A Brief History of LEGO Star Wars Games

These were the games that started it all! LEGO Star Wars: The Video Games — released in 2005 shortly before the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith hit cinemas — covers the events of the prequel trilogy, including Episode III. This game acted as the first version of Revenge of the Sith that the public was able to view, offering an interesting LEGO brick-ified first look at the thrilling conclusion of the entire trilogy and Anakin Skywalker’s fall to darkness. The game was also the first LEGO title developed by Traveller’s Tales, the studio that has since become the premier game developer trusted by The LEGO Company to create the majority of the business’ videogame titles.

This notable turning point brought us the introduction of the classic gameplay we all know and love, with players able to run through detailed LEGO brick recreations of the beloved films and destroy as much of the scenery as they wish in order to collect studs. The game was soon followed by LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy in 2006. With the new title covering the classic movies and delivering another major success, LEGO and Star Wars had all but cemented a beautiful partnership. But with Traveller’s Tales’ next Star Wars game, both of these titles would be rendered obsolete.

In 2007, The Complete Saga flew onto the scene, all but combining the prior two instalments in a massive collection of six film adaptations. It feels a tad silly to still call it a “complete saga” when The Skywalker Saga covers three additional Star Wars movies, but at the time, this collection could not have been understated. With new characters and even a few new levels, The Complete Saga quickly became the definitive method of playing through the LEGO Star Wars series. 

It took a few years until Traveller’s Tales delivered another major instalment, but along the way, a handful of browser games were created to be played on LEGO.com. These were The Quest for R2D2 in 2009 followed by Ace Assault and its sequel Ace Assault II in 2011. These last two were released in the same year as the series’ next major title…

Based around the animated film and the first two seasons of the subsequent television series of the same name, The Clone Wars followed the adventures of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and others as they fight against Count Dooku and the Separatists. And, unlike the other major titles featured in this article, The Clone Wars focuses on events that The Skywalker Saga hasn’t covered. Admittedly, a large group of DLC levels could theoretically change that, but for now, this is the only way to experience the events of The Clone Wars in LEGO form! Sadly, however, that also means everything past the second season of the show hasn’t yet been given the LEGO treatment in game form, but until then, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is a great way to enjoy the series.

Even more side games came out following The Clone Wars, though this next batch shifted its focus from web browsers to mobile smartphones. There was Battle Orders in 2012 for iPhones and PCs, described as an RTS game featuring three different playable Anakins; LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles and LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles in 2013 and 2014 for iPhones, both based on the LEGO Star Wars animated series of the same name; and LEGO Star Wars: Microfighters in 2014 for iPhones and Androids, based on the Microfighters LEGO kits.

That brings us to 2016 and the release of LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, marking both the first major LEGO Star Wars game with voice acting but also the first that was centred around a single Star Wars media entry. While a large chunk of the game focused on the events of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and the adventures of Rey, Finn, and Poe, the game also added in events that played out between that film and Episode VI. This was primarily original content, exploring how the universe came to be the one we see in the movie proper. This was likely done to provide more room to add in additional levels and keep the game from being the smallest entry to date. 

However, Traveller’s Tales didn’t stop there! The game also featured a Season Pass that comes included with the Deluxe Edition. In addition to a wide variety of character packs that add characters from across the franchise, the Season Pass included three levels that offered new points of view in major moments from the film, like Poe Dameron’s quest to get back to the Resistance and Kylo Ren’s assault on Takodana.

In the years since, we’ve had three more LEGO Star Wars games, though two are exclusively available through Apple Arcade on iPhones. These are LEGO Star Wars: Battles, which focuses on real-time PvP with a variety of collectible units, and LEGO Star Wars: Castaways, where players can create their own minifigures and explore a secret world filled with action adventure and social gameplay. Both were released in 2021 and seem to still be actively supported.

The most recent LEGO Star Wars title is, of course, the one that’s on sale now: LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, released in the current year of 2022. The Skywalker Saga explores all three of the major trilogies and provides hours upon hours of classic LEGO fun. And hopefully, it’s just getting started. There are already extra characters available as DLC or in the Deluxe Edition, so hopefully there’s more where they came from.

You can pick up the LEGO Star Wars games which are available in the Gaming Legends Sale.