LEGO Voyagers Review

LEGO Voyagers might just be the cutest game ever. As my partner and I guided our adorable single-block Lego pieces though this co-op puzzle platformer, we emitted many a coo of ‘ooohhhh’ and ‘aaahhhh’, and thankfully it wasn’t followed by running and screaming. But is there more to Light Brick Studios’ latest LEGO adventure than looking disarmingly delightful?

Akin to the local and online co-op experience offered by Hazelight Studios, Lego Voyagers requires two players to work together to navigate through its isometric levels. Your eyed Lego pieces are steered like rolling wagon wheels, tumbling through the environment with clumsy abandon. Most of the levels are made up of those smooth Lego pieces that are much easier to dust on your display models than the studded ones. Though, every now and again, you’ll find some studs to attach to with the tap of a button. Like Katamari Damacy, you can end up coated in chunks of plastic, each impacting the physics of your character, causing you to trundle hilariously – and precariously – around the place.

Even better, both players can connect together with a stupendously satisfying ‘click’, and then can both take control of your Frankenstein-like Lego monstrosity, requiring you to work together to get around the place. It’s tremendous silly fun, and, thanks to a very quick respawn, frustration caused by the chaos is kept to an absolute minimum. Having said that, despite the kid friendly visuals, I can’t help but feel that the challenging physics-based controls might not make this one suitable to play with the smallest Lego-fans in your family.

Platforming is simple, which is a relief, as the isometric viewpoint prevents anything more complex. Even simple jumps are made agonisingly tricky by often being unable to tell where your player character is in the space. Once more, that aforementioned rapid respawn saves the day. Even if you’ve failed a basic jump several times or more, you’re hurled back into the action before irritation sets in.

In contrast to the hit and miss platforming, the puzzles are a delight, requiring both players to work together to solve numerous satisfyingly brain-ticking conundrums. One player might be tasked with controlling a bridge say, whilst the other player crosses it safely – or unsafely, if the first player is feeling cheeky. In my case, I often am.

The best puzzles are those that involve building something together from the random bits and bobs you find littered around the landscape. Often, you don’t quite know what you are building until suddenly the penny drops and you realise, you’re halfway through constructing a catapult to haphazardly fling your buddy over a hazardous ravine! Or, in a page straight out of Hazelight Studios’ co-op book, you’re tasked with controlling a boat together, one playing steering, the other accelerating. It’s easy charming fun, the game breezily flinging ideas at you, never waiting too long before moving onto the next one.

The only downside? It’s all over far too quickly. As such, it never quite feels like the game explores any one idea to a satisfying conclusion. You do a bit of something, it’s enjoyable, but it always feels like the mechanic could be further explored. Light Brick Studios clearly doesn’t want to stick with an idea too long, just in case you get bored. This, combined with a very short run time of a handful of hours, means that whilst Lego Voyagers is tremendous fun, it’s likely done and forgotten before the end credits have finished rolling.