LEGO Gets SMART
New “SMART Play bricks” may change what it’s like to play with LEGO building sets.
© 2025 The LEGO Group
LEGO SMART minifigures and SMART bricks can react to each other by lighting up, making sounds, and more.
LEGO plastic building bricks haven’t changed much in more than 60 years. But the classic toy is set for a major change this year, when LEGO introduces its SMART Play system. The system’s electronic bricks, minifigures, and tiles will be able to sense and react to each other with lights, sounds, and more.
LEGO users can add the SMART Play bricks to anything they decide to build. But unlike regular LEGO bricks, SMART Play bricks contain lights, sensors, and other technology. SMART Play bricks, minifigures, and tiles can sense and react to one another by lighting up or making sounds.
What are some ways to use the SMART Play system? A helicopter that’s built using the system will make “whooshing” noises if it’s moved around. Two cars built using the system can react if they’re pushed to race each other. The cars will make engine noises while they’re moving and even crash noises if they flip over.
© 2025 The LEGO Group
Two kids play with a LEGO Star Wars SMART Play building set.
The SMART Play system will be introduced in March 2026, with the release of three new Star Wars LEGO sets. The sets come with minifigures of Luke Skywalker and other famous Star Wars characters, along with bricks for building starfighters and other vehicles.
Not everyone is excited about the SMART Play system. Josh Golin, of a children’s health group called Fairplay, told the BBC that adding electronics to LEGO sets gives kids less of a chance to use their imaginations.
“As anyone who has ever watched a child play with old-school Legos knows, children’s Lego creations already do move and make noises through the power of children’s imaginations,” Golin said.
© Tom Dulat—The LEGO Group/Getty Images
A LEGO SMART brick is shown at a 2026 LEGO event in London, England.
But the LEGO company says LEGO bricks still give users the chance to be creative by building the sets and making up their own ways to play with them. Tom Donaldson of LEGO says SMART Play bricks only add to the fun of using LEGO bricks.
“The launch of LEGO SMART Play brings creativity, technology and storytelling together to make building worlds and stories even more engaging, and all without a screen,” Donaldson said.
