LEGO® SMART Play™ Designer Interview
Bless my circuits! The galaxy plays back now?!
LEGO® SMART Play™ All-in-One sets are officially here, bringing iconic locations and legendary characters from Star Wars™ to life like never before! Curious how it all works? How to get started? Or what makes these All-in-One sets a whole new dimension of LEGO play?... We’re so glad you asked!
To answer all your burning questions, we spoke with Maarten Simons, Creative Lead for the LEGO SMART Play All-in-One sets. He’ll reveal all the SMART details you need to know, let you in on the design process and give you his very best tips so you can start playing like never before. Buckle up and hold on to your Lightsabers™ as we blast off into this interactive galaxy.
Meet a SMART mastermind
Pouring so much high-tech into such a teeny-tiny little brick is no small feat. It takes a village... or actually, hundreds of scientists, engineers, physicists and LEGO designers as well as endless hours to create a new dimension of play. Getting everything just right meant plenty of ups and downs. And demos, of course. Lots of demos.
Maarten has been a LEGO designer since 2008, and since then, he’s led a variety of fan-favorite LEGO projects and collabs. But for the past 2.5 years, Maarten and his team have been dedicated to the LEGO Star Wars SMART Play All-in-One sets, which in turn unlocked far more than an interactive galaxy of play:
“Unlocking a new layer of play meant unlocking a whole new layer in the design process, too. It required new collaborations, new skills and even new processes that we needed to define while we were in the middle of it. For example, some parts of the tech were still in development while we were working toward a final brief,” Maarten says.
After 2.5 years of top-secret tinkering, what excites Maarten the most about the SMART Play All-in-One sets? With no hesitation, he says: “Now I can finally talk about it to the world, my friends, and family. I’ve been on this project for 2.5 years, and I’ve been excited the whole time to show and tell people what a cool and fun new layer of play we’ll be adding to the LEGO system”. We feel you, Maarten! Keeping a secret that big for so long must have been a real challenge!
A new dimension of play, explained
Something ‘new’ always sparks a lot of questions, excitement, wonder and, oftentimes, a healthy dose of uncertainty. That’s only natural (and part of the fun).
So, let’s get our SMART mastermind to break it down. What are the LEGO SMART Play All-in-One sets all about, and how do they unlock a new dimension of play for kids? “The SMART Play All-in-One sets remain about building, imagination, creativity and shared play. The designers who were on this task are the same designers who work on all the other great LEGO Star Wars sets. But these sets come with the SMART Brick, SMART Charger, SMART Tags and SMART Minifigures and are ready for out-of-the-box SMART Play fun. The moment you place the SMART Brick on your freshly built X-wing, TIE Advanced or A-wing, the spacecrafts will come alive and will react uniquely to how you play, fly, blast or dodge… The SMART Minifigures, like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader or Princess Leia, to name a few, will activate unique reactions depending on the situations you place them in,” Maarten explains.
But does blending old-school LEGO play with modern LEGO SMART Play sets limit kids’ imagination or their play? Not at all! Maarten explains that “the sets allow you to play and be creative, and then the SMART pieces will help bring your story to life. They play back with you and trigger new adventures. And the social play it unlocks the moment you and your friend each have a SMART Brick makes the battles even more immersive!”
Sets that made a designer feel six years old again
We get it. Star Wars is a league of its own. Period. But why was Star Wars the ideal choice for launching the SMART Play All-in-One sets? To that, Maarten shares:
“The Star Wars galaxy is a place that sooooo many people already know and love! It’s a cross-generational passion point. That lets us focus on showing off what’s new, while kids (and adults) instantly recognize the models and characters. Plus, Disney and Lucasfilm have been fantastic partners.” In other words: merging a well-known world with a whole new one. What a SMART move!
When designing the sets, there must have been so many exciting, fun aspects. But at what point in the process did Maarten realize just how much fun these sets would bring to kids? “There were probably two distinct times. The first was when I was introduced to what our Concept Lab Team had created. I got a SMART Brick prototype and an X-wing prototype in my hand, and they reacted to how I was flying. In that moment, I knew we were onto something, because I felt like a six-year-old kid again! The second time was during my first SMART Play kids test. Seeing the kids running around with their LEGO Star Wars models, blasting at each other, hiding behind sofas and such – that was when I knew for sure!”, Maarten shares.
As with every LEGO set, there’s no manual for play. That goes for SMART Play All-in-One sets, too – and that’s really the whole point. Every kid plays differently, and with the SMART Play All-in-One sets, play has no limits! “We’ve seen that high-energy play (like flying and blasting) gets an extra boost with the SMART Play All-in-One sets. They get kids running around and immersing themselves in very active play,” Maarten explains.
“We’ve also included a lot of smaller, lower-energy play triggers, like refueling and repairing, or making food and drinks. This created longer play loops; they just came up with many more new stories because of this,” Maarten adds.
Enter ‘The Void’
Time to dive into an epic behind-the-scenes moment. Picture this: Deep in the corridors of the LEGO Group, there’s a door... leading to a secret room... dun, dun, dunnn! Nope, it’s not the janitor’s closet... not the storage room either, no... This door leads to a top-secret, totally blacked-out room, accessible to SMART Play designers only. Its name? The Void.
“We had a secret, totally blacked-out room. We called it ‘The Void’. This room had multiple advantages; it allowed us to work in even more secrecy than we usually do, and we could have the SMART Bricks make lots of noise without disturbing other colleagues. Plus, it was like a great bonding experience for those locked in, ha-ha!”
If only The Void was open to everyone... There’d be a galactic queue, and we’d be right in it!
Tips for playing the SMART way in the galaxy
While the LEGO SMART Play All-in-One sets are still all about building, creating your own version of the galaxy and playing out your own stories, we’ve saved the best for last: Maarten’s best tips and tricks for playing. Let’s cut the suspense and get right to it! “My tip would be to explore, be curious, try out each SMART Minifigure in new situations and bring in your friends’ SMART Play sets to discover even more! You can of course also add your very own creation; maybe you’ve built the most amazing spacecraft from your own bricks, so now you can remove the X-wing tag and place it in your creation and bring it to life with the SMART Brick!”
With the first All-in-One set, LEGO Star Wars SMART Play: Luke’s Red Five X-Wing™ (75423), the galaxy is right in your hand! “You can start your mission with the cool little trolley and fuel and repair the X-wing, maybe get a mission or report from the communicator. Then you can put your favorite SMART Minifigures in the X-wing for an exciting swoosh around the house, take out the turret and prepare for the next quest!” Maarten shares. The options are endless, really!
And what’s Maarten’s favorite part of the set? R2-D2! “He’s just so alive, and his scared, excited scream is the best!” Another great tip of his? If you have two SMART Bricks, the mission is even more fun! “Imagine a great battle with your friend! Two SMART Bricks in turrets or starships, blasting and exploding!” Maarten adds.
Psst... we got this from Maarten, too – try flying the X-wing upside down with a SMART Minifigure on board and see what happens. It’s a priceless moment!
The second All-in-One set, LEGO Star Wars SMART Play: Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter™ (75421), is yet another great set that unlocks a whole new level of play. Listen closely, and you’ll hear Darth Vader’s iconic breathing and the TIE Advanced that screeches every time you swoosh out into the galaxy. Maarten’s favorite aspect of the set? “Immerse yourself in the dark side, swoosh around the house, and blast everyone who dares to challenge you… This set really comes to life in battle with, for example, the X-wing!”.
The third and final All-in-One set, LEGO Star Wars SMART Play: Throne Room Duel & A-Wing™ (75427), does even more than what meets the eye, just ask Maarten: “Maybe the throne itself doesn’t look very exciting at first, but wait until you place the SMART Brick on it…! Oh, and the Lightsaber™ dueling. Of all the things from the galaxy we wanted to bring alive, Lightsabers™ were definitely high on our wish list. Find a friend (or foe) and start your battle!”
But how does the SMART Play technology make this set out-of-this-world fun? “Flying the A-wing and battling against the turret is a great start for social play with someone in your family or with friends, but the highlight must be the cool Lightsaber™ duel arena. Un-click it from the throne area and challenge everyone for a Lightsaber™ battle!” Maarten says.
And just as we thought we’d uncovered it all, this set delivers an instant plot twist with a single click! Try placing your SMART Minifigures on the Emperor’s throne... and watch them all turn evil! Muhaha!
Common to all of the three All-in-One sets is that they’re endlessly responsive and always ready to play, no matter where your stories will take you. It’s your imagination that sets the course and now, the only thing that’s far, far away.... is the end of the fun.