Before you buy: LEGO Icons 10332 Medieval Town Square

We’re just days away from the LEGO Insiders early access launch for 10332 Medieval Town Square, so here’s everything you need to know before buying the newest LEGO Castle set.

Available from March 1 for LEGO Insiders (or March 4 for everyone else) from LEGO.com and in LEGO Stores, 10332 Medieval Town Square is one of more than 50 new LEGO sets launching next month. So the question is: should you devote £199.99 / $229.99 / €229.99 of your LEGO budget to the LEGO Group’s latest deep dive into the well of nostalgia on day one?

For the answers, you can check out our detailed review, which digs into the nitty gritty of 10332 Medieval Town Square – or stick with us here for the headlines, as we weigh up whether this is an instant purchase, one to wait on or a hard pass altogether.

It’s a breath of fresh air for LEGO Castle

Contrary to what Hollywood tells us, the Middle Ages didn’t entirely revolve around swords clashing and bows loosing: there were normal people going about their everyday life, too. 10332 Medieval Town Square reminds us of that by removing the prospect of conflict from the set almost entirely, with only the Lion Knight atop his watchtower and a sneaky Wolfpack thief offering any chance to trade blows.

This is a breath of fresh air for LEGO Castle, too. The only other medieval sets on shelves right now revolve around giant fortresses and factions facing off, while historically the LEGO Group’s Castle ranges have depicted conflict first and foremost. 10332 Medieval Town Square joins a short list of sets free of warfare.

The details, storytelling and minifigures are tops

We’ve grouped these talking points together because they’re genuinely all linked. 10332 Medieval Town Square weaves all kinds of stories through its various buildings, from the shieldmaiden painting new defences for the Lion Knight to the weaver stitching together a retro tapestry on his LEGO loom. Those narrative touchstones help to bring the set to life, but they’re only possible through its innumerable details and relevant minifigures.

Those tiny details are really where 10332 Medieval Town Square shines, and they make the building process that bit more enjoyable as a result. Adding in its eight different minifigures is the finishing touch: this feels like just the right number to populate the village. They’re all pretty decent too, even if a few of them would have benefited from leg printing or dual-moulded legs (hello, Wolfpack).

It relies too heavily on nostalgia

That’s where 10332 Medieval Town Square gets it right. But when it comes to picking and choosing which bits of classic LEGO Castle sets to celebrate and champion, this 3,304-piece LEGO Icons set unfortunately gets it a bit wrong. Billed as a spiritual successor to 10193 Medieval Market Village from LEGO Castle’s Fantasy Era subtheme, the main link between the two sets is that they’re each composed of hinged buildings.

It worked for the much-revered 2009 model because each building consisted of two halves of a whole, hinged open only to allow for greater shelf presence. When closed up, those buildings looked the part. 10332 Medieval Town Square instead stitches together five seemingly disconnected and random buildings that just don’t mesh very well. Yes, some structures in the Middle Ages were probably pretty haphazard in design, but as an aesthetic approach it just feels jarring here.

The good news is that the watchtower and inn are pretty easy to separate, while the cheesemonger and weaver’s workshop can stand alone too. It’s not quite so good news for the carpentry workshop, though.

The colour and scale choices are ‘interesting’

Also a little high on the ‘um, why?’ scale are the particular colour and scale choices across 10332 Medieval Town Square. Some of it works – the vibrant red is a nice callback to the retro 6067 Guarded Inn, while tans and browns feel fitting for a medieval setting – but the olive green next to the red just feels a bit drab, while the bold blue hues of 10193 Medieval Market Village are missing entirely.

Try to pop a minifigure on the stairs up to the watchtower or through the doorway to the inn’s top floor, meanwhile, and you’ll struggle: these spaces are just two studs wide, and feel very much out of scale with the rest of the set.

You won’t find a better companion to 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle… by design

All that said, if you’re building up a LEGO Castle display and want something that can rival the detail and approach of 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle, you won’t do much better than 10332 Medieval Town Square at the moment – even if that’s by design. The LEGO Group’s foray into the Middle Ages seems to be locked behind the LEGO Icons line (or as gifts-with-purchase), which means your only option for expanding a medieval display is through these big and expensive sets.

In essence: beggars can’t be choosers.

10332 Medieval Town Square verdict

If you’re all aboard the nostalgia train and want something that evokes 10193 Medieval Market Village in ethos and design – even if to a fault – you’ll find plenty to love in 10332 Medieval Town Square. But if you’re looking for a brand new LEGO Castle set that’s confident enough to carve out its own identity, you might need to be willing to either tinker with the finished model yourself or wait to see if the community works up an alternate build that makes better sense of the elements in the box.

The good news is that if you count yourself among the first group there, you should have no qualms about buying 10332 Medieval Town Square as soon as it drops on March 1. The price is largely fair for what’s in the box – the price-per-piece ratio is off the charts at £199.99 / $229.99 / €229.99 for 3,304 pieces, even if many of them are small – and rumours suggest 40680 Flower Store will be free with orders above £180 / $200 / €200 from March 1, so this set will get you there all by itself.

For an even more detailed verdict on 10332 Medieval Town Square – and a closer look at everything in the box – check out our full review. You can buy your copy from LEGO.com and in LEGO Stores from March 1 if you’re a member of the LEGO Insiders program.

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