When it comes toLEGOvideo games, Traveller’s Tales has been a force to be reckoned with. Since the release of the originalLEGO Star Wars: The Video Gamein 2005, the company has released game after game translating the most recognizable properties into accessible, family-friendly video games.
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Even with that said, Traveller’s Tales still has a lot of untapped potential. The LEGO Group has created hundreds of properties that are fondly remembered by many today. Traveller’s Tales can adapt any one of them into a new game. Here are some classicLEGOproperties to choose from.
7LEGO Rock Raiders
TheLEGO Rock Raidersfranchise focused on a crew whose ship crash-lands on an alien world. They must harvest crystals from the planet’s depths in order to power their ship and make their way home. It spawned not only a great collection of sets but alsoa fondly-remembered video game, which has a dedicated fan site,Rock Raiders United.
Traveller’s Tales would have to do very little to update LEGO Rock Raiders for a new generation. They would just have to tweak the AI and make that annoying ice level a little easier. The developer could take a cue from Baraklava’s fan remake,Manic Miners.
6LEGO Space sets
With a renewed focus on space exploration in the United States,LEGOand Traveller’s Tales would be wise to capitalize on this trend. What better way to do so than a video game based onLEGO’s classic Space collection, which was represented by the 80s Space Man inThe LEGO Movie?
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The smartest way to go about this would probably be to make amore kid-friendlyversion ofKerbal Space Programwithmechanics similar toTerraTech. Levels would be based on building vehicles to achieve specific missions and recruiting minifigs to handle different tasks.
5LEGO Island
LEGO’sbig entry into gaming, besides theJapan-exclusiveLEGO Fun To Build, wasLEGO Islandfor the PC in 1997. It is a semi-open world game that allows kids and adults alike to role-play as one of several quirky characters and explore all the challenges and fun that LEGO Island has to offer. The game would receive two sequels and a model series in the early 2000s called Island Xtreme Stunts.
TT already has the perfect template for aLEGO Islandgame in the form ofLEGO City Undercover, in which undercover cop Chase McCain explores LEGO City and follows leads to track down notorious criminal and rival Rex Fury. It has all the silly humor that the LEGO brand is known for.
4LEGO Castle
BeforeLEGOgot into licensed sets, they had original themes ranging from pirates to medieval knights. The Castle themes have had various incarnations throughoutLEGO’s history, but they typically consisted of knights in shining armor and castles fighting other factions of Knights.
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A Traveller’s Tales game based on these sets is full of potential. It can parodyclassic knight storiesranging fromKing ArthurtoMonty Python and the Holy Grail. Gameplay could consist of swordplay, epic battles, and dragons. Or the heroes could face one particularly dangerous rabbit.
3LEGO Western
LEGOreleased a line of Wild West-themed sets in the late 1990s and early 2000s. These featured the classic tropes of Spaghetti Westerns, from forts to outlaws and bank robberies.
Traveller’s Tales has the opportunity to remix these Western elements into a brick-ifiedRed Dead Redemptionexperience.LEGO Worldsalready has Wild West DLC, so a new game could greatly expand on that. It could parody some classic films, but make them a little more kid-friendly. The representation of indigenous peoples would also have to be updated to fit modern sensibilities.
2Them Aliens
Recently, the U.S. Government has finally acknowledged the existence of UFOs, which it is calling Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. That is enough forX-Filesfans the world overto don their tin-foil hats. The time is right for LEGO and Traveller’s Tales to capitalize on this trend.
In 2001, LEGO released a line of LEGO sets imagining a future manned mission to the planet Mars. Traveller’s Tales could take a cue from therecent string of Mars exploration games, and make a colony management simulator on the planet.
1Returning To The Outer Dimension
LEGOdipped its toes into Saturday morning television when it partially funded a live-action series calledGalidor, premiering in 2002. This show followed Earth teenager Nick Bluetooth and his best friend, Allegra Zane, as they went on a galaxy-hopping journey with an android, a blue yeti, and a wise frog man in a battle against the evil Gorn. Alongside the shows was a series of action figures, whose limbs could be swapped interchangeably, matching the characters’ ability known as “glinching.”
The show did receive three games, but the concept ofGalidoris worth looking into again. In a video game environment, Traveller’s Tales could implement the mixing and matching of body parts, and inject some quirky LEGO humor. It would also be a great opportunity to address the show’sunresolved cliffhanger.
