Set Recommendations: 2025

I write my recommendation posts to help people develop a good 'GM tackle box' of characters, terrain, and monsters, and I assume a budget of about $150 a year. (Hello inflation) I recommend things that are useful out of the box, and that help level up your building skills, so you can make similar things with loose bricks.

The top recommendation this year is Surprising Spider ($13 list but most places are selling it under $10):

It's a 3-in-1 that also gives you a scorpion and a snake. Any one of the 3 builds is almost perfect for a boss fight. (To make it better, take some plates off the top so more studs are visible, allowing the characters to climb on top of the monsters.) Have the party disassemble it in game, then rebuild a different version for the next session.

There's also Medieval Dragon, but it's just too big, so I don't recommend it unless your party is already level 16+ and needs something more epic after years of fighting normal enemies. And if you want a big dragon, you are better off with Rontu which is cheaper and has four good minis.

Giant boss fights are fun, but you also want encounters with many enemies, and making minifig-scale monsters that can fit within a 2x2 space on a battle mat can be challenging. The $35 Creative Dinosaurs set is a good answer to that. It will make several monsters and terrain pieces, and you'll learn the skills to make your own minifig-scale brick-built monsters to match things in the monster manual.

The Classic and Creator lines are giving us a lot this year. They have a new castle, replacing the recently-retired one that I recommended in 2021, and it looks quite nice. But there's something even better: The $90 Haunted Mansion (review with more pictures)

This has five monster minis you will use all the time (six if you count that tree) and a dollhouse-style site to explore. You can use it as is, or break it into separate dungeon rooms and connect them with simple walls.

Rounding out the budget with a smaller set, you have a few options depending on what your campaign needs (or what you find on sale):

Green Forest Dragon and Dragonian Storm Village continue the Ninjago tradition of efficiently priced terrain and fun minis and weapons. This is good for many D&D games, although it will pull you towards a macho or combat oriented aesthetic that might not be best for some playgroups.

Charms Class is good terrain if you want a more sedate magical feel.

Mateo vs. Cyber Brain Mech if you want another boss monster with a Spelljammer or Planescape aesthetic.

Windmill Village Hut if you want a coastal or pirate setting.

Peely & Sparkplug's Camp if you want an adventurer mini with a good mix of terrain and monsters

Elphaba's Retreat if you want elves and a fae or druid-type setting

If you have a bit more to spend and want to broaden your collection out to more settings:

Pony Ranch is you want a happy village

Flying Lessons for more castle terrain. It is good to have multiple colors for different locations.