Lego board games come in three kinds today. Asmodee makes new ones under licence, the Lego Games line from 2009 to 2013 lives on in the second-hand market, and a few regular Lego sets work as a game, such as the Traditional Chess Set. If you want a proper board game built from Lego bricks, our pick is Monkey Palace: 231 Lego elements, a 32 × 32 plate and a palace that grows with every turn, for 2 to 4 players from 10.
We have played Brick Like This! ourselves, with children at the table. Monkey Palace, the Ninjago game and the retired Lego Games in this guide are covered on paper, from the publishers' contents lists, Lego's own data and Brickfact's catalogue. Where a fact comes from a listing or a review, we say so.
Our pick: Monkey Palace, a real board game made of Lego
Monkey Palace: build one shared palace, score your own bananas
- Players and time: 2 to 4 players, from 10, about 45 minutes according to the publisher
- In the box: 231 Lego elements, a 32 × 32 Lego plate, 84 cards, 4 player boards, 2 double-sided terrain maps and a brick tray
- Made by: Dotted Games (Asmodee) under licence from Lego, designed by David Gordon and Tin Aung Myaing, released in October 2024
- Edition: this listing is the English-language edition
All players build the same palace on the shared plate. On your turn you add a staircase that starts on the ground, joins the existing building and ends in an arch. Arches earn monkey credits, the highest decoration of each colour earns a bonus, and credits buy monkey cards. Those cards either produce new bricks for later turns or score banana points, so it is a small engine-building game in Lego form. The game ends when one brick type runs out, and the most bananas wins.
The terrain map under the plate changes each game, so one game rewards tall towers and the next a wide palace. That is where the replay value comes from. The criticism in published reviews is consistent: the rulebook is harder going than the game, four players means waiting between turns, and the cardboard player boards feel thin. Three players seems to be the sweet spot. In 2024 the Belgian toy industry federation put it at the top of its ranking of the year's best games.
The bricks are ordinary Lego elements. After a game, children can build on the plate freely, and a lost piece can usually be replaced from your own collection.
Lego board games you can buy new
| Game | Players | Age | Playing time | Lego pieces | What kind of game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monkey Palace | 2–4 | 10+ | about 45 min | 231 + 32 × 32 plate | Competitive building, light strategy |
| Brick Like This! | 2–8 | 7+ | about 15 min | 48 | Team party game |
| Ninjago: Destiny's Bounty Adventures | 2–4 | 8+ | about 30 min | 124, including 4 minifigures | Cooperative adventure |
| Traditional Chess Set 40719 | 2 | 9+ | – | 743 | Chess and checkers, a regular Lego set |
The three Asmodee games are board games with Lego bricks in the box, not Lego sets with a game attached. Lego's own shop lists them under puzzles and board games, next to the Recreate activity cards. A Recreate pack holds about 30 activity cards and 25 Lego elements. In our experience it works better as a solo challenge than as a game for a group, and the included pieces run out quickly.
Brick Like This!: the party game we have played with children
Brick Like This!: one describes, one builds, first team shouts "Brick"
- Players and time: 2 to 8 players, from 7, about 15 minutes per game
- In the box: 48 Lego bricks, 92 shape cards, 20 challenge cards and a 30-second sand timer
- How it works: in teams of two, the instructor describes a secret shape and the builder may only listen
- Edition: this listing is the English-language edition
This is the Lego game we have actually played, with children aged ten and five, and both enjoyed it. The challenge cards make it: build with your eyes closed, with one hand, or with an instructor who is not allowed to speak. The basic game is quick to explain, which matters with a five-year-old at the table, even though the box says 7 and up.
When the first team finishes, everyone else has 30 seconds left. That keeps the rounds short and nobody waits long. With two or three players, the rules switch to a race to finish as many shapes as possible in ten minutes, but the game is clearly built for four or more in teams. It descends from Luca Bellini's 2015 game Brick Party, with real Lego elements instead of generic bricks. Anyone who knows the old Lego Creationary will recognise the idea: describe or build, the others guess.
Ninjago: Destiny's Bounty Adventures, the co-op game
Ninjago: Destiny's Bounty Adventures: four ninjas against the villains
- Players and time: 2 to 4 players, from 8, about 30 minutes per adventure
- In the box: 124 Lego elements, including Kai, Nya, Cole and Zane as minifigures, plus a two-part board, tokens and cards
- How it works: cooperative, six linked adventures, villains move in from the edge of the board
- Edition: this listing is the English-language edition
The third Asmodee game came out in summer 2026 for Ninjago's 15th anniversary. Everyone plays against the game. Villains enter from the edges and head for the middle of the board. If too many get through, the villain track fills and you lose. Defeated villains fill your own track, and some spaces on it unlock upgrades. You then add Lego pieces to your ninja's minifigure on the board, which is a nice touch. The six adventures follow one storyline, from an escort mission to a boss fight, and a lost adventure can simply be replayed.
Cooperative games suit families where losing to a sibling ends the evening. For children who already love Ninjago, the four minifigures are a bonus. Our list of the biggest Lego Ninjago sets covers the building side of the theme.
Lego sets that are games: chess and checkers
Traditional Chess Set 40719
- Pieces: 743
- Age: 9 and up
- Chess and checkers on one board
The Traditional Chess Set is a regular Lego set from 2024 and the clearest example of a current set built as a game. According to Lego, it measures about 30 × 30 cm and 10 cm high, the board splits into two halves for storage, and the box also contains checkers pieces. Of all the products in this guide, it is the one most likely to stay on a shelf as a decoration between games.
Lego has made chess sets before. The Iconic Chess Set 40174 from 2017 had 1,450 pieces and retired at the end of 2023. Hogwarts Wizard's Chess 76392 from 2021 had 876 pieces and four minifigures. The 2008 Castle Giant Chess Set is now a collector's item, which our list of the Lego sets with the most minifigures explains.
If you would rather build your own game, Lego publishes a "build your own Lego board game" family challenge. You need six dice, a few minifigures and a pile of bricks, and it is aimed at ages 9 and up and an hour or more of play. The full activity is behind a free Lego Insiders sign-in.
The retired Lego Games line (2009–2013)
From 2009 to 2013, Lego sold its own board games under the name Lego Games. There were about 40 sets, from small dice games to licensed games with Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The playing pieces are mostly microfigures, the one-piece mini figures without moving arms. Many games are played on a board built from Lego plates.
At the centre of the line is the Lego Dice: a solid cube with soft rubber edges and faces that take Lego tiles. Each game has its own tiles, and you can swap them. Lego built the line around that idea and encouraged players to change the rules. Minotaurus and Ramses Pyramid won a DreamToys award in 2009, the Hogwarts game in 2010.
Minotaurus 3841
- Pieces: 211
- Age: 7 and up
- Released in 2009, 12 microfigures
The classic of the line: each player sends three figures through a maze towards the temple in the middle, and two have to arrive to win. One face of the die lets you move a wall, another moves the minotaur, which sends any figure it catches back to the start. That makes a simple roll-and-move game more tactical than it looks. At a market value of around $33, it is one of the cheapest ways into the line.
Creationary 3844
- Pieces: 338
- Age: 7 and up
- 3 to 8 players, 96 picture cards
Creationary is the ancestor of Brick Like This!. The die shows a category (nature, vehicles, buildings or things), the builder draws a card and builds the matching picture while everyone else guesses. With 338 pieces it has far more bricks than today's party game, and in our view it still holds up better than the current Recreate cards. Its market value is around $52.
Harry Potter Hogwarts 3862
- Pieces: 332
- Age: 8 and up
- Shifting staircases, released 2010
The Hogwarts game has the most memorable mechanic in the line: the die lets you lift and move staircases and rooms, so the castle changes on every turn. The goal is to collect your homework and get back to your common room first. Reviews from owners often mention that the rules on moving and rotating are unclear, and many families make up their own. Lego designed the line for exactly that.
Heroica: Castle Fortaan 3860
- Pieces: 304
- Age: 8 and up
- 2 to 4 players, 4 heroes, 11 monsters
Heroica was Lego's take on a dungeon crawler: heroes move through a dungeon, fight monsters, collect potions and gear. The six Heroica games (Draida Bay, Waldurk Forest, Caverns of Nathuz, Castle Fortaan, Ilrion and the small Ganrash) can be played on their own or joined into a bigger map. Castle Fortaan is the largest of the five boxed games and the best starting point. Caverns of Nathuz and Ilrion now cost about twice as much or more.
The Battle of Hoth 3866
- Pieces: 305
- Age: 8 and up
- 32 Star Wars figures
The only Lego Games set with a Star Wars licence: Rebels against the Empire on the ice planet, a two-sided strategy game in which each figure's movement and attack range recall chess pieces. With 32 figures, it is also in our list of the sets with the most minifigures. Today, collectors pay more for it than players do, with a market value of around $92.
The Battle of Helms Deep 50011
- Pieces: 338
- Age: 8 and up
- Released in 2013, 28 figures
Helm's Deep came out in 2013 as one of the last Lego Games, and it is the expensive outlier. Its market value is around $400 against an original price of $29.99, mainly because of its exclusive figures. Unless you collect The Lord of the Rings, it is no longer a game you buy to play.
What retired Lego Games cost today
| Set | Year | Pieces | Original price (US) | Brickfact market value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunar Command 3842 | 2009 | 271 | $19.99 | about $29 |
| Ramses Pyramid 3843 | 2009 | 217 | $29.99 | about $28 |
| Minotaurus 3841 | 2009 | 211 | $24.99 | about $33 |
| Creationary 3844 | 2009 | 338 | $34.99 | about $52 |
| Harry Potter Hogwarts 3862 | 2010 | 332 | $34.99 | about $65 |
| Ninjago: The Board Game 3856 | 2011 | 245 | $29.99 | about $111 |
| Heroica: Castle Fortaan 3860 | 2011 | 304 | $29.99 | about $47 |
| Heroica: Caverns of Nathuz 3859 | 2011 | 217 | $19.99 | about $89 |
| The Battle of Hoth 3866 | 2012 | 305 | $39.99 | about $92 |
| Heroica: Ilrion 3874 | 2012 | 240 | $19.99 | about $113 |
| The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3920 | 2012 | 394 | $34.99 | about $74 |
| Batman 50003 | 2013 | 257 | $29.99 | about $107 |
| The Battle of Helms Deep 50011 | 2013 | 338 | $29.99 | about $399 |
Market values are average sale prices on second-hand marketplaces from Brickfact's catalogue as of October 2026, not prices for a new set in a shop. In short, the original family games cost about as much as a new board game, while licensed sets and the late Heroica sets are bought for their figures.
Buying a Lego Game second-hand: what to check
- The die and its tiles: without the Lego Dice and the game's own tiles, you cannot play the game as designed. Ask for a photo of the assembled die.
- The rules: every game came with a printed rules booklet. Lego's service still lists building instructions for many of these sets, such as Castle Fortaan, but make sure you also have the rules.
- The figures: count the microfigures and minifigures against the set page. Our catalogue lists every figure, and for Minotaurus that is twelve microfigures in four colours.
- The parts list: each Brickfact set page links to the parts lists on BrickLink, Rebrickable and Brickset. Missing standard bricks are cheap to replace. Printed tiles and figures are not.
- The price: compare the offer with the set's market value. With licensed games, check whether the seller is pricing in figures that are missing.
Our guide to finding Lego building instructions shows where to download PDFs for older sets.
Lego board games FAQ
Does Lego still make board games?
Not itself. Lego ended its own Lego Games line in 2013. Since 2024, Asmodee has made Lego board games under licence through its studio Dotted Games: Monkey Palace, Brick Like This! and Ninjago: Destiny's Bounty Adventures so far. Among current Lego sets, the Traditional Chess Set 40719 is the one built purely as a game.
Which Lego board game is best for children?
For children from about 7, Brick Like This! is the easiest start, and it worked for us with a five-year-old in the team. From 8, the Ninjago game suits children who prefer to play together rather than against each other. Monkey Palace is rated 10 and up and needs a bit of patience with the rules.
Are old Lego Games worth collecting?
As an investment, mostly not: Minotaurus, Lunar Command and Ramses Pyramid trade close to their original prices. The exceptions are licensed games with exclusive figures, such as The Battle of Helms Deep, Batman and Ninjago: The Board Game. If you want to play, buy the cheap family games, and check the die and the rules.
Which Lego board game should you buy?
- For a game night with older children and adults: Monkey Palace, ideally with three players.
- For a mixed group or a party: Brick Like This!, for 2 to 8 players.
- For Ninjago fans who would rather win together: Ninjago: Destiny's Bounty Adventures.
- For a game that also looks good on the shelf: the Traditional Chess Set 40719.
- For nostalgia on a small budget: Minotaurus 3841 or Creationary 3844, bought used with die and rules.
If a Lego game is meant as a present, our Lego gift guide by age and budget has more ideas.
