Lego Horizon Adventures will turn your kids into PlayStation fans

This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Of all the announcements featured at this year’s Summer Game Fest,Lego Horizon Adventures had to be the most surprising (unless you follow the video game rumor mill closely). The upcoming game takes the world of Horizon Zero Dawn and rebuilds it in a way that’s kid-friendly. Rather than dishing out intricate combat and a mature narrative, it’s a playful adventure that turns the open world of Horizon into a level-based sandbox.

Though the news may have left a few fans scratching their heads, the project was a no-brainer for Guerilla Games. In fact, the studio saw a natural partnership between Horizon and Lego. Both properties dish out bright colors, lean on optimistic themes, and have inclusive fan bases. One may tell a dystopian story of a postapocalypse brought on by corporate greed, but Guerilla Games believes the two ideas snap together like bricks.

While fans will ultimately be the judge of that, I did get to see that philosophy in action at this year’s Summer Game Fest. I went hands-on with Lego Horizon Adventures, getting a good feel for its humor, approachable combat, and co-op play that’s built for families. Guerilla Games gave me a clear picture of why it believes Horizon will translate as a kid’s game — a decision that helped drive its surprise Nintendo Switch release.

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Connecting parents and kids

As explained to me in an interview with James Windeler, narrative director at Guerilla Games, the concept for a Horizon Lego game came together around the same time that the companies partnered to create their Lego Tallneck set (and yes, Lego Tallnecks will appear in the game). The two agreed that the brands were a great match and Lego Horizon Adventures was born. Windeler tells me that