Skylanders - I have NO idea where to start!

[mrsfarquhar]

So DS has decided he would like Skylanders Trap Team but I have no idea if its a good idea (he's 6) and what to buy if it is.

[Gremlingirl]

Watching this carefully as we are in the same boat!

[atticusclaw]

Does he have any of the other skylanders games?

DSs have all three (skylanders, skylanders giants and skylanders swap force). They are 7 and 9 and Ds2 has played them since he was five. I think they're good games. Age appropriate and fun.

You need a starter kit suitable for your games console. Its about £45. You have to get the right one for the console.

Trap team is more difficult to buy for than the other skylanders games since you also need to buy traps (two come with the game but you will ultimately need one for each element - I think there are seven elements and then another one for the main bad guy).

The old skylander figures form the other games will play on the new game but they won't be able to do everything so make sure you get the trap team figures. If you're buying a selection get a range of different elements (the symbol on the front) since in some parts of the game you need characters from certain elements to defeat the baddies easily.

Personally, if he doesn't have the other games and they're available on your console (i.e if you don't have a PS4) then I'd think about getting skylanders giants instead since you can pick up the figures for peanuts - they had them for 99p in Toysrus last week and the starter pack was only about £15.

[ooerrmissus]

It's very clever. DS1(9) and DS2(7) love it.

However.

You need to keep buying new characters to be able to progress in the game. It can mount up a bit.

[chrisrobin]

The Skylanders games are great games, my 6 year old DS loves them. It is easy to pick up and has some logic puzzles in it as well as the running around game play.

To complete Trap team you would need at least 1 trap from each element- 8 at the moment but 2 more are coming out in the new year there is also a Kaos trap for the big baddie. You will also need one trap master from each element (so 8 at the moment and 2 more coming out). At Game each trap costs £5.99 and each trap master is £14.99- you can get them cheaper.

That is to complete all areas, you can run through the basic game with just what's in the starter set but it will be a little harder and won't have access to the extra areas and some chests (I think you need a giant figure for some chests but am not 100% on that). There are also 4 add-on packs, 2 are currently available each of which add an extra level to the game- these are £25-ish each.

The starter packs are £35 at the moment in Toys R Us and Smyths Toy Superstore, the figures are 3 for 2 as well.

[mrsfarquhar]

Thanks everyone, this is really helpful. Wish I'd posted this yesterday the xbox Trap Team starter pack was down to 19.99 on Amazon but back up again now!

[GirlAnachronism]

I would suggest you get the earlier games, I don't know about your DS but mine is the same age and Trap Team looks far too complicated for him at the moment. We have Spyros Adventure, Swap Force and he's getting Giants for Xmas. I find that the figures are a lot cheaper on ebay/amazon and we get quite a lot from CEX for between £2 and £3 each (which makes a great star chart present at the end of the week ;) )

DH and I are quite avid gamers and love it, its fun, its simple and it takes us back to the old games on the PS but with better graphics! Co-op/multiplayer is great too as you can just drop in/out if DS needs a hand. Out of all the games available, I would recommend Swap force as a good starter (even though Spyros adventure is first) as you can use all the 3 games figures on it (barring trap team) so more choice for picking up figurines.

It's a great game and you won't regret spending the money on it.

[WhatWouldTheDoctorDo]

Useful thread! We've got trap team for DS(6) (along with a wii u). I've bought a triple pack of figures and a triple pack of traps to go with it. There was an eons elite figure on Amazon Black Friday yesterday so I bought that too. I've also pre-ordered a winter fest figure - no idea what it does, but it's very Christmassy so I'm planning on putting it right at the bottom of his stocking so it's the last thing he opens before going downstairs to see what Santa has left under the tree - he'll be really excited by that I think!

[StuntCodPiece]

After reading lots of reviews on Amazon we decided to get Swap Force for ds not the new Trap Team. It gets better reviews overall. Have a read. Plus if you are buying for the Wii, Trap Team seems to freeze up and is very glitchy according to reviews so worth checking out the reviews for your particular console.