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Minecraft has been one of the most popular video games since its release in 2011. The key feature of this game is the almost unlimited freedom to build items and buildings out of resource blocks collected in its virtual world. It was just a matter of time before LEGO, world leader in building with blocks in real life, would look to Minecraft to give the opportunity to all players to bring their virtual worlds into the reality.
Minecraft is obviously just one of the many popular brands Lego partnered with across the years although in this case the match was more than obvious. Considering the video game world is completely made by blocks, Minecraft feels like it was made to be re-created by LEGO to provide an endless experience that can easily match the virtual one.
Being a big fan of both LEGO and Minecraft (mostly thanks to my son), I really wanted to get a few sets to start building a corner of my favourite biomes but with so many LEGO Minecraft kits available, choosing which one to pick was not easy. I know a lot of people around are familiar with this type of challenge, therefore I wanted to share with you 5 of my personal favourite sets.
The First Adventure (22169; 542 pieces)
Of course there is no better place to start your journey into Minecraft, than building a set named “The first adventure”. This kit is an average set size with just over 500 pieces and allows you to re-create a three-level structure that features the classic game levels.
The structure itself offers a few mechanical features to explore, such as the waterfall elevator (who has never done it?), a collapsible rail track section, sliding earth blocks and, of course, a lava-triggered explosion.
The kit also includes the iconic Steve and Alex characters together with a few between the most renown monster and animals.
The main reason I like this set is the overall “game levels” feeling that can bring to the table. It can also be easily expanded by adding more areas to each floor or it can be integrated into bigger kits like the next one.
The Skeleton Dungeon (21189; 364 pieces)
The skeleton dungeon is the very first kit featuring the recently released lush cave. The set is not only very fun to build but includes a lot of nice building elements as drip leaves, spore blossoms, vines and moss just to name a few. Moreover the set is quite large and offers a lot of space to move the characters.
As usual in all Minecraft kits, this has a few mechanical features that makes the set coming to life. First, we have a rock slide gizmo that is quite unique as it has a blocking mechanism to prevent the blocks to accidentally fall. In the centre of the structure the adventurers can then encounter a skeleton spawner with a rotating mini-skeleton figure inside. Last but not least the wall in the corner of the cave rotates to bring out a skeleton and mimics the spawning of the mob.
The overall theatrical effect in this kit is great and really brings out the challenge of exploring a cave with mobs that keep spawning. In addition, this set comes with a nice yellow coloured player character and three skeleton mobs that can add some good variety to your overall collection.
The Abandoned Village (21190; 422 pieces)
I always get very excited when I bump into a village while playing Minecraft. Whatever the village is still populated or it has been overran by the zombies, finding a village is a great experience and I found that this LEGO kit is great in bringing to the table the same level of excitement you have in the video game.
When you first assemble the set, you would probably like to build it as an abandoned village to start your adventure. The player mini-figuring starting will be a small camp featuring fireplace, bed, oven and crafting table and from there the adventurer can scout the village and challenge the zombies. Once the villagers and cobwebs vanquished, the base camp material can be used to re-build the main house of the village and claim back the village as the new base for the adventurers.
This kit is quite good as it can double as both an adventure for the players and a base camp/village for your collection. The elements of the kit are reasonably simple therefore if you have spare bricks from other kits you can easily build a larger village. Unfortunately, there are no villagers heads in this kit, therefore you can not turn the zombies into villagers unless you buy the heads or you get them from another kit. Other than this small miss, this kit offers a very good value.
The Bakery (21184; 154 pieces)
To remind that Minecraft is not only about exploring and fighting mobs, LEGO has made a few sets to help players building a nice and functional village for their stories. The Bakery is one of the smallest set one among them although I think it offers a lot to any player.
Even if the set is composed if not so many pieces, it allows players to build a small bakery shop with an annexed small field. As you can imagine, the purpose of the field is to provide wheat you can turn into bread at your crafting table. As you also have a cow to provide milk and a few eggs in this kit, players will also be able to bake a range of classic Minecraft recipes including the cake that is one of my personal favourites.
The fact that the kit includes both a villager and an adventurer is a nice touch as it helps bringing this shop to live. It also includes a creeper that is a very iconic Minecraft mob although not the one you really want to wonder in your village....
The Ice Castle (21186; 499 pieces)
Set in a slightly different biome with respect to most other Minecraft LEGO set, The Ice Castle can be both a great addition to a village or a nice place to explore during your adventures.
This set is on the medium size for both price and dimensions and it comes with a warrior, a yeti and 4 hostile mobs (2 skeletons and 2 zombies). The main feature of this kit is obviously the Ice Castle itself that can be either a base for other adventures or a place to defend. In both cases, this set will provide a nice defensive dispenser shooting arrows and a brewing stand that can add interesting aspect to any of your stories.
Safety assured – LEGO components are dropped, heated, crushed, twisted and analyzed to make sure they satisfy rigorous global safety standards.
Final Thoughts
As I mentioned at the beginning, I really like how Minecraft easily translates into the world of LEGO and how well curated are the bricks used and developed for this series. Building and playing Minecraft in real life is such a great experience and a nice way to bring the virtual world our kids loves into the real LEGO hobby.
As we reached the end of the list of my five favourite LEGO Minecraft kits, I really hope you enjoyed the reading. If you want, let us know your thoughts on ZATU discord server and tag us on social media @zatugames.