Skylanders: Trap Team

Skylanders: Trap Team is an upcoming action-adventure video game developed by Toys for Bob and published by Activision. It is the fourth installment in the Skylanders video game franchise and is scheduled for release on October 5, 2014 in North America, October 2, 2014 in Australasia, and October 10, 2014 in Europe, for release on Android, Fire OS and iOS mobile platforms, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming device.

Skylanders: Trap Team utilizes a near-field communication reader platform, called the Traptanium Portal, that reads NFC chips located on the bottom of figurines. The figurines are then used in-game as playable characters. A new line of figurines, named "Trap Masters", have been announced. The Trap Masters, working with the Portal Master, must try to capture all criminals that Kaos has released from prison.

After the events in the previous game, Skylanders: Swap Force, Kaos, the primary antagonist, releases the worst villains in Skylands, the game's setting, by blowing up Cloudcracker Prison, where they were all imprisoned. This sends all of the Trap Master Skylanders and the Traptanium used to build the prison to Earth. The player, in the role of Portal Master, must use the Trap Masters and the Traptanium shards, now in the form of traps, to capture all of the escaped villains.

Gameplay

As in previous games, the player controls a variety of characters by placing toy figures representing the characters onto an near field communication-enabled interface device known as the Traptanium Portal, which activates the character in the game. In Trap Team, however, a new item type has been added: the trap. Unlike the figures, which brings characters into the game, the traps can be used to store forty-seven enemy characters originally found in the game,(including Kaos apparently) who may then be controlled as good characters. These stored characters can be taken to other consoles. The Traptanium Portal has a speaker incorporated in its design, to emphasize the trapping mechanic. When enemies are "trapped", their vocals travel from a screen to the portal. Skystones Smash, a mini-game and successor to Skystones from Skylanders: Giants. Skystones Smash is a card game, that using numbers and is played in a tabletop style is also included in the game.

Trap Masters are introduced in Trap Team and are special Skylanders that are stronger against trappable villains. The game also establishes Skylanders Minis (miniature versions of regular Skylanders) as playable characters. Players can switch between playing as a villain and a Skylander at any point in the game. In co-operative play players can share the trapped villain, and take turns playing as it. However, a time limit is given to how long a villain can be used. Once the playable villain's energy is depleted, players must wait until the villain's energy can recharge before using the character once more. Villains are actually more powerful than Skylanders. There are also hidden quests involving villains, once completed each quest unlocks exclusive upgrades. Villains can also be stored in the Villain Vault which is located in the game's hub world.

The mobile version of Trap Team uses a bluetooth Traptanium Portal and optional touch controls. If the Traptanium Portal is not connected, players can use "on the go characters," digital versions of the figurines stored on the device.

Source: Wikipedia, "Skylanders: Trap Team", available under the CC-BY-SA License.