Ever found yourself curious about that “Toys to Life” craze, but aren’t sure what you need, or where to start? I’ve gone through the trouble of figuring all this stuff out for you, so you don’t have to! Hopefully this guide will help to clarify things somewhat!
Amiibo
Nintendo’s own Toys-to-Life figurines are easily the most enduring of the whole lot. This is partly thanks to the appeal of the various nintendo characters depicted in these toys, but another large part of this undoubtedly has to do with the unique capabilities of Amiibos – their use is not limited to any one series. Rather, Amiibos are used across countless games on Nintendo platforms.
Some games that use Amiibos will only recognize specific Amiibo figurines. Others give special bonuses for some specific Amiibo figurines, but will give more generic bonuses for any Amiibo figurine regardless of what type it is. And a select few games require Amiibos to play. Those games are Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival on Wii U, and Mini Mario & Friends Amiibo Challenge on Wii U.
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Disney Infinity
Disney Infinity is Disney’s take on the Toys-to-Life phenomenon, bringing in various characters and other elements from Disney’s animated and live-action films, Pixar films, Marvel films, and Star Wars films.
There are three console Disney infinity games. The original Disney Infinity (sometimes referred to as “Version 1.0“), Disney Infinity Version 2.0, and Disney Infinity Version 3.0. In addition, there is also a version specific to Nintendo 3DS, Disney Infinity: Toy Box Challenge. All Disney Infinity games use an “Infinity Base” that is comparable to “portals” used in other Toys-to-Life games. Portals from all Disney Infinity games work with each game in the series, though these devices have limited cross-compatibility across different different platforms – the Wii, Wii U, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 portal devices can all work across those platforms, but the Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Nintendo 3DS portals are unique to those platforms and won’t work with a different platform than the one they were designed for. Sorry, I don’t know about the compatibility with the Windows and mobile versions of the game.
When buying Disney Infinity figurines and discs to expand the content of the game, know that they come in different types that offer different features:
Character Figurines allow you to play as that character, and also allow players to play a small custom level specific to that character.
Play Set Figurines look like transparent cubes on a hexagonal base. These allow players to access entirely new custom-made worlds, accessible only by characters belonging to that world.
Hexagonal Power Discs allow players to change the look of the current world, or provide new “toys” to use in that world, such as vehicles.
Circular Power Discs allow players to give their character enhanced abilities.
It should be noted that not all of these different items will work with all games in the series. Here’s how the compatibility breaks down:
Console Versions:
| 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | Toy Box Challenge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any Infinity Base | X | X | X | X |
| Version 1.0 Character Figurines | X | X | X | X |
| Version 1.0 Hexagonal Power Discs | X | X | X | X |
| Version 1.0 Circular Power Discs | X | X | X | X |
| Version 1.0 Play Set Figurines | X | X | ||
| Version 2.0 Character Figurines | X | X | ||
| Version 2.0 Hexagonal Power Discs | X | X | ||
| Version 2.0 Circular Power Discs | X | X | ||
| Version 2.0 Play Set Figurines | X | |||
| Version 3.0 Character Figurines | X | |||
| Version 3.0 Hexagonal Power Discs | X | |||
| Version 3.0 Circular Power Discs | X | |||
| Version 3.0 Play Set Figurines | X |
“How do I tell which version a Character Figurine, Play Set Figurine, or Power Disc is?“
Just turn the figurine or disc upside-down. If the figurine or disc has a printed white box with a “2.0” on it, it is from Version 2.0. If it has a printed white box with a “3.0” on it, it is from Version 3.0. If it has neither, than it is from Version 1.0.
Now, on to the question: “If I just want to play the game, how much of this crap do I actually need?“
To play the core game for any game in the Disney Infinity series, you need any Infinity Base compatible with that platform, as well as any character figurine compatible with that game. As such, any Version 1.0 figurine will enable players to play all games in the series. Players wanting to play a console game with two players will need an additional compatible character figurine.
However, playing worlds contained in Play Set Figurines require players to use only character figurines compatible with that world, and the Play Set Figurine itself must be the same Version as the game being played. For example, to play using the Monsters University/Incredibles/Pirates of the Caribbean Play Set Figurine, you must be playing on the same version of Disney Infinity as that play set figurine (Version 1.0 in this case), and you must also be using a character from either Monsters University, Incredibles, or Pirates of the Caribbean, depending on which of these worlds you’re playing.
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LEGO Dimensions
LEGO Dimensions combines the popular brick-building toys, various licensed properties, and the Toys to Life formula to create a videogame that combines the three elements into one.
There is only one LEGO Dimensions game, and all LEGO Dimensions toys work with it, although the portal device included with the game has limited cross-compatibility across different platforms – the Wii U, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 portal devices can all work across those platforms, but the Xbox 360 and Xbox One portals are unique to those platforms and won’t work with a different platform than the one they were designed for. I should also note that the LEGO toys themselves do not interact with the game, only the disc-shaped base that they stand on does – everything above it is just a normal Lego toy.
When starting up LEGO Dimensions, players will want to download updates for the game online – this is needed to play much of the game’s expansion content. This also means that this expansion content may become unavailable at a later time when the console’s online service is shut down, or when LEGO Dimension’s servers are shut down. As such, you’ll want to download these updates while you can… though be warned, you’ll be looking at a long wait while you do it, and will need a lot of room on your hard drive – roughly 15GB total across numerous downloads (and this took even longer for me due to multiple errors I encountered during the download and installation process).
When buying LEGO Dimensions figurines to expand the content of the game, know that they come in different types of packs based on what they offer:
Story Packs add additional story content, levels, and characters.
Level Packs add additional levels and characters.
Fun Packs and Team Packs just give players additional characters.
Now, on to the question: “If I just want to play the game, how much of this crap do I actually need?“
The answer is as follows: In addition to the game itself and the console you’re playing it on, you will need one compatible portal and at least the following LEGO Dimension figurines (or rather, the discs that they stand on): Batman, Gandalf, Wildstyle, and the Batmobile. In addition, there are areas of the game that are not accessible unless you have either a specific LEGO Dimensions figurine, or a specific type of LEGO Dimensions figurine. However, these other figurines are all optional and not needed to play the game.
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Skylanders
(Note: Much if this information is thanks to this helpful WikiHow article. Much of the information here is summarizing the contents of that article. Please check that page for a more detailed explanation)
While there were some earlier games that scanned various items, including toys, to bring elements from the real world into games, Skylanders is the first game to truly push the Toys-to-Life “Craze”.
There are six games in the Skylanders franchise on consoles and handhelds, each with their associated “portal” and Skylanders figurines. However, the folks who developed these games went to some effort to make them backwards-compatible, meaning that figurines from older sets work with newer sets, and many portals work with multiple games in the series.
It should be noted that while the all game platforms work with the same figurines, some platforms use their own different portals. Nintendo 3DS only works with wireless portals designed for that platform. Xbox 360 and Xbox One also each have their own unique portals – these portals look identical to other versions, but do not work the same, and each will only work for its specific platform. For Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo Wii U platforms, portals are interchangeable and not platform-specific.
Now, having said that, not every portal will work with every game. Likewise, not every Skylanders figurine will work with every game. I’ll show a chart detailing which ones work with which in a moment.
In addition to the Skylanders figures themselves, some Skylanders games have special figures that do something unique in the game in question. These figures include the following:
Spyro’s Adventure has four Adventure Pack figurines (Dragon’s Peak, Darklight Crypt, Ice Cave, and Pirate Ship) that unlock new stages in Spyro’s Adventure and Giants. In later games, these figures reputedly act as a “magic item” that damages enemies onscreen. There are also various other Magic Item figurines that can attack enemies, locate hidden chests, or give other helpful bonuses in any of the games they’re scanned into.
Giants has two Magic Item figurines figurines (Dragonfire Cannon and Scorpion Striker) that unlock battle arenas in Giants and follows the player around to attack enemies in every game in the series except Spyro’s Adventure.
Swap Force has two Adventure Pack figurines (Sheep Wreck Island, and Tower of Time) that unlock new areas in Swap Force. In later games, these figures reputedly act as a “magic item” that damages enemies onscreen. There are also various other Magic Item figurines that can attack enemies, locate hidden chests, or give other helpful bonuses in any of the games they’re scanned into (Swap Force or later).
Trap Team has Traptanium Trap figurines that allow you to capture enemies within that game, change your stats and abilities in SuperChargers, and give you gold in Imaginators (but only if you have a Trap Team or SuperChargers portal – other portals cannot scan these figurines). This game also has four Adventure Pack figurines (Midnight Museum, Mirror of Mystery, Nightmare Express, and Sunscraper Spire) that unlock new areas in Trap Team. In later games, these figures reputedly act as a “magic item” that damages enemies onscreen.
SuperChargers has Vehicle figurines. These vehicles are required to play SuperChargers (Wii and Nintendo 3DS versions require an air-type vehicle, and all other versions of the game require a ground-type vehicle), and are used to access vehicle-specific sections of the game. In Imaginators, these vehicles give players bonus chests with random parts to create a custom Imaginators character with. SuperChargers also has Trophy Figurines that unlock playable villain characters and new tracks to race on in SuperChargers, and provide coins in Imaginators.
Imaginators has Creator Crystal figurines that are used to create custom characters within the Imaginators game, as well as Imaginite Mystery Chest Figurines that can be scanned by the game to provide a random assortment of parts to create your characters with. There are also two Adventure Pack figurines (Enchanted Elven Forest and Gryphon Park Observatory) that unlock new stages in this game.
I should note that this list only pertains to console and handheld Skylanders games. There are also mobile games Cloud Patrol, Ring of Heroes, and Battlegrounds, all no longer supported. As I don’t have these games or their devices to work with, I cannot give you any information on them (though I’ll add it if someone with more experience on this wants to send me a message). There was also a limited line of figurines called “Eon’s Elite” that was not made for any specific game in the series, and is compatible with all games in the series.
Here’s a compatibility breakdown of all of this:
Console Versions:
| Spyro’s Adventure | Giants | Swap Force | Trap Team | SuperChargers | Imaginators | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eon’s Elite Figurines | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Spyro’s Adventure Figurines | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Spyro’s Adventure “Adventure Pack” Figurines | Stage | Stage | Item | Item | Item | Item |
| Giants Figurines | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Swap Force Figurines | X | X | X | X | ||
| Trap Team Figurines | X | X | X | |||
| Trap Team “Traptanium Trap” Figurines | Trap Enemies | Change Stats | Give Gold | |||
| SuperChargers Figurines | X | X | ||||
| SuperChargers Vehicle Figurines | X | Not Sure? | ||||
| Imaginators Figurines | X | |||||
| Spyro’s Adventure Portal | X | X | ||||
| Giants Portal | X | X | ||||
| Swap Force Portal | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Trap Team Portal | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| SuperChargers Portal | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Imaginators Portal | X | X | X | X | X |
In short, if you want to get one portal that will work with all Skylanders games on consoles, you want to get a Trap Team portal, as Trap Team portals are the only ones that work with Trap Team. Otherwise, Swap Force, SuperChargers, and Imaginators are all good bets, as they work with all games other than Trap Team.
For Nintendo 3DS games in the series, figurine compatibility should be similar to the console games, but I do not have a complete breakdown of which portals work for which games. I can only say that, as I understand it, the Nintendo 3DS Swap Force Portal is reputedly the only one that is compatible with all Nintendo 3DS games in the series (though I can’t personally confirm this, as I do not own the other 3DS portals and cannot find a clear indication anywhere online).
Finally, the only game in the franchise that is on Nintendo Switch is Imaginators. For the Nintendo Switch version of that game, you can tap the Skylanders figurines on your Nintendo Switch or Pro Controller much like an Amiibo. No portal needed!
Now, on to the question: “If I just want to play the game, how much of this crap do I actually need?“
Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure: In addition to the game itself and the console you’re playing it on, you will need one compatible portal and at least one compatible Skylanders figurine. Different figurines have different abilities, and some types of figurines are required to access certain areas, but no specific figurine is required to play the game. Adventure Pack figurines add content to the game, but are not necessary to play and enjoy it. For multiplayer in the console version, you’ll need at least two Skylanders figurines.
Skylanders: Giants: In addition to the game itself and the console you’re playing it on, you will need one compatible portal and at least one compatible Skylanders figurine. Different figurines have different abilities, and some types of figurines are required to access certain areas or get bonuses in some areas, but no specific figurine is required to play the game. Having said that, it is definitely recommended that you have at least one “Giant” figure, as these figures frequently have an easy ability to surpass some obstacles that are otherwise a bit more inconvenient to surpass. Also, Adventure Pack figurines from Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure add content to the game, but are not necessary to play and enjoy it. For multiplayer in the console version, you’ll need at least two Skylanders figurines.
Skylanders: Swap Force: In addition to the game itself and the console you’re playing it on, you will need one compatible portal (you must have a Nintendo 3DS Swap Force portal to play the Nintendo 3DS version of the game) and at least one compatible Skylanders figurine. Different figurines have different abilities, and some types of figurines are required to access certain areas or get bonuses in some areas, but no specific figurine is required to play the game. While some optional areas in the game require Giants figurines or Swap Force figurines to access, these are not a necessary part of the experience. Adventure Pack figurines from Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure supposedly provide bonuses, but are not necessary to play and enjoy the game. For multiplayer in the console version, you’ll need at least two Skylanders figurines.
Skylanders: Trap Team: In addition to the game itself and the console you’re playing it on, you will need one compatible portal (you must have a Trap Team portal to play the console version), and at least one compatible Skylanders figurine. Different figurines have different abilities, and some types of figurines are required to access certain areas or get bonuses in some areas, but no specific figurine is required to play the game. While some optional areas in the game require Trap Team series Trap Master figurines to access, these are not a necessary part of the experience. Likewise, Traptanium Trap figures are needed to trap enemies, but this is also entirely optional, and these figurines are not even used in the Nintendo 3DS version. Adventure Pack figurines from Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure supposedly provide bonuses, but are not necessary to play and enjoy the game. For multiplayer in the console version, you’ll need at least two Skylanders figurines.
Skylanders: SuperChargers: In addition to the game itself and the console you’re playing it on, you will need one compatible portal and at least one compatible Skylanders figurine. Different figurines have different abilities, and some types of figurines are required to access certain areas or get bonuses in some areas, but no specific figurine is required to play the game. To play the 3DS or Wii versions of the came, you must have at least one of the air-based vehicle figures, and to play any other version of the game, you must have at least one of the land-based vehicle figurines. Traptanium Trap figures from Skylanders: Trap Team and Adventure Pack figurines from Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure supposedly provide bonuses, but are not necessary to play and enjoy the game. For multiplayer in the console version, you’ll need at least two Skylanders figurines. Note that the Donkey Kong and Bowser Skylanders Figurines, as well as the Barrel Blaster and Clown Cruiser vehicle figurines, are Nintendo-exclusives, meaning that these figures will only work on the Wii U, Wii, and Nintendo 3DS platforms.
Skylanders Imaginators: In addition to the game itself and the console you’re playing it on, you will need one compatible portal and at least one compatible Skylanders figurine. Different figurines have different abilities, and some types of figurines are required to access certain areas or get bonuses in some areas, but no specific figurine is required to play the game. Imaginator Creator Crystal figurines are used to create custom characters, but these also are not needed to play the game. Chest figurines from Skylanders: Imaginators, Vehicle figurines from Skilanders: SuperChargers, and Adventure Pack figurines from Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure provide lootboxes with parts up outfit custom characters with, but are not necessary to play and enjoy the game. The same is true for Traptanium Trap figures from Skylanders: Trap Team, but only if you have a compatible portal that can read these figurines (either a Trap Team portal or SuperChargers portal). Note that the Skylanders SuperChargers Donkey Kong and Bowser Skylanders figurines, as well as the Barrel Blaster and Clown Cruiser vehicle figurines, are Nintendo-exclusives, meaning that these figures will only work on the Nintendo Switch version of the game. It should also be noted that the Nintendo Switch version does not need a portal to scan figures – this can be done directly on the Nintendo Switch or a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller much in the same way you scan an Amiibo. As such, the only thing you need to play the Nintendo Switch version of the game is any Skylanders character figure from any set.
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Starlink: Battle for Atlas
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