According to Fast Company, Lego has announced the upcoming Lego Smart Play system at CES, an interactive technology that lets builds respond to player actions with tailored sounds, lights, and behavior. The company, which had a record revenue year of $10.8 billion in 2024, says the goal is to engage digital-native kids without another screen. Chief product and marketing officer Julia Goldin stated the long-developed technology is “lesson-based,” and the launch follows further growth shown in the first half of 2025. This is a direct play for the attention of younger enthusiasts in an increasingly competitive toy market.
The screenless engagement play
Look, on paper, this is a brilliant idea. The core promise–more dynamic, reactive play without forcing a kid to stare at a tablet–is exactly what a lot of parents are desperate for. Lego’s physical business is booming, so they’re trying to innovate from a position of strength, not panic. They’re essentially trying to bottle the magic of a video game’s feedback loop–the lights, the sounds, the immediate reaction to your action–and pour it back into the physical world. That’s ambitious. And if anyone has the brand trust and design chops to pull it off, it’s probably Lego.
Here’s the catch
But let’s be skeptical for a minute. This isn’t Lego’s first rodeo with electronics. Remember Mindstorms? Or the more recent Lego Hidden Side sets that used AR? Some of those initiatives had a mixed reception or faded away. Adding tech to a timeless toy is a notoriously tricky balance. Does it enhance the open-ended creativity, or does it start to dictate and limit it? If every “correct” action gets a pre-programmed sound, are we trading imagination for a fancy, expensive button-pressing exercise? That’s the tightrope they have to walk.
The complexity and cost question
Then there’s the practical stuff. This “Smart Brick” will need power, a processor, sensors, and connectivity. That means it’s going to be more expensive than a standard 2×4 brick. Probably a lot more expensive. Will it be sold in small, affordable packs, or will it only come in premium, $150+ sets? The latter could seriously gatekeep this “future of play” behind a high price tag. And what about durability? Lego bricks are legendary for surviving generations. Can this new tech withstand being chewed on by a toddler, stepped on, or lost in the couch for a year? The engineering challenge here is immense–it’s not just a toy, it’s a sophisticated piece of consumer hardware. For a company whose core product is famously simple and rugged, that’s a fundamental shift.
A necessary gamble?
So, is this a smart move? I think it probably is, even with the risks. The competition for playtime isn’t just other toy companies anymore; it’s Roblox, YouTube, and TikTok. Lego has to evolve to stay in that fight, and doubling down on pure physical play alone might not be enough long-term. This Smart Play system feels like a bridge–an attempt to meet kids in the digital world they inhabit while pulling them back into a tactile one. The execution is everything. If they can keep it affordable, robust, and, most importantly, truly open-ended, it could be a huge win. But if it feels gimmicky, fragile, or restrictive, it could end up as a costly footnote in Lego’s history. They’re betting big on a brick that blinks. Let’s see if it pays off.
