Set Review ➟ 21119 The Dungeon (Minecraft)
As a complete Minecraft novice I had to let my daughters put me up to speed about this “exciting universe” of what some have called “unending virtual LEGO”. My first encounter has been through the 21119—The Dungeon set.
With 219 parts this is the smallest set in this year’s LEGO Minecraft lineup. As is to be expected in this theme, the bricks included in the set are mostly basic—lots of 2x2, 2x4 and some larger bricks as well as a fair amount of plates. There are some “special” bricks though, including a number of small printed plates and tiles to build the mini zombie that goes in the cage (spawner as I learned reading up on the game) and a second one with the spare parts. The set does, however, come with three minifigures—Minecraft style. The square heads of Steve and the two zombies fit well with the Minecraft theme, but don’t feel quite “LEGO”.
But let’s go back to the scene. For someone who doesn’t know anything about the game, the first impression is that of a very blocky and somewhat strange scene of a dungeon with a caged zombie baby (a microscale zombie!) and some play features somewhere halfway between odd and interesting. The most obvious of the feature is the trap wall that brings out the second zombie—not exactly a typical Minecraft feature—and a rotating mini zombie in a cage. The set feels unstable and poorly executed to the “untrained” eye.
Digging a little further into Minecraft lore, however, it turns out the scene is a more than reasonable depiction of a typical Minecraft scene. Steve goes into a dungeon to dig out a treasure chest and “neutralise” a zombie spawner by placing torches around it—torches that are also present in the set. In addition there are a few “authentic” Minecraft blocks, built up with plates that maintain the essence of the theme.
So what is the final verdict? For anyone not into Minecraft, the set is little more than a collection of basic bricks and some odd minifigs. For the Minecraft fan, the set represents an iconic scene, but the lack of stability of the build and the inconsistencies in block height make it look a lot more LEGO than Minecraft. That’s not a bad thing in my opinion. One of the things that have always irked me about Minecraft scenes is how completely square they are and this LEGO rendering it somehow aesthetically more pleasing. To the child that is a Minecraft fan, this must be the best of both worlds: physical Minecraft, designed to be redesigned.
Speaking of which, the set also includes “inspiration”—instructions to take of 8 bricks and replace 5 in a different place to slightly modify the scene. A bit poor, though certainly in the spirit of both LEGO and Minecraft. I hope kids who buy the set will be more creative and turn it into anything their imagination inspires them to.
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