For many years now, LEGO has been a reigning toy brand for people of all ages – but especially children. As the gaming industry has evolved, LEGO has thrown its hat into the ring with many iconic games featuring licensed characters from Batman to Star Wars. However, many LEGO fans may not know that the company has also created a number of imaginative and educational games for young players in the LEGO Juniors series. The series was designed to be child-friendly, so that children can play, build and create without the help of their parents.
The game series originated with LEGO Juniors Quest in April 2014 and Make and Cruise in March 2015, both released on mobile and explicitly designed for children aged four to seven. Both game tasks players to create their minifigures, explore a LEGO world, complete missions and collect stems. The LEGO Juniors series provides a perfect kid-friendly gaming experience because it allows for simple, imaginative play through a digital space for kids to play with LEGO wherever they go. Another advantage of these apps is that they do not have third-party advertising, so children can play safely; something that is often overlooked with more popular titles such as Fortnite or Roblox.
12 cooperative games perfect for family game night
LEGO Juniors Quest
LEGO Juniors Quest tasks players with exploring an open world while trying to catch a robber and find a missing cat. The game is divided into a series of missions, which allow players to meet a large cast of characters, including a down-on-his-luck businessman, a princess in a castle, a surfer girl and play with police dogs. Each mission provides a new part of a larger story, a mechanic that echoes 2022’s most popular narrative games, but on a much smaller scale for new players.
Throughout the game, players can collect studs that unlock new content, allowing for continuous progression without getting bored. They can also build any LEGO sets that are unlocked, or create their own structures. LEGO Juniors Quest is a wonderful introduction to games for children, providing a safe and creative environment for children to learn about virtual worlds. Given the growing popularity of video games such as LEGO Bricktalesthere is seemingly no better time to introduce children to their first virtual world through the LEGO brand.
LEGO Juniors create and cruise
LEGO Juniors create and cruise is a unique follow-up title within the children’s playroom because it does not require reading or writing skills. Instead, the game uses intuitive icons and navigation systems that allow players to explore without difficulty. The user interface is clean and simple, using only three or four buttons to facilitate gameplay. This allows the app to be considered a video game built with accessibility in mind, especially for young people who are at different stages of their education and overall development.
The mobile app allows children to play without the feeling of competition. Instead, players are tasked with building a vehicle to cruise through different courses and collect spikes, as the title suggests. As players beat each LEGO-built level, they unlock new vehicle parts that provide new ways to play and LEGO sets to build and display in the world. LEGO Juniors create and cruise encourages kids to create through customization as minifigures and vehicles are rebuilt with unlocked parts, decals and designs. While LEGO continues to create compelling video games based on iconic characters, hopefully it will also continue to create experiences specifically for young people to learn and foster their creativity.