LEGO Star Wars SMART Play's ugliest set has the best play feature

LEGO Star Wars 75422 Yoda's Hut and Jedi Training might not look great, but it's hiding a genuinely engaging play feature.

75422 Yoda's Hut and Jedi Training has caught some flak for its looks, especially when it comes to its Technic-based side build. As well as a chunky but well-designed version fo Yoda's hut, there's a black contraption for Yoda to stand on that doesn't look like anything you'd find on Dagobah in the films.

Looks aren't everything, however, and an early review of the set from LEGO YouTuber MandRProductions shows how the play function works. Yoda balances on the lower level, with brick-built 'weights' moving the entire contraption around so Yoda is moved through the air.

It mimics Luke's Jedi training, where Yoda trained him to use the Force to move objects around. If you imagine the Technic elements of the build are invisible, the play feature is truly engaging, especially when you consider it's geared towards a younger audience.

That said, MandRProductions does point out that the SMART Play functions don't do a lot to enhance the existing function. Yoda makes noises when weights are added when you include the SMART Brick, but there's no greater depth to it than that. Considering SMART Play hikes up the cost of these LEGO Star Wars sets, the fact that its main function works perfectly well without it should raise some eyebrows about that perceived value.

Nonetheless, it drives home a point about these sets in general that they are meant for play, not display. The design compromises (with many areas being chunkier than you might expect from a LEGO set) are all made with SMART Play compatibility and play purposes in mind – and 75422 Yoda's Hut and Jedi Training is a case in point that, when a LEGO set is designed for play, it doesn't necessarily need to look good to older LEGO fans.

You can see the play feature in action via the embedded video from MandRProductions below.