LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle review

31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle takes an established LEGO Creator 3-in-1 castle concept in a new and refreshing direction.

IIn the wake of the very popular 31120 Medieval Castle, there's a lot of anticipation and expectation surrounding the clunkily-named 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle. Labelling it a sequel to 31120 may not be entirely fair to what it's aiming to be as a set in and of itself, but you can draw a lot of parallels between the two sets, so comparisons seem somewhat inevitable in reviewing and contextualising 31168. That’s not all it should be defined by, though, as it looks to take things in a new and fresh direction – for better and worse.

31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle

Release: Aug 1, 2025

Retiring: Dec 31, 2028

Price: £109.99 / $129.99 / €119.99

Pieces: 1,371

Minifigures: 6

At least as a starting point, looking at 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle will have you thinking about 31120 Medieval Castle. Following on in the Creator 3-in-1 line here is another grey castle built at a very similar mid-range size and piece-count – where 31120 was 1,426 pieces and included four minifigures, 31168 now has 1,371 pieces and comes with six minifigures.

At their respective release dates both sets also include(d) a collection of highly desirable minifigures – back in 2021 this was the relatively new Black Falcons off the back of their redesigned return from years back, and now it’s the debut of two new Castle factions in 2025. And finally, the primary model for each set is a design of a castle vaguely similar in general layout and playability.

31120 had a four-wall layout with tall front gate and observation towers, balanced out with a small living area and shorter tower in respective back corners. This build could be closed off into a self-contained castle, or opened out into a longer single wall structure. And at its most basic level, 31168 takes on the same two-in-one approach, but from that point really runs with the idea in another direction for something completely different.

And where the differences become apparent also indicates the role that 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle is trying to take. This isn’t a remake or a rehash of what worked so well so recently, but rather a sequel – it’s a continuation of the design ideals that made 31120 so successful, and a deeper exploration of the potential that the original set first unlocked.

Does it get everything right? Almost everything, and most importantly it does offer up a LEGO castle unlike any of the others you may have recently built, and in a way that showcases new ideas that are interesting and have their own potential for future exploration, even if some aren’t as best executed as you may hope here.

It becomes apparent that 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle changes things up about halfway through the build for the A-model where, at the point you complete the third section of the front wall, you are shown that these three sections alone can fold around together to create their own, entirely separate mini castle structure and that, as you move into the second half of the build, everything left to build also works as an independent structure.

That is an area on the lower level for a farrier (horse specialist) and a small living area at the top, with a tall, large watchtower attached to the side that within it hosts a dining room for the king and his subjects.

Of course, these two separate models do come together to make one larger castle and the set is at its best when they are one, but it remains an interesting concept to unexpectedly split an already 3-in-1 model into two further, independent models. It’s likely just an unintended result of design rather than anything more, given that each section connects and disconnects via some simple clip pieces.

The features and details across the castle are nicely designed for the most part and are very much unique to this castle – the battlements in particular (tops of the castle walls) are shaped very nicely and in a way we’ve not seen in previous LEGO castles. These may be small details, but they always help to shape the character and identity of the fortress. Meanwhile, the drawbridge function at the front gate is a simple but clever build that is very effective, and hints to a moat that likely surrounds the castle, as do various blue plates that edge along the outside walls.

Play is very much at the forefront of the model’s design, with minifigures able to be placed in all the places you would want to put them – overlooking battlements, at the top of the watchtower, overlooking the inner ward of the castle, or working across the stable/blacksmith on the lower level, or feasting with the king and his subjects.

As much as this is thanks to considered design, it’s also in part facilitated by that large piece count that opens up the length of the battlements, the height of the watchtower, the space and playable details to the interior, and even the space opened up inside the castle walls.

Like all Creator 3-in-1 sets some of the building here is simplistic in places and unusual in others, in no small part down to needing to ensure the parts used contribute to three separate models in the one box, but ultimately it is still a LEGO build process that holds your attention for how everything comes together, in places in unexpected ways.

31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle also includes new pieces, namely the debut of the corner section wall piece – 6490171 – in light bluish grey. There are 11 of this excellent piece included and they really contribute to adding shaping to the various tower segments in the castle.

In addition, the six included minifigures are excellent and, across three designs, introduce two new factions for the wider Castle theme – a Horse faction king, Horse knights and a Serpent faction knight. We first had white uniformed Castle knights as part of the Royal Knights faction from the mid-1990s, and more recently saw a white knight Paladin in the Dungeons & Dragons Collectible Minifigure Series.

Indeed, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Paladin and these Horse knights are part of the same faction for how closely they match in style – but, alas, the shield emblems are different, with the Paladin naturally having a dragonhead on its shield, as opposed to the horse design on 31168’s new faction.

These Horse knights are wonderfully designed, mirroring a lot of the same details as we have seen in the updated Lion Knights and Black Falcons, whilst also offering a fresh and – those previously minor uses of the colour to one side – refreshingly new palette to base your Castle army building and models around. As an aside, too, whilst thinking back to the Paladin from the D&D CMF series, the print quality of the white tunic on the flat silver legs is of very high quality and contrast, where on the Paladin the same colour combination was not as strong.

Likewise, the solitary Serpent knight adds excellent contrast in his all-black outfit, offering up good story and play across the various models in 31168 – he could be a scout from a rival faction scoping out the defences of the castle, or he could be a visiting knight staying at the inn, or he could be a competing knight in the jousting competition.

And last but not least we have who we are calling a farrier included, to look after the brick-built horses, with an excellent torso design that feels reminiscent of a much older design we’ve seen before in Castle, from years back, but we can only find most closely resembles a couple of different Pirates torsos from the 1990s.

There’s a lot to enjoy about 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle and it hits all the points that it needs to for a younger builder, whilst price-wise the £20 bump up from 31120 Medieval Castle is competitive. But for Castle fans, not everything is a fairy tale here – in our opinion the brick-built horses are clever, clearly make space in the set’s overall budget for other things like extra minifigures, but they don’t quite hold the same presence as moulded horses.

And more pertinently, whilst the overall build has function, form and details, it does not come together in every way quite as you would expect from an A-model in a Creator 3-in-1 set in 2025. It’s surprisingly bitty in a few places thanks to parts usage that feels more forced in so as to accommodate those parts being used in either of the B-models that this set also allows for.

Such have been the high standards that Creator 3-in-1 have set over the past few years, in particular with their A-models, that this is a compromise we don’t see so often nowadays, but it is apparent here and it does result in a castle build that – just in places – feels like it isn’t quite as smoothed out or wholly together as you may hope. It’s not a deal-breaker of a LEGO experience, but it’s a sign that a couple of visible compromises to allow for the B-models have been made.

And those B-models are both pretty interesting, so we say it to acknowledge it, as you will notice it when building the set yourself, but it’s not something to get in the way of the heap of fun you’ll likely have with yet another castle for the collection.

Our honest opinion: 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle takes a concept from a recently popular LEGO castle and, small 3-in-1-style compromises to one side, makes it even better. The minifigures make this a must-have in any case.

This LEGO set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes.

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How long does it take to build LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle?

The primary model for LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle comes together in about an hour and a half, in a build spread across 11 bags.

How many pieces are in LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle?

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle contains 1,371 pieces, among which are six minifigures – a king, three Horse knights, a Serpent knight and a townsperson.

How big is LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle?

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle measures 31cm tall at its peak, and comes in at 36cm wide and 17cm deep thanks to its uniquely-shaped walls.

How much does LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle cost?

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31168 Medieval Horse Knight Castle releases August 1, 2025 for £109.99 in the UK, $129.99 in the US and from €119.99 in Europe.