Lego is using CES 2026 to argue that the future of toys is not on a screen, but back on the living room floor. With its new Smart Play system and a computer-packed Smart Brick at the center, the company is trying to fold sensors, sound and light into its classic studs-and-tubes without changing how kids actually build. The ambition is simple and radical at once: make the technology powerful enough to matter, yet subtle enough that it effectively disappears during play.
That balancing act lands at a moment when parents are exhausted by tablets and algorithmic feeds, but children still expect their toys to react, respond and remember. Lego is betting that if it can hide the circuitry inside familiar plastic, it can satisfy both instincts, turning Smart Play into a new layer of its long-running System-in-Play rather than a replacement.
Smart Play as Lego’s biggest bet since the minifigure
Inside the company, Smart Play is being framed as one of the most significant shifts in decades, on par with the arrival of the minifigure in 1978. The Lego Group has described the platform as its most ambitious innovation in years, positioning it as an evolution of the existing System-in-Play rather than a separate tech toy line, a point underscored in detailed explainers on Everything fans need to know. In official materials, LEGO SMART Play is defined as “a new interactive platform where technology seamlessly brings LEGO sets to life,” language that makes clear the company wants the bricks, not the chips, to stay in the foreground, as outlined in its own SMART Play description.
That ambition is backed by a concrete roadmap. LEGO SMART Play launches on March 1, 2026, with the company promising ongoing updates, new launches and technical improvements that will roll out over time, according to its formal announcement. The Lego Group is also signaling that this is not a side project but a core strategy, with marketing leaders quoted describing Smart Play as a foundational change in how the brand will modernize its bricks, a framing echoed in coverage of how the Lego Group is betting on the platform.
The Smart Brick: a tiny computer that still looks like Lego
At the center of Smart Play is the Smart Brick, a familiar 2×4-shaped element that hides a full embedded computer. At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Lego presented it as a “smallest computer” contender that still snaps into regular builds, complete with onboard processing, sensors, a speaker and wireless charging, as detailed in hands-on reports from Las Vegas. Another close look described how this “smart brick” brings a high-tech layer to the LEGO system while being treated less like a gadget and more like infrastructure, a subtle but important distinction in design coverage of the smart brick.
The hardware is designed to work without phones or tablets, relying instead on motion, orientation and connection sensing to trigger lights, sounds and story beats. Lego has emphasized that Smart Play sets do not require screens, a point reinforced in early product breakdowns that describe interactive, responsive elements that react when a ship is tilted toward the sky or turned upside down, as seen in technical rundowns of Smart Play. That choice is central to the “tech in the background” philosophy: the Smart Brick behaves like a hidden engine, not a new toy kids have to learn.
Screen-free interaction that lets imagination lead
In early demos, what stands out is how quickly the electronics recede once building begins. Reviewers who tried Lego Smart Play on the CES show floor described how, after the initial novelty of pairing and setup, the technology faded into the background and the focus shifted back to swooshing ships and staging battles, with one account noting that Smart Play “makes one thing clear very quickly: this is for play,” as captured in impressions from Lego Smart Play. Another hands-on report described brick-built starfighters that react in real time to battling each other, banking and firing with audio and light cues that respond to motion rather than button presses, a level of responsiveness detailed in coverage of brick-built sets.
That design choice is not accidental. In its own behind-the-scenes account of how the system was developed, LEGO describes a long process of “balancing the tech” so that the Smart Brick and its companions enhance, rather than replace, open-ended building, a philosophy laid out in its “How we made the LEGO SMART Play system” How explainer. External observers have picked up on the same theme, with one CES roundup naming Lego Smart Play the “Best toy” of the show and praising how high-tech Lego is finally divorcing itself from screens and smartphones, highlighting that once it is set up “it just does” what kids expect, as summarized in a live blog that singled out Best toy.
Star Wars as launchpad and proof of concept
To give Smart Play the best chance of landing with families, Lego is leaning on one of its most reliable partners: Star Wars. The first wave of sets is built around starfighters and characters from the galaxy far, far away, with pre-orders for initial Smart Play sets, which will debut with Star Wars themes, opening on January 9, 2026, ahead of a global rollout that integrates seamlessly with the existing Lego System-in-Play, as detailed in a launch Pre announcement. One early look described how all of these elements come together to offer brick-built starfighters that react in real time to battling each other, with the Smart Brick’s speaker and sensors driving the experience, a level of integration detailed in coverage of All of the new sets.
Lego is explicit about why it chose this universe. Company representatives have said they are betting the extremely broad appeal of Star Wars to help Smart Play find an audience, arguing that if the concept works in a market as crowded as licensed sci-fi, it can work anywhere, a strategy outlined in analysis of how Lego is trying to make tech invisible. Early impressions from long-time fans suggest the gamble is paying off, with one writer in their 70s describing Smart Play at CES as a “first” that offered a simplified way to immerse themselves in Star Wars scenes without needing an app, a reaction captured in detailed impressions that note how Even older fans found the system intuitive.
Parents, pedagogy and the long game for physical play
Behind the flashy CES demos, Smart Play is also a response to deeper anxieties about childhood and screens. Lego has been clear that Smart Play is designed to keep kids’ attention on physical building, not on phones, describing it as a way to bring sound, light and motion to iconic toys while staying screen-free, a positioning summarized in a briefing that explains how The Brief for SMART Play works. Other coverage notes that Lego is introducing electronic elements in building blocks for interactive play at CES 2026, framing the move as a way to modernize without abandoning the tactile, constructive experience that has defined the brand, as seen in reports on how Lego Introduces Electronic in Building Blocks for Interactive Play.
From a design perspective, Smart Play is also meant to be future-proofed. Official materials stress that the platform will continue to expand and grow with new updates, launches and technologies, suggesting that the Smart Brick is only the first step in a longer evolution of the system, a point reiterated in the LEGO SMART Play SMART Play roadmap. Retail listings already hint at a range of sets and accessories that will plug into this ecosystem, from starter kits to more advanced builds, as seen in early product listings and additional product previews, as well as further product entries tied to the launch.
For Lego, the stakes are clear. At CES 2026, the company framed Smart Play and the Smart Brick as a massive leap into the future of physical play, arguing that the system adds a digital layer without changing how kids play, a message repeated in social posts that describe how, at CES, the Lego Group unveiled Smart Brick and Smart Play as its most significant change in years, while insisting that the core experience remains building, as seen in the Lego Smart Play reveal. Another official overview describes SMART Play as a new interactive platform where technology seamlessly brings LEGO sets to life in the hands of fans, reinforcing the idea that the magic should feel like it comes from the bricks themselves, not from a visible gadget, as laid out in the brand’s own LEGO messaging. If Smart Play succeeds, it will not be because the Smart Brick is a tiny computer, but because, in the heat of play, children forget there is any computer there at all.
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