Playable Medieval Knight Tournament

This set is to play, not to display!! There are a lots of cool LEGO ideas with incredible detail, which look awesome on shelves… but shouldn't LEGO be about playing and having fun? That's what I am trying to do differently with this Idea. This set is designed for children and has been tested on them.

Knock out your opponent by bravely charging your knight using an operational jousting track!

Before the fight starts, each player can customise their knight's gear (aim, grip and angle of the lance and the shield), the angle of the horse's head, etc. If you want to be more creative with your undefeatable knight, try the Freestyle Jousting, where you can modify almost anything (see the homemade video of children playing on a prototype at the bottom).

The whole set consists of 1540 bricks, of which 472 are chain links.

I tried to balance the level of detail so that it remained functional and highly playable. Each jousting track consists of 2 chains. The chains are set in motion by 2 cogwheels. The knight on horseback has to stand on a platform with 2 teeth on each side to be stable on the chains and to react to the player's movements.

Unfortunately, I had to make a compromise and design the jousting field without the "tilt" (the barrier between the jousters) because it would hinder the horses during a fight, especially those wearing a caparison. But at the end of the day, it is important that the jousting field is sturdy enough to withstand a bunch of excited children playing the game.

The design of the grandstand and knight's tent was inspired by medieval manuscripts. The aim was to be a little more historically accurate than similar designs. I also deliberately used simple baseplates, because baseplates are much more comfortable to play with than detailed grass terrain etc.

The Freestyle Jousting is very popular with the children who played it. You can modify the knight and horse as you like, using any bricks you find around the house. To make it fair, try to follow the 4 basic rules below (but hey, it's Freestyle, so do whatever you want!):

Of course, there are ways to bypass the rules and hack the game. But that's not the point. Just have fun!