are excited about Traveller’s Tales Games’ project because it’s doing what none of the other Lego video games have done thus far – let us actually play with Lego. That, combined with the Early Access feature that should hopefully provide regular updates and take fan feedback into account, offered a good start to the season on June 1, 2015.
The next chip off of the old block (I had to!) was Lego Jurassic World . What better way to celebrate one of the biggest movie blockbusters of the summer than with a game that not only tied into Jurassic World, but offered a humorous retelling of the entire Jurassic Park quartet? I mean, there’s no shirtless Lego Chris Pratt, but there is Chris Pratt’s voice! And Jeff Goldblum’s voice, too. Really, audio clips from every movie are here, as well as all the dinosaurs. Even the ones that weren’t there, because you can make your own. With all the collectibles and customization opportunities, you’ll find many reasons to come back to this one in July and August.
All the Lego Dimensions hype has helped too. The game won’t be out until September, but you’re going to be hearing about it all summer. There are all of these leaks and announcements. It’ll drive you crazy. But at the same time, hearing how Chell, Homer Simpson, The Doctor, Gandolf, and Batman are going to go around all of the virtual worlds can’t help but get you hyped up about what could turn out to be the greatest mashup in gaming. You won’t be playing it, but you will be refreshing the page every day, hoping for some new reveal.
Surprisingly, Lego Minifigures Online has been poised to improve this summer as well. Don’t look at your screen and say, “What?!” like that. People will stare. It transformed from free-to-play with all sorts of microtransactions to a $29.99 pay-to-play game on June 29, 2015 and it’s made all the difference. People are getting access to everything in Funcom’s MMO. Starting the summer with no limits is a great way to kick off a vacation. Get together with friends and have fun without worrying about a developer only being after your money.
Really, this Lego foundation has given us all of the building blocks for a fantastic season (did I mention how sorry I am?). The virtual worlds and experiences are all here to make 2015 the most memorable summer ever. Whether it’s exciting revelations about what’s going to happen when Lego Dimensions arrives in September, seeing what Traveller’s Tales does as it puts together Lego Worlds , reliving Jurassic World ‘s most memorable moments, or giving Lego Minifigures Online a try, you’re covered.