Now we are back at school it’s all party, party, party. We have had 3 invites for this weekend alone! Each of our children is born in a different season, so there’s always a birthday coming up for us to think about too. Regular readers, and those that know me, may know that my boys are pretty spoilt – in the fact that they get what they want (within reason). They are good boys, and they work hard, so why not.
This year my autumn born son has asked for Skylanders (recommended for children ages 7 and over) – for those of you who are not familiar with Skylanders, it is a video game series that are played along with toy figures. There is a Portal of Power that changes colours whilst it interacts with the game, reading the figures tag through near field communication (NFC): with the players using the portal to bring the real life action figures into the video game. Each of the characters fit into one of eight elemental categories: Earth, Air, Life, Magic, Fire, Tech, Undead and Water. The latter of which is what our son has asked for because apparently this is what he needs to help him with his game. We have Skylanders Giants on the WiiU.
My son really enjoys Skylanders, and tells me that he needs a water character, to help him further his game. So he was thrilled when he was kindly given a Skylanders Giants Activity pack – and it has been brilliant to help keep his mind ticking over. The pack includes a Word Search, Draw a picture, Spot the difference, Skylanders Maze and Match the Skylander. He is a really bright boy so it was nice to hear that he found some of it a bit difficult, as it means it was pushing him (and what mother doesn’t like a good excuse to sit and help her child). Pictures can be tweeted using the hashtag #SkylandersSummer or uploaded to the official Skylanders Game Facebook page.
We also received some Skylanders Giants stickers, a dog tag, and an (exclusive from Asda) molten hot dog sticker (RRP £5); a double-sided calendar (months August and September) which have great activity ideas on such as “Bring your favourite Skylanders character from the Earth element to the garden to help you water the plants.” How fantastic that a computer game is encouraging children to also get outside! We also received the Skylanders PE bag which he is very excited to use it for his after school football lessons – again the game promoting being sporty! Not only is it very cool, but it is good quality, reassuring to know that it will last the whole school year.
18th October (2013) sees the release in the UK of the third game in the series – Swap Force (developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision). It is based on the previous 2 games (Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure and Skylanders: Giants – according to Argos, the figures from which will both work in the new came, they will be levelled up and will still have their upgrades).
Skylanders Swap Forces introduces 16 new interchangeable characters, where the figures can have their tops and bottoms separate, allowing for 256 combinations in total (between all the tops and bottoms). Another added features is that the Skylanders are able to jump, and each of the combinations of the Swap figures has a distinct way of moving – which is important for the game. Some characters will not be able to enter certain side areas , based on their bottom half.
Levels: Mount Cloudbreak, Cascade Glade, Mudwater Hollow, Rampant Ruins, Jungle Rumble, Iron Jaw Gulch, Molteyville, Twisty Tunnels, Serpant’s Peak, Boney Island, Winter Keep, Frostfest Mountain, Mesmeralda’s Snow, Fantasm Fortress, Kaos’ Fortress, Motherly Mayhem, Cloudbreak Core,
Skylanders Swap Force will be available as a Starter Bundle (including the game, the portal of power, some characters, a poster of the entire Swap Force Collection, cards, stickers and web codes. If you are thinking of pre-ordering it is worth looking around as different shops may have different deals/figures with their sets.
Skylanders Swap Force is on the following platforms: Ninendo 3DS, Playstation 3 Playstation 4, Wii U, Wii, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. I shall show you a comparison on the Wii U (as that is the console we will be ordering it on).
- Toys R Us £54.99: Video Game, Portal of Power, 3 Skylanders Figures, LightCore Hex Figure; Double sided Character Collector Poster, 3 Sticker Sheets with Secret Codes, Exclusive in-game upgrade and 3 Trading Cards. Starter Pack
- Argos: £55.99: 1 video game, 1 Portal of Power, 3 Skylanders figures (Wash Buckler (water), Blast Zone (fire) and Ninja Stealth Elf (life)), Light Core Hex Figure,1 character poster, 3 sticker sheets with secret codes and 3 trading cards.
- Game: £59.99: The Starter Pack (video game, portal of power, 3 Skylanders Figures, 1 Character collector poster, 2 sticker sheets with secret codes, 3 trading cards); plus Skylanders Swap Force Poster, In-Game Upgrade RFID Card and Skylanders Swap Force Hex Character Pack.
- HMV: I couldn’t access a price online but it will be available so worth going in and finding out if you have a chance.
We are very impressed with Skylanders, and their Summer Acitivty Pack was fantastic. We will definitely be getting the new Skylanders Swap Force game.
We received the above mentioned Skylanders Summer Activity Pack (including the additional items) in return for this review. No monetary payment has been received. All thoughts and opinions are my own.