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Set Review: 21305 Maze
 Sunday, March 13th, 2016 at 5:39pm by Andrew, BZPower News ManagerLEGO may have just recently announced the newest LEGO Ideas sets, but 21305 Maze hasn't even been released yet! Thankfully, we were able to get our hands on the set early and today are sharing our thoughts on it with you all. Will you make your way to the center of the labyrinth for this set or will it leave you searching for something better? Read on to check out our video and review! BZPower kindly thanks The LEGO group for providing us with this set. The LEGO Group would like us to tell you that the opinions and comments presented in this review are those of the reviewer and BZPower and are not endorsed or backed by The LEGO Group. BZPower is a fan-site and is not a part of or paid by The LEGO Group to give a certain viewpoint on their products or company. Presentation
Like other LEGO Ideas sets, the Maze comes in a nice resealable box showing off the model. The whole package has a nice maze design to it that's really fitting. The front shows off the model and advertises the fact that the instructions give you inspiration to design other maze layouts. The back explains the LEGO Ideas process and shows off the fact that you can move the maze around. We also see that there are instructions for two very different maze layouts and that the maze board can be popped out. The inspiration in the instructions is also called out again. Building
The set contains 769 pieces, which is a hefty amount. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that, despite the outside symmetric appearance, the interior is hardly simple and straightforward. There's a bit of Technic construction, which adds to the complexity in a good way. The build is very engaging and while there's certainly some parts that are mirrored, I didn't feel that it was very repetitive at all. The game boards were probably the most tedious, with all of the tiles, but at least it's not the same thing over and over again. I definitely enjoyed the whole process overall. Set Design
The inventory for the set isn't available yet, but nothing really jumped out at me as being especially unique. The obvious exception is the orange ball for the maze, which is the old soccer ball from the early 2000s sets. It has appeared in this color in some Friends and Juniors sets, but it's still pretty uncommon. Aside from that, there's a lot of tan parts in a variety of shapes, especially tiles. There's a good bit of black too, but nothing out of the ordinary. It's a varied selection, and good if you're looking for tan in bulk.
The final model looks quite top notch, and captures the look of the classic maze game very well. I remember playing these as a kid, and the look and feel is spot on. It's also quite sturdy and can hold up to some pretty tough play. I like the contrast between the tan and the black, which clearly indicates where the action is going to be taking place. Like most LEGO Ideas sets, this will look great on display.
The game board of the maze is removable, allowing you to more easily customize it to your liking. It also allows you to see the inner workings, which is a nice touch. One of the cool things is the color-coding, which helps with the construction and lets you see what does what. Something simple like this really adds to the quality and presentation of the model.
The second game board has a castle theme, which is really cool and adds some nice variety. There's lots of nice little details like bridges, castles, houses, and trees that your eyes get drawn to, creating an entire miniature countryside. On the downside, you can only build one board or the other at a time, as there's only one set of plates to place everything on. Even if you had extra plates, many of the parts from the traditional maze are used in the castles too. This makes it a bit tedious to switch between boards, since you have to completely take apart one to build the other, and the tiles don't make that easy.
Once you've built the second board (or one of your own design), it's easy to place it right into the maze game. Then you're ready to go!
The last bit to show off is the box to hold the balls. It's very simple but quite effective, and as you'll see, it fits in really well with the set as a whole. Playability
This is far and away the most playable LEGO Ideas set so far, and seeing as it's a game, one of the more playable LEGO sets since the LEGO Games were canceled. The ball box is stored under one corner of the maze board, and there's a block under the opposite corner to keep the board from moving around when not in use. Pop them out, open the box, grab a ball, and you're ready to play! Two knobs on either side allow you to turn the maze along two axes to move the ball around the maze. The control is really precise and has a good feel to it. The maze is actually pretty challenging and even with some practice I had a hard time getting the ball all the way through it. Scattered throughout the board are 2x2 areas with no tiles that the balls can get stuck in, and steering clear of them can be quite tricky. I found the castle maze to be much easier to complete, probably because it focuses on appearance over function. With the customizable board, the playability is increased even more. You can challenge yourself or your friends and make different mazes to keep things interesting. All-in-all, it's a lot of fun to play and one of the more engaging sets I've built in a while. Final Thoughts
The LEGO Ideas Maze is a great addition to the line. It's cool to see a set not based on a license, and it offers a ton of playability in addition to looking great on display. It's rather pricey at $69.99 but has 769 pieces, with a lot of good parts in tan, which seems to me like a great value. If you're looking for a set to build, play with, and customize, the Maze will be a solid choice when it releases on April 1st. Thanks once again to LEGO for sending BZPower this set early to review. We hope you enjoyed our look at this set - let us know what you think in the Talkback and in the comments on YouTube. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them there as well. Keep checking back on BZPower for more LEGO reviews and news!
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