Skylanders

Skylanders is a toys-to-life action-adventure video game franchise created by the American studio Toys for Bob and released by Activision. Players use NFC-equipped collectible figurines of characters, placing them on a special NFC reader called the "Portal of Power." This device reads and writes data from a microchip in each figure’s base, tracking which character is in use, along with their in-game upgrades and stats, so the figures keep their progress across different games in the series. Every Skylander belongs to one of ten elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Magic, Tech, Life, Undead, Light, and Dark. Characters of different elements have advantages in certain game areas and can open sections hidden behind "Elemental Gates."

The story takes place in the Skylands, a collection of floating islands at the center of the universe, often threatened by evil forces trying to rule it and access all worlds. For generations, heroes called the Skylanders—including the purple dragon Spyro—have teamed up with Portal Masters to defend the Skylands and protect the Core of Light. Before each game begins, the Skylanders are sent away to Earth, where they freeze due to the lack of magic in the human world. In most games, they are mistaken for toys and end up sold in stores. Players act as a Portal Master, using the Portal of Power to send the Skylanders back home to battle the recurring villain Kaos, a Dark Portal Master, along with his army and other foes.

The first game, *Spyro's Adventure* (2011), features 32 Skylanders, four for each of the eight elements at the time. The heroes work to restore the Core of Light, which Kaos destroyed, by collecting the Eternal Sources of each element and other parts. *Giants* (2012) is a direct sequel, introducing the Giants—larger Skylanders who were the first of their kind and strong enough to lift, throw, and break trees and rocks, as well as smash walls normally requiring bombs. They stop Kaos after he reactivates the Arkeyan Conquertron and tries to take over the Skylands by reviving the Arkeyans. *Swap Force* (2013) takes place in the Cloudbreak Islands and introduces the Swap Force, Skylanders who can swap their top and bottom halves to mix abilities. They join the other Skylanders to stop Kaos and his mother from ruining a magical performance by the Elementals on Mount Cloudbreak.