Someone should make a game about: the Lego Brick Separator Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Someone should make a game about: the Lego Brick Separator Lever be. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Published on 24 Jun 2020 33 comments I had been out of the Lego scene for a while by the time my daughter started playing with the stuff. In the sets she opened there was often this odd thing that put me in mind of a ski, or maybe even a ski slope. It didn't seem to be part of the main design. It looked more like a tool, albeit one whose purpose struck me as being slightly alien. My daughter knew what it is, and, actually, it is a tool. It's the Lego Brick Separator. As far as I can understand the Separator goes back in lineage to 1987, which is about the time I stopped playing with Lego. The tool is a beautiful thing, often orange or teal, a slope with a few funny bits at the wide end. This tool has three main purposes, I gather: a wedge for separating bricks from base plates, a lever for applying pressure up or down to pull bricks away, and a sort of pokey bit for removing wheels from axels. I love it because it feels so useful - it has an aura of deep utility to it. And I also love it because it acknowledges the sort of shadow world of Lego, that you build with it, sure, but you also have to take it apart. When I was a kid, the main Lego brick Separator was either fingernails or teeth. This one feels much safer. It's also fun to just carry around in a pocket with all your other junk and maybe feel like you're a bit more prepared for the world. Lego and video games have an interesting history. I'm not sure that the massive sellers actually have that much to do with Lego - certainly not as much to do with the brick aspect as the branding aspect, which certainly Lego is brilliantly gifted with. When Apple Arcade gave us Lego Builder's Journey it felt like a step towards more of Lego's brickiness. Here was a puzzle game whose dioramas seemed to actually be built of bricks. The stars were not the licenses like Marvel or Lord of the Rings, but the iconic pieces from sets themselves. It was a world of Lego that came from the big tub of parts which is always the centre of any good Lego collection. Doodads and baseplates and studs and all that stuff. It was extremely refreshing. I think the Lego Brick Separator could fit in somewhere like that. A puzzle game, perhaps, about working things backwards, taking them apart, and acknowledging that a central Lego state is all about doodling with plastic, letting your hands work, getting a feel for what's right - and what's wrong and needs to come apart. Lego has lasted because you can take it apart. Sure, the licensing is extremely creative and tinged with genius - I am desperate for the Bjarke Ingels Lego House set, and the Ghostbusters HQ - but this stuff lives on so long and passes from one generation to the next because you can take down what's old and rebuild something new. It's reinvention and imagination, and who doesn't need a handy tool to help with that? Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 12 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 59 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 4 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store