Skylanders – Trap Team

Skylanders – Trap Team is a 2014 3D platform game developed by Toys for Bob and Beenox and published by Activision. It is the fourth installment in the Skylanders video game franchise and was released on October 2, 2014, in Australasia, October 5, 2014 in North America, and October 10, 2014, in Europe, for release on Android and iOS mobile platforms, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Nintendo 3DS.

It is the sequel to Skylanders: Swap Force, and features the voices of Fred Tatasciore, Billy West, John DiMaggio, Matthew Moy, Laura Bailey, Alex Ness, John Paul Karliak, Matthew Yang King, and Richard Horvitz. A sequel, Skylanders: SuperChargers, was released in September 2015. In the Eternal Archives, Hugo reads The Most Boring Book Ever and unwittingly opens a portal to The Realm of Dreams, allowing Nightmare creatures to escape along with their master The Dream Sheep and his sidekick The Sleep Dragon. Dream Sheep casts a sleep spell which puts all of Skylands to sleep, allowing his minions to wreak havoc.

The Skylanders and the Trap Masters are immune to the sleep spell, and must trap all of the nightmare villains and stop Dream Sheep. As in previous games, the player controls various characters by placing toy figures representing them onto a near field communication-enabled interface device called the Traptanium Portal, which activates the character in the game. Trap Team adds the trap, a new type of item which, unlike the figures, which bring characters into the game, can be used to store forty-seven Villains and control them as playable characters who are more powerful than Skylanders.

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. The game features Skystones Smash, a mini-game that is the successor to Skystones from Skylanders: Giants. It is a number-based card game played in a tabletop style. Trap Team introduces Trap Masters, special Skylanders that are stronger against trappable villains, as well as Skylanders Minis, miniature versions of regular Skylanders.

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, there is a time limit to how long a villain can be used. Once the playable villain’s energy is depleted, players must wait until their energy recharges before they can use them again. There are also hidden quests involving villains, which unlock exclusive upgrades upon completion. Villains can also be stored in the Villain Vault, which is located in the game’s hub world.