I believe the LEGO games have an important role to play in video game history and I'm not sure that's a concept shared by the wider gaming community.
It's not that they're anything special individually, while they all have their unique charms and quirks in relation to the franchise they're covering, they can be seen as fairly homogeneous.
However, they play an important role in the introduction of video-games as a medium. The gameplay is simple, get to the end of the level, smash as many bricks as you can, complete simple puzzles using character powers, rinse and repeat.
While to the 'hardcore gamer' this gameplay loop may feel trivial, it's a fantastic way for non-gamers to dip their feet into the waters of this medium. Notice I said 'non-gamers' and not specifically children. While it would be remiss not to mention that these games specifically have children in mind, we must be aware that not everybody has played a video game.
I've been playing games my entire life and I've noticed that when you put me in front of a new game, and a non-gamer in front of a new game, something very different happens. There's a learned behaviour to them, the ability to grasp what to do next comes easier to those who have played more games. While this is obvious to many, I've always found it interesting in how much this differs between gamers and non-gamers.
I once played Tomb Raider (2013) with an ex-girlfriend of mine and after watching me play for an hour or so, she decided it was her turn. It's a simple enough game in terms of mechanics, a third-person shooter with platforming elements. However, it took her a good hour to get to grips with the concept of moving the camera. Simply grasping moving the camera with the right stick, while moving Lara with the left at the same time was quite difficult for her. That's not to say she was unintelligent, in fact she was quite intelligent and later on that day she was committing copious amounts of human rights violations on anyone standing in Lara Croft's way. But it taught me that I shouldn't take my learned video-game knowledge for granted.
For people who haven't played games before, whether you're a child or not, the LEGO games are incredibly accessible and important for those getting into the medium. They're often based off popular franchises (a great point for fans to jump over), simple to play and have a universal humour.
I've recently become a dad and I know that some of the first games I'll be playing with him will be the LEGO games.
[In reference to this game in particular, it's really fun! the characters are unique, complete with their own abilities and animations, the cast is impressive and the story is actually quite engaging! also you can beat up lots of cops in the hub-world and watch them explode so it gets extra points for me on that]
It's not that they're anything special individually, while they all have their unique charms and quirks in relation to the franchise they're covering, they can be seen as fairly homogeneous.
However, they play an important role in the introduction of video-games as a medium. The gameplay is simple, get to the end of the level, smash as many bricks as you can, complete simple puzzles using character powers, rinse and repeat.
While to the 'hardcore gamer' this gameplay loop may feel trivial, it's a fantastic way for non-gamers to dip their feet into the waters of this medium. Notice I said 'non-gamers' and not specifically children. While it would be remiss not to mention that these games specifically have children in mind, we must be aware that not everybody has played a video game.
I've been playing games my entire life and I've noticed that when you put me in front of a new game, and a non-gamer in front of a new game, something very different happens. There's a learned behaviour to them, the ability to grasp what to do next comes easier to those who have played more games. While this is obvious to many, I've always found it interesting in how much this differs between gamers and non-gamers.
I once played Tomb Raider (2013) with an ex-girlfriend of mine and after watching me play for an hour or so, she decided it was her turn. It's a simple enough game in terms of mechanics, a third-person shooter with platforming elements. However, it took her a good hour to get to grips with the concept of moving the camera. Simply grasping moving the camera with the right stick, while moving Lara with the left at the same time was quite difficult for her. That's not to say she was unintelligent, in fact she was quite intelligent and later on that day she was committing copious amounts of human rights violations on anyone standing in Lara Croft's way. But it taught me that I shouldn't take my learned video-game knowledge for granted.
For people who haven't played games before, whether you're a child or not, the LEGO games are incredibly accessible and important for those getting into the medium. They're often based off popular franchises (a great point for fans to jump over), simple to play and have a universal humour.
I've recently become a dad and I know that some of the first games I'll be playing with him will be the LEGO games.
[In reference to this game in particular, it's really fun! the characters are unique, complete with their own abilities and animations, the cast is impressive and the story is actually quite engaging! also you can beat up lots of cops in the hub-world and watch them explode so it gets extra points for me on that]