LEGO Playwaves is a world-first, Google voice experience that lets kids turn old LEGO bricks into new sonic adventures. Kids can access Lego Playwaves by simply saying “Hey Google, talk to LEGO Playwaves” on any Google-assistant device. This will then launch the app, which allows kids to explore five different sonic worlds: Magical Kingdom, Downtown Detective, Ace Racer, Space Academy, and Animal Kingdom.

In each world, kids are given missions they can play along to using their LEGO bricks. A narrator prompts them to use voice commands to progress through each mission.

As part of every mission, kids will be asked to build things. If they don’t want to play a mission, they can access ‘Free Play Mode’. This provides kids with background music and SFX based on the world they’re in. Kids can even request SFX in the world as they play.

LEGO in recent years launched its first brand platform in 30 years – Rebuild the World. So to help continue rebuilding the world, we looked to see how we could rebuild the world of play for kids by getting them away from screens and back to using their imaginations. Introducing LEGO Playwaves.

LEGO Playwaves was launched on Google voice assistants because of its penetration across the world with over 500 million monthly users.

Using only their imagination and the LEGO bricks they had at home, kids were able to access five sonic worlds – Magical Kingdom, Downtown Detective, Ace Racer, Space Academy, and Animal Kingdom – simply by saying “OK Google, talk to LEGO Playwaves”.

We chose the worlds based on popular themes in both the LEGO universe and amongst our young demographic. The sound effects took inspiration from both real life sounds and those found in cartoons.

When it came to the different characters of LEGO Playwaves, we brought in some of Australia’s best character voiceover artists. This allowed us to create vibrant characters that kids could visualise with their imaginations – without the aid of a screen.

LEGO Playwaves was launched in response to COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns, when parents were finding their kids spending more and more time in front of screens. Three of the sonic worlds launched in time for the Australian school holidays followed by two additional worlds to maintain the excitement of LEGO Playwaves.