The Unknown Play Experience: A Feature, Not a Flaw

Key Highlights

• Smart Brick: The new Lego Smart Brick integrates sound, light, and motion sensors for interactive play.
• Target Audience: These sets are specifically designed for children to spark their creativity and imagination.
• Unique Features: Interaction varies based on the proximity and orientation of smart tiles and minifigs.
• Play Duration: The Smart Brick operates for 40 minutes to a few hours before needing a recharge.

Whenever Lego has added tech into its brick sets, the results have always been a mixed bag. Mindstorms is still great for encouraging coding and engineering, but Lego’s tech-infused Super Mario sets felt half-baked. So I wasn’t sure what to expect from Lego’s new “Smart Play” Smart Brick, a regular 2 x 4 brick packed with sound, light, and motion sensors that can allow for sets and minifigs to interact with each other when they’re in close proximity.

After a 30-minute demo at CES 2026, I’m pleased to say that I think Lego might be onto something. Yes, I’m aware that Lego fans—especially ones of the Star Wars sets—are disappointed that the three Smart Play sets are pricey for the number of pieces that they offer. But the value proposition here is a new kind of fun that very much feels additive to the Lego spirit of making up your own stories while playing with brick creations.

If you’re an adult and shook your head at the announcement video because it doesn’t offer enough, I have bad news for you: Smart Play sets are not for you. They’re designed for children, who are innocent and have pure, endless imaginations; they’re not for your cynical, grown-up self with real-life responsibilities.

To recap, the Smart Brick is the piece with all of the sensors. When a smart tile or a minifig with a tile embedded into its body is brought in contact with the Smart Brick, the 2 x 4 will react. How so? It might make sounds; it might light up; it might detect motion.

Here are some extended demo examples I was shown. In one situation, four Lego ducks with Smart Bricks attached to their backs were lined up in a row. A larger mother duck, also with a Smart Brick on its back, was placed in front of them. When they’re all facing the same direction, the baby ducks start misbehaving and farting. Turn the mother duck around to face the ducklings, and they all go silent. This was a demonstration of how the distance and orientation affected the play experience.

Oh these Lego Smart Play Smart Brick ducks are naughty, farting when mama duck is not looking at them lol 😂 #CES2026 pic.twitter.com/SW0rotdPLu

— Ray Wong (@raywongy) January 7, 2026

Racing duck cars with the Lego Smart Play Smart Brick #CES2026 pic.twitter.com/yH8D6e6PmS

— Ray Wong (@raywongy) January 7, 2026

In another play example, there’s a trophy with a Smart Brick and several duck-shaped “cars.” In this case, you can set up a race and roll the duck cars as close to the trophy. The one that gets the closest is the winner, and the Smart Brick on the trophy would light up the same colors as the duck car. This was a demo for distance and the light sensor.

In the Star Wars Smart Play sets, you can have a starfighter dogfight between a TIE Fighter and an X-Wing. One ship might take damage after getting pew-pewed by the other. Tossing in a droid might give you different sounds. Flipping the orientation of any of the pieces could do something entirely different.

Extended demo for the Lego Star Wars Smart Play Smart Brick sets #CES2026 pic.twitter.com/HWTUbTnHi0

— Ray Wong (@raywongy) January 6, 2026

Interactions depend entirely on the type of smart tile that’s near the Smart Brick. Tiles in sets will be programmed with actions to function with Smart Bricks, but it’s the unknown combinations that have me most excited. What happens if you put a t-rex inside of a TIE Fighter or X-Wing? Or make Luke Skywalker fend off a swarm of Lego ducks? I don’t know, and that’s kind of the point—it encourages more play and exploration.

(In the gallery below, you can see tiles attached to different starfighters and embedded in smart minifigs. These tiles let Smart Bricks know how to interact with them.)

Personally, my biggest concern with the Lego Smart Play sets is how long the Smart Brick will last. Playtime is anywhere from 40 minutes to a few hours, depending on how long the Smart Brick is on for and which sensors it’s engaging. There’s no power button. You shake the Smart Brick to wake it up, and then it automatically turns off when it detects no usage. To charge the Smart Brick, you place it on an included wireless charger. Will the inconvenience of having to charge up a Smart Brick discourage children from having the time of their life? Maybe; maybe not.

It goes without saying that I’m not a kid, so I’m not going to be spending hours in my room clashing minifig lightsabers at each other or running around trying to have starfighter battles. But I’m excited to see how my friends’ kids might love them the way they used to love playing with Skylanders figurines and making those come to life inside of the video game.

Gizmodo is on the ground in Las Vegas all week bringing you everything you need to know about the tech unveiled at CES 2026. You can follow our CES live blog here and find all our coverage here.