LEGO The Hobbit is based on the first two films in The Hobbit movie trilogy: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug . Like the other LEGO Tt games it is an adaptation of the franchise to the LEGO universe. It allows players to play through different scenes from the films and follow Bilbo Baggins as he is recruited by Gandalf to aid Thorin Oakenshield and his Company of Dwarves. Bilbo leaves the comforts of the Shire on a journey to help the Dwarves reclaim their lost Kingdom of Erebor within the Lonely Mountain. Many dangers and adventures await and unexpected discovery of a certain ring.
The game features an open-world setting where levels are started, rather than using a hub world like LEGO The Lord of the Rings . The main gameplay involves fighting enemies, while new features include an improved backpack as an inventory system, a buddy mechanic that has been enhanced from LEGO The Lord of the Rings , and resource collection in the form of loot. Players can collect different LEGO pieces by destroying environments, which can then be used to build mini-games to progress through the story and solve puzzles.