I think we can all agree… We spend A LOT of time looking at screens in this day and age. Whether it’s for work or play, whether we’re young or old, whether we mean to or not, screens have just populated every corner of our lives. And while we love our screens as much as the next person, it’s always nice when we’re finally able to disconnect from consuming content as it plays in front of our eyes and find the time to… touch grass, if you will; to engage with something that challenges our minds, bodies, and brains. At Nerdist, one of our favorite ways to find pleasure outside our screens involves a little brick you probably know and love. Yes, we’re talking about the LEGO brick. Unbelievably, the LEGO Group’s brilliant little brick came to life in 1958—and the brand has held fast to its traditional visions of what play should mean. But just because the LEGO brick is screenless doesn’t mean it can’t evolve. At CES 2026, which the LEGO Group was kind enough to invite us to, the brand revealed its latest innovation in screenless play, LEGO SMART Play, an evolution that brings technology into the world of the LEGO brand, expanding its possibilities and imagination without taking away from the pure heart of the brick.
What Is LEGO SMART Play?
But just what is LEGO SMART Play? The brand explains that LEGO SMART Play is “a new interactive platform where technology seamlessly brings LEGO sets to life, responding to actions with appropriate sounds and behaviours, allowing for a truly responsive play experience, all without screens.” In short, LEGO SMART Play allows you to fill your LEGO builds with sounds, lights, and other interactive facets that actually occur in response to how you are playing with any given LEGO set, taking your builds to the next level of immersion. Yes, your LEGO sets will soon generate build-relevant noises, let your Minifigures engage with their environments, and light up in meaningful ways as you play with them.
The LEGO Group calls LEGO SMART Play, “an interactive play experience” and “the most significant evolution in the LEGO System-in-Play since the introduction of the LEGO Minifigure in 1978.” And let us be the first to tell you that the LEGO Minifigure changed our lives, so we know this is major.
At the heart of LEGO SMART play is the LEGO SMART Brick. This brick, which at first glance looks like a normal (though, of course, iconic) 2×4 LEGO brick, contains a custom ASIC chip and is packed with technologies that bring your LEGO build to life. LEGO SMART Play brings LEGO play to life in the hands of fans.
How Does LEGO SMART Play Work?
But how does LEGO SMART Play work? Well, we won’t bore you with too many of the technicalities. Suffice to say, a lot of research has gone into creating “a platform that integrates advanced invisible technology that encourages intuitive, imaginative play without screens or the need for detailed instructions.”
The LEGO Group further shares that, “The LEGO SMART Brick is packed with technologies that bring play to life, including sensors, accelerometers, light sensing, and a sound sensor as well as a miniature speaker driven by an onboard synthesiser, and much more, in addition to easy wireless charging.”
Additionally, LEGO SMART Tags and LEGO SMART Minifigures work with the LEGO SMART Brick to power the system and “allow builders’ creations to become interactive, responding to actions with appropriate sounds and behaviours, allowing for a truly responsive play experience. All elements are compatible with the existing LEGO System-in-Play.”
The LEGO SMART Brick is AMAZING
As mentioned, the LEGO SMART Brick is identical to a 2×4 brick and can fit in with any existing elements of LEGO’s builds. The LEGO SMART Brick can interpret motion, distance, orientation, and magnetic fields in real time, allowing a build to become truly interactive. It can also produce real-time audio during play. LEGO SMART play’s responsive audio effects are tied to live play actions; they are not pre-recorded or timed. Additionally, the LEGO SMART Brick can detect movement, tilt, and gesture, which also trigger context-specific reactions to how the build is played with. LED lights provide ambient light responses and color sensing. And the chip inside this brick that makes it all possible is 4.1mm… smaller than a standard LEGO stud.
LEGO SMART Tags and LEGO SMART Minifigures Make LEGO Play Even More Immersive and Social Than Ever Before
Of course, it’s not just the LEGO SMART Brick alone that powers the LEGO SMART Play system. The LEGO SMART Brick works with LEGO SMART Tags and LEGO SMART Minifigures to trigger sounds, lights, and behaviors that are tied to placement and interactions.
The LEGO SMART Tags are 2×2 studless tiles that carry a unique digital ID that the LEGO SMART Brick can read and use to introduce context into its reactions and responses, allowing them to become specialized to a specific set. Meanwhile, LEGO SMART Minifigures look just like regular Minifigures, but they have a unique digital ID that, again, triggers the LEGO SMART Brick to create responses relevant to a specific play situation. The code in each of the SMART Minifigures give them their personality, some are grumpy, some are lovely, all are awesome.
BrickNet Lets LEGO SMART Bricks Connect
LEGO SMART Bricks can also act together. LEGO SMART Bricks connect via a Bluetooth-based BrickNet protocol, which allows LEGO SMART Bricks to share data. This enables richer play, allowing sets to communicate with one another.
The LEGO Group shares, “Without any setup, SMART Bricks are magically ‘aware’ of each other’s positions and orientations in 3D space, thanks to a novel, high-accuracy, magnetic positioning system. They can also communicate via a self-organising network that adapts to play. Advanced onboard systems let SMART Bricks comprehend and interact with each other, as well as the fans building with them.”
The LEGO SMART Bricks know how far apart they are, and where they are in time and space; they even know which direction another brick is facing. One brick and one tag can bring a huge range of models to life. A SMART brick can be used to create hundreds, maybe thousands of interactive builds.
Does LEGO SMART Play Use AI?
No! While AI is a buzzword of so much technology these days, LEGO SMART Play does not involve AI in any capacity.
Why Is LEGO SMART Play So Important?
Undoubtedly, LEGO SMART Play is really freaking cool. But what makes it so important? Well, as we mentioned, there’s a dearth of options in screenless play today. But just because a form of play doesn’t involve screens doesn’t mean it can’t evolve or incorporate the cool technologies at our disposal today. LEGO SMART Play isn’t trying to transform LEGO into something it isn’t. Although its technology is awesome, the purpose of it isn’t just to create new tech, but to enhance the traditional play that has always been at the heart of the LEGO brand.
The foundation of the LEGO build is the brick. But the LEGO brick can continue to evolve and incorporate new ways to play without losing the hands-on, creative experience it encourages. Bringing light, sound, interaction, and novel levels of immersion to the LEGO brick simply allows the incredible imagination it fosters to grow even more powerful. This is truly a beautiful way to use technology. The LEGO Group is putting technological advancements to work to bolster something that is already so good, rather than trying to rewrite or erase it, as we’ve seen happen in so many other arenas.
What LEGO Sets Belong to the LEGO SMART Play Collection?
The LEGO SMART Play collection will launch with three LEGO Star Wars sets: LEGO® Star Wars™ SMART Play™: Luke’s Red Five X-Wing building set™, LEGO® Star Wars™ SMART Play™: Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter™ building set, and LEGO® Star Wars™ SMART Play™: Throne Room Duel & A-Wing™ building set.
These first LEGO SMART Play building sets will be “All-In-One” sets – products that contain all the elements required for a full LEGO SMART Play experience: including a LEGO SMART Brick with charger, and at least 1x LEGO SMART Minifigure and LEGO SMART Tag.
You can learn all about them here.
When Will LEGO Smart Play Products Release?
LEGO SMART Play will officially launch on March 1st, 2026. The LEGO SMART Play™ All-in-One sets from LEGO Star Wars will be available for pre-order from January 9th and available to purchase from the March 1st from www.LEGO.com, LEGO Stores, and select retailers in launcah markets.
LEGO SMART Play will continue to expand with new updates, sets, and technologies. For more information about LEGO SMART Play™ – visit: https://www.lego.com/smart-play.