We Build LEGO Batman: Arkham Asylum, a Revolving Door of Villainy

The LEGO Arkham Asylum is a classic 'Expert' modular building, which means it is enclosed on all sides rather than open in the back. The building consists of three layers: the first floor, the second floor, and the roof. To access the interiors, you unstack the building; each floor is easily detachable from the one below and above.

The closest comparable set would be the LEGO X-Men: The X-Mansion, which we built in November 2024. But where that set was longer (16 inches wide, 11 inches high), LEGO Arkham Asylum is taller (10 inches wide, 13 inches tall) with a comparable piece count. Arkham comes in 24 plastic bags with two sticker sheets (65 stickers!) and two instruction booklets. You build each layer as a separate entity, which means that two or three people can build at the same time and not worry about running into each other.

After building the medical transport van (which comes with a Hannibal Lecter-esque restraint system), you build Arkham's foundations. The entire set lies on a single square baseplate that appears, at first glance, like it's too small for its intended purpose – a perception that's enhanced by the L-shape of the building and a gated courtyard out front. This build is dense; every square inch has either a practical function or is an Easter egg for Batman's rogues' gallery.

There's a manhole with claw marks across it – a reference to Killer Croc, who prefers the sewers under Gotham. There's a green Riddler question mark vandalized on a heater. There's the chemical formula for photosynthesis – 6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2 – written on an announcement board, a clear reference to Poison Ivy. On the same board, there's an alert for a missing spoon. You can find the spoon in a cell on the first floor, where an inmate was using it to tunnel out. Also on the same board is an escape map that leads from the second cell to the security door. The Riddler wrote down the door access code right next to the map.

The first floor's central area is a processing center for inmates, and it includes a full body scanner and a security console, displaying security camera footage of villains. Correspondingly, there are numerous 360-degree security cameras scattered throughout the building, which creates narrative consistency.

Elsewhere, there's a ketchup bottle and a mustard bottle side-by-side – a deep cut reference to the Condiment King – and a splattered yolk which references Egghead. There are dozens more Easter eggs, but my favorite is the 'Vote for Harvey Dent' campaign poster on the asylum's back wall. It's torn in half down the middle, a foreshadowing of what Dent will become.

This set depicts Arkham Asylum on a bad day; the inmates are running the asylum, and all of their eccentricities are on full display. But in case you want to show Arkham on a good day, several of the visual elements are reversible. On the angel statue for instance, you can either show the Joker-vandalized face with the Glasgow smile, or you can show the normal face, unspoiled.

The inmate pods have sliding door mechanisms that run on a rail, which allow you to open and close all the pods at the same time and initiate lockdown. There is also a high-security pod right near the processing area with a heavy vault door.

The second floor has another row of slidable pods and a psychiatrist's office. On the door, we see a placard for Dr. Harleen Quinzel, the civilian name of villainess Harley Quinn. In most continuities, Harley was a doctor at Arkham Asylum until the Joker manipulated her towards madness. Inside the office is a couch for Freudian analysis sessions. Hanging on the wall is the diploma of Hugo Strange, who is presumably the current office occupant.

Then you build the roof, with its dramatic spires and curled metal work. The arched windows are recessed into the cupolas, and they are very satisfying to fit together. The last element in the build is the arched sign over the iron gate that reads "ARKHAM ASYLUM." The arch is a bit of reappropriated roller coaster track from prior fairground builds.

The set comes with three hero minifigures: Batman, Robin, and Batwing. It comes with 10 villain/inmate minifigures: Mr. Freeze, The Riddler, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Scarecrow, Harley Quinn, Bane, The Joker, The Penguin, and Killer Croc. And it comes with two Arkham guard minifigures, who are about to have the worst day of their lives. There is also the stone angel that caps the facility, if you consider that a minifigure.

Some of the villains are dressed in their Arkham inmate jumpsuits, and others are dressed in their trademark villain costumes. Oddly enough, Penguin is wearing an Arkham jumpsuit (doesn't he typically go to Blackgate?). But regardless, I'm happy that he comes with the set; it wouldn't feel like a complete rogues' gallery without him.

This is a set that gets better the more you look at it and the more you play with it. Every corner of this build tells a story. In one part of the building, the bricks are arranged in a crooked pattern, to give the impression that the wall is crumbling. All over the build, there are exposed connection points and holes – seams that the LEGO designers would typically cover over with tiles or hide with angles. The message is clear; this is an old, dilapidated building, and Arkham's directors do not take pride in its appearance.

You'll also notice modern facilities co-existing disharmoniously alongside ancient architecture. Right next to a plastic pod from a modern prison facility is a barred window from the turn of the century. The East Wing of the original 1800s mansion is missing (presumably destroyed decades ago). And in its place, attached directly to the classically-designed house, is a modern watchtower and sniper's nest. Aesthetically, it looks hideous. Inside, the asylum's hallways are narrow and angular, made more so by the addition of new structures that don't quite fit into the original floor plan.

I look at something like this, and I imagine the sequence of events that might have created this mess. Perhaps Arkham secured some funding – not enough to refurbish or modernize the entire facility, but enough to build something piecemeal. But then the budget got cut, and the designers either scaled down their plans or abandoned them outright.

Maybe a decade later, they got some more funding – again, not enough to make any real institutional change, but enough to install some cameras so the politicians could boast to the voters that they're "modernizing" the facility. And meanwhile, in spite of all these public-facing improvements, the literal walls are about to collapse.

This is a bureaucratic nightmare, captured in brick form. And I love it. The LEGO Arkham Asylum is cute, impressive, and darkly humorous, all in one. And the satire comes not from an on-the-nose reference, but from the build process itself. Of course, this is a set that you can admire after the fact. But you really have to build it, and see the dysfunction for yourself, to fully appreciate it.

LEGO Batman Arkham Asylum, Set #76300, retails for $299.99, and it is composed of 2953 pieces. It is available now, exclusively at the LEGO Store. For more, check out our picks for the best LEGO Batman sets.

Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.