The new Pokémon Lego sets are cooler than you think

Despite a massive rollout of fancy new Pokémon sets on Tuesday, the Lego company didn’t really explain how the tech would work — or give solid reasons why fans should care. In an exclusive interview with Polygon, representatives from Lego discussed the deceptively complex mechanisms that power up its next batch of Smart Play toys. Though these Pokémon sets are technically aimed at children, adults might appreciate how much effort was put into capturing the spirit of the Japanese franchise.

The product pages for the upcoming 12 sets mention that players will be able to capture, bond with, and train their Pokémon. Pictures of the sets, which depict details like potions, food, and targets, allude to set functionality that mimics in-game Pokémon mechanics. But what does any of that mean, exactly?

“Every Pokémon is unique,” says Siddharth Muthyala, design director for The Lego Group.

Over a video call, Muthyala explained that each monster has a Smart Tag that keeps track of attributes like attack power and type. As children play with the toys, the technology inside the Pokémon steadily gains something like experience points. The Lego sets can recognize when the pieces are being moved around and register specific actions like jumps, dashes, and somersaults. While children are free to imagine whatever they’d like, the sets come with “story starters” that can facilitate some of this play, like vehicles and dummy targets. The more you play, the more your monster will grow.

When a Pokémon levels up, the toy will light up and beep. The toys don’t get granular like the games do — there isn’t a level 100 cap here — but they can abstractly register a Pokémon’s power level based on its training. The stronger your Pokémon is, the better it will fare against other monsters in any of the sets.

The monsters can attack one another, and the toys enhance that experience with custom sound effects and visuals. Technically speaking, a Pokémon can “win” a battle. The monsters won’t faint, as they would in the games, but they do shift into different states. Pokémon can be tired and go to sleep. If a Pokémon loses in battle, or if you shake it too hard, it might become dizzy. You can also heal your pals with potions after battle or rigorous training.

Sound design is a huge aspect of how the toys communicate with players. The toys don’t mimic the monsters in the game exactly, but the noises they do make are more intricate.

“The Smart Brick is an instrument,” Muthyala says. “It actually generates sound as you move with it, so it’s not canned audio … there are slight variations, like you’d hear with a harmonica.”

Photo: The Lego Group, The Pokémon Company

According to Federico Begher, senior vice president at The Lego Group, Smart Bricks are programmed with simple rules that allow for a larger system of interactivity. The hope is that children will mix and match aspects of the sets. This approach can be seen as a response to the limitations present in earlier interactive Lego toys, like the 2020 Super Mario set.

“That was also one where it only worked for Lego Super Mario, and it was not really compatible with anything else in our system,” Begher says.

While he did not outright confirm that more Pokémon sets are in the works, the implication was that modern Smart Play sets are being built with an eye toward the future.

“You don’t need to have, like, this is a corner that only works in this set of products in the portfolio, but something that you can take this Smart Brick and use it with any Lego sets that you want,” Begher says.

Though earlier interactive sets, like Lego Super Mario, Lego Vidiyo, and Lego Hidden Side did not meet their full potential, shortcomings with those tech-powered toys helped Lego push the new Pokémon sets into new territory.

“It actually feels quite serendipitous, because everything that we thought we were making a mistake with those [sets] turned out to be something that was really important for us to learn with this technology,” Begher says. “Which is really, I would say, a much more ultimate expression of what we want to do with technology.”