LEGO Brings Bricks To Life With Smart Play
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Danish toymaker LEGO is entering a new era with Smart Play. The groundbreaking system brings LEGO bricks to life with lights, sounds, and interactive features. It aims to transform how kids build, explore, and play.
The idea for Smart Play began in 2016, when the company asked children what they wanted most from their LEGO sets. Two themes stood out. Kids wanted to build with friends, and they wanted toys that could respond and evolve as they played. LEGO took these insights seriously and spent nearly a decade turning them into reality with Smart Play. The system revolves around three main components: the Smart Brick, the Smart Tag, and the Smart Minifigure.
Smart Brick
The Smart Brick is a 2 by 4-inch (5 by 10 cm) LEGO brick with a chip, motion sensors, lights, and a speaker inside. It can sense when it is moved, detect Smart Tags and Smart Minifigures, and recognize the colors of nearby LEGO pieces. The brick uses this information to react instantly with lights, sounds, and movement, bringing LEGO creations to life.
Smart Tag
The Smart Tag is a 2 by 2-inch (5 by 5 cm) tile with a built-in digital code. Each tag carries a unique code that tells the Smart Brick which object or action to simulate. When the brick senses a tag nearby, it reacts with corresponding sounds and movements. For instance, a dinosaur tag might trigger roaring, while a race car tag could mimic screeching tires.
Smart Minifigures
Smart Minifigures work in a similar way to Smart Tags. Each figure has a code that the Smart Brick can read. This allows it to recognize the character and respond accordingly. For example, a Minifigure placed inside a spaceship with the right Smart Tag might act nervous, excited, or confident based on its personality.
Together, the Smart Brick, Smart Tags, and Smart Minifigures create interactive play and help bring stories to life in real time.
The first three sets of Smart Play, available in stores and online on March 1, 2026, focus on the Star Wars universe. Fans can recreate classic scenes — from lightsaber duels to spaceship battles — with Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, R2‑D2, and more. LEGO plans to expand Smart Play to additional themes soon.
Resources: LEGO.com, Theverge.com, CNN.com
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64 Comments
mrsusabout 12 hoursI like how lego's are getting techy and this will be more fun unlike the plain old yellow Legos, but you dudes have a point. This Is probably for show- bipolorefopaabout 15 hoursthis would be good for display but I wouldn't use it for playing with
- dijinyfapaveabout 16 hoursLego is not the same anymore :(
- bipolorefopaabout 14 hoursI agree with every thing you just said
- dijinyfapaveabout 16 hoursyou have to by a smart play set to buy a set that says its compatible which is like $350 drop just to get the set u want.
- dijinyfapaveabout 17 hoursThe old Lego is better. Loki Minecraft's better :) :)
- dijinyfapaveabout 17 hoursI am definitely sticking to gunpla model kits now its way better then Lego I should by a mg right now actually.
- dijinyfapaveabout 17 hoursThis will also be very expensive I checked on the Lego web site and a 200 pc Lego set is like $75 what is this :( :(!!!!!!
- dijinyfapaveabout 17 hoursNo!!!! why when I was little I used to use my imagination but now its more technology what has this generation become its all just ipads a phones and Roblox like bruh I miss 2011.
- bipolorefopaabout 18 hoursand yes also probably expensive
- bipolorefopaabout 18 hoursthis is cool for display but you don't need it for playing
