Which LEGO themes need the smart brick next?
A new interactive smart brick is coming to LEGO City sets after it undergoes a trial and there’s plenty of potential for this piece in other themes.
The reveal of the LEGO Group’s new smart brick and its compatibility with three new LEGO City sets is exciting. The element is going on trial in the UK and eligible families can sign up now via the landing page. Via tiles and minifigures, the piece can interact with certain parts of a model to scan colours, play sounds and more.
This list of features may not be exhaustive as the full capabilities of the brick are not yet known, though it’s safe to say that its potential extends beyond LEGO City and could amplify many other models from various themes.
Whether it’s made available as an optional add-on or included in specific sets while increasing their price, here are a few themes or ranges that could benefit from compatibility with the new smart brick in the future. Keep in mind that the overall experience may change following the beta test and it may be a while before the piece is widely available.
LEGO Mario Kart
LEGO Mario Kart is coming in 2025 and is likely to be compatible with the interactive LEGO Super Mario figures given the size of the teased vehicle.
The figures can scan colours and designs and play sound already, but adding a second interactive element could allow the characters to react to the race while sounds corresponding to specific items play behind them.
LEGO Harry Potter
LEGO Harry Potter has experimented with representing spells physically with transparent elements but it’s not quite as magical as the effects we see in the movies. The new interactive piece could add on to standard LEGO Harry Potter sets by scanning stickers and playing sound effects corresponding to specific sounds.
The element can also change the colour of its light, which could be used to represent spells too when placed in the correct position. A spell duelling set specifically could benefit the most from this.
LEGO Modular Buildings Collection
Another feature described on the landing page is ambient noise that can play from the interactive element. Since the piece can play multiple sounds by interacting with parts of a model, that makes it a good fit for the LEGO Modular Buildings Collection.
From traffic to the sound of birds to activity inside and specific to each building, LEGO Icons’ modular buildings would only need to include at least one tile for some ambient but relevant noise while the set is on display.
LEGO Star Wars
The smart brick could be used within LEGO Star Wars too, though this comes with the risk of increasing prices for select sets in the theme.
The lights and sounds that the element can display could represent damage to ships, enhance the effect of brick-built holograms and play sounds from the films for specific characters.
LEGO NINJAGO
The interactive piece appears to be able to react to specific minifigures (though how has yet to be revealed) and LEGO NINJAGO’s cast of iconic characters in their respective sets seems to be a perfect fit for this feature.
Realistically, compatibility would likely be limited to the main cast including Kai, Nya, Lloyd, Jay, Zane, Cole, Arin and Sora but voice clips of the characters are abundant thanks to the theme’s animated series. Playing select clips could bring the minifigures to life in compatible sets, though it would require more work than other potential functions since you’d need clips for multiple languages.
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