Lego fans of a certain age had a bit of a moment last month when pizza delivery kid Pepper Roni — yes, from the 1997 classic Lego Island — appeared in a trailer for a new video game.
The red-haired hero, last seen more than two decades ago, has been revived by the Lego Group for a beautiful appearance in Lego Tycoon: Tilted Towers – a game designed for a very different generation of Lego fans, but that this Lego Island veteran has also had fun with.
Lego Tycoon is the latest licensed experience for the brick-building brand to launch in Fortnite, following the arrival of Epic Games’ flagship Lego Fortnite mode last year and a series of smaller, more experimental mini-games since then . It’s made by Beyond Creative, a Dublin-based development studio dedicated entirely to building Fortnite games.
A mix of the popular tycoon genre, Fortnite’s most iconic location and millions of virtual Lego bricks, Lego Tycoon: Tilted Towers is the most accomplished Lego experience yet outside of Epic mode – and helps raise the bar for what can be created in Fortnite’s powerful UEFN creative toolset.
It’s also just a clever concept. Tilted Towers is notorious for crashing and rebuilding many times throughout Fortnite’s history, with more near-apocalyptic blunders and complete commits than any Fortnite fan can count. The idea, then, that you’re rebuilding the city is a clever one – and the fact that you’re seeing it faithfully recreated in Lego for the first time is also fun. It’s very different from Lego Island, of course, but as a small island filled with bricks and digital Lego characters – Pepper Roni, not least – its vibe isn’t a million miles off.
“It’s been about a year, it’s been a long time,” Beyond Creative boss Kasper Weber told me in a video call, discussing the genesis of the project. “But it’s been a pleasure working together with the Lego group. And we’ve been able to see that [UEFN] the tools are being built alongside the game.”
Beyond Creative is one of the few development studios focused entirely on building games for Fortnite and has previously worked to create experiences for brands such as Nike, Nvidia, Balenciaga and the NFL.
“We’ve only been working on Fortnite for the last three and a half years, so we’re very specialized,” Weber noted.
“[Tilted Towers] it’s one of the most iconic locations,” he continued. “We brought one of the most popular POIs to Fortnite and thought it would be fun to build with Lego bricks. We predicted that the tycoon genre would be popular and they are really good in the Fortnite game ecosystem.”
The entire game takes about three hours to complete, depending on how efficiently you manage your time, resources, and money. Are you happy to let the game run its course, or do you rush to optimize your income wherever possible? (The latter.) Do you invest in hiring miners to collect resources for you? (Yes.) But then how much money should you spend on upgrading them, versus buying new buildings for passive income? (It’s a good balance.)
There are moments that feel rewarding when your setup is working, money and resources are pouring in, and all you have to do is wait a few minutes, feet up, to be able to progress. It’s at these times now that I dare to leave the game running while I go make a cup of tea, hoping nothing goes wrong. But earlier I would feel compelled to stay alert, or maybe earn a little extra cash by visiting one of the businesses I just built to get a side quest. You can stop at Pepper Roni’s pizzeria, for example, and earn an extra crust or two by entering a delivery contest.
From time to time, the entire SIM grinds to a halt as Lego Tycoon recreates one of Fortnite’s apocalyptic events – the massive flood of its map. Otherwise, you might have to fight off a wave of zombies, Fortnitemares style. Or, more positively, follow a loot-laden llama for a nice reward.
“I’m from Denmark myself, so I grew up with Lego sets all over the house. And we’ve got some fun Easter eggs planned in there,” says Weber when I ask about Pepper Roni’s involvement. There are now even more Lego Island references in the game, it seems, with the addition of XP awards titled with further references to the video game classic.
How has Lego Tycoon performed within Fortnite — a game that’s now as much platformer as it is battle royale — compared to expectations? Sure, the experience got a marketing push from Epic Games when it launched, though its player count has since declined.
“The key to this experience in particular is doing something new with the Lego brick in Fortnite,” Weber replies. “It’s a playground to learn which games will work in the Fortnite ecosystem and which games won’t. And we’re excited to see that our game, early on, has seen such great player engagement and feedback and player comments. – How happy and excited they are about this game.”
More updates to Lego Tycoon are on the horizon, and I’m eager to see what’s added next as the wait for the inevitable, as-yet-unannounced Lego Fortnite physical sets continues. Now, what is Brickster doing?