A Chip Off The Old Block

The world’s greatest toy has developed yet another awesome product.

I speak of Lego. And the specific product of which I speak is their new line of board games. If you haven’t seen them yet, go to the Lego link on the left side of this page and check them out. There are at least five different games currently available.

When I learned these games were in the works and to be released, I was a bit skeptical. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It seemed like an interesting idea, but I wasn’t immediately optimistic that these games would be perfect.

However, there are a select few brands which I patronize on a regular basis. These are companies which I have remained loyal to and whose new products are deemed instantly worth buying without doing research into them. They could release a new crap sandwich and I would get in line to try a bite. Nintendo, Leinenkugel's, Eddie Bauer, Bruce Springsteen and red meat are a few. Any project involving Will Ferrell used to be included on this short list, but then he did Semi-Pro. After back to back success on Step Brothers and Land of the Lost, I was willing to forgive, but now he’s doing this whole Funny Or Die thing on HBO and I want to strangle him for leading me astray. As my wife so eloquently pointed out, “If my only choices are funny or die, I’m going to have to choose die.”

Where was I?

Oh yes, Lego is on that list. If Lego were to release a live of furniture, I would sit on, sleep on, and eat off of surfaces with tiny, uncomfortable, perfectly symmetrically aligned little bumps. Thus, my youngest son received a few of the Lego board games for his recent birthday.

I was not disappointed. The games are classic yet unique. My sons are not quite in control of their jealousy over losing at a game, yet these games were fun enough that they lost and wanted to go right back to playing another round.

Building with the Legos is not necessarily a central theme to every game after initial assembly, but there still is that satisfying process to set the game up. From there, the fully built board gives you hours of fun. And some games, like Creationary (a new spin on Pictionary or charades in which people have to guess what it is you’re building with the given blocks), have building with the Legos as the entire point of the game.

The Lego dice are also a unique feature of the games. Each game includes a die that needs to be assembled. It even has multiple tiles that come with each game so that you can change the way the game is played and tailor it to your specific preferences. It would even seem that you can invent entirely new ways to play each board game if you are creative enough to do so.

So, for any of those wondering, go ahead and purchase the Lego board games for that Lego fanatic of yours. They are sure to be enjoyed by all ages.