Lego Legends Of Chima Online Extends Its MMO Adventures To IOS

The Lego Movie has been attracting a ton of attention – and rightfully so – but it’s hardly the first time the little plastic bricks have been entertaining kids on screens. Several of the company’s toy lines have been featured in popular children’s programming, including shows based on Bionicle, Ninjago, and Lego Chima. Warner Bros. Montreal has brought Chima to life through a recently launched MMO, too. The browser game has been out for a few weeks, and now the entirety of the experience is available to iOS players. I spoke with the game’s creative and design directors to learn more about bringing the game to smaller screens, building an MMO for young players, and more.

Lego Legends of Chima Online is a free-to-play MMO designed for younger players, 7 to 12 years old, and their parents. It’s an action-based RPG that plays like a nice blend of one of TT Games’ Lego games and a classic dungeon-crawling loot fest. After creating your character, you have a base to build, world to explore, and plenty of evil creatures to vanquish – turning those foes into cascades of Lego studs. And aside from the user interface, what players see on iOS and the brower-based counterpart are designed to be identical.

“Even though there are some differences on the UI side, it’s still the same code base,” says Louis Lamarche, the game’s creative director. “We compile one version and it pushes through to all platforms. When we release updates on the web, they’re available on iOS also.” 

“If you play on the web and go to iOS, you’re not going to have this completely different game style,” says design director Bill Money. “The game is still the same fully 3D, action-adventure game. What we did with iOS was think about every interface element and how we could optimize for the space available. On iPhone screens, there’s way less space than on a PC, so we did things like have the interface elements slide in from the sides and from the bottom, so players can bring them into the screen and take them out when they need them. On the web, you have the backpack icon always on the screen, but on iOS, the interface options are on a slider, so you can slide in quickly and then hit the backpack. We optimized the screen space while still giving players the same experience.”

There’s one extra bonus for iOS players, too. If you buy toys in the Legends Beast line, you’ll get special touchcards packed inside. Those cards unlock exclusive content when placed on your iPhone or iPad, thanks to a special capacitive technology. Players can share the unlock cards with their friends, too; they’re not locked to specific accounts.

I’ve spent several hours playing the browser version of the game, both alone and with my 6-year-old son, and I can see the appeal – wherever you choose to play. Loot drops are frequent and interesting; the developers didn’t dumb down items by keeping stat percentages out of the picture. You can dual-wield weapons, so you can attack evil crocodiles from a distance with a blaster and then take them out with a spear or other melee weapon (such as, well, fish) once they draw near. Some weapons come as-is, while others require help from your outpost’s blacksmith. For those weapons, which are often more powerful, you’ll need bricks as a raw material, as well as some time. I’ve played more than my share of free-to-play games, and Lego Chima Online is friendly to players who aren’t ready to spend money on it. Take crafting time, for instance.

“We never give you an appointment time of more than 8 to 12 hours,” says Lamarche. “There are no 5- day or 7-day appointments. They’re all very short, [so kids can go] ‘Hey, I logged in at night, I did all my crafting, and I came back in the morning and I was able to finish my crafting.’”

This being a free-to-play game, you can use special gold bricks to accelerate crafting times. You get some at no cost, such as completing quests and helping friends, or you can purchase them. For the game itself, there’s no paid subscription required – but people who do opt in for membership get a few bonuses. Members gain extra gold bricks throughout their adventures, and they’re also able to craft special items and expand their outposts. Players who opt for a subscription (available in one, six, and twelve-month blocks) and let it lapse keep everything they unlocked while they were members, with a few exceptions. Lamarche says they wanted kids to be able to drop in and out without being penalized; kids often have allowances, after all.

The developers says the main game will take players about 40 hours, not including the optional grind for rare items and boss drops that are familiar to MMO players. The current storyline is based on the first season of the Chima TV series, and quarterly updates will bring the in-game content in line with what happens with the show. That additional stuff will be substantial; Lamarche says the planned April update will add about 15-20 hours of all new content.

All told, I’m impressed with what Warner Bros. Montreal has done with Lego Legends of Chima Online. They’ve created an enjoyable, safe space for kids to play with their friends (and parents). The iOS aspect is a fantastic addition, too. I’m looking forward to playing multiplayer with my son, which will be easy to do now that we can use a laptop and iPad together on the couch.

You can check the game out over here if you’re interested in learning more or giving it a shot for yourself.