Universal Skylanders Battlegrounds - (by Activision) - Universal App

I caved in and bought the game tonight, digital version at least from the App Store. I was considering picking up the Mobile Bundle next month but meh I don't want to get into the habit of purchasing and collecting figures.

Anyhow! I'm finding this game to be quite fun I've got unlocked so far Dark Spyro, Terrafin, & Shroomboom.

Does anybody know if the Skylander Characters (Digitally) level up as you play with them in the game?

 

Downloaded the app and tried out a bunch of codes, none of them seem to be valid.

 

The characters in this particular game do not level up (though they do in Lost Islands). It is like Cloud Patrol in the sense that you (the player) level up. Though as you get more gems and coins you can unlock and upgrade each Skylander's skills, and unlock and purchase magical items and other characters.

Hopefully, the problem with the codes is only temporary. If it was just a few Skylanders, I would just play to unlock - but I have most of them, so would be seriously disappointed if I couldn't get my codes to work.

 

This turned out to be a surprisingly fun and polished game, among the most obviously premium I've played. So much so that me and the kids have spent much of today blasting and smashing enemies, finished off by ordering the portal starter kit in spite of its very questionable value*. However, with there already being 3 iOS games, I don't see them abandoning the platform any time soon and I have already added the Wii Spyro's Adventures to the cart for Christmas on Amazon.

Cursed cutsey kitsch fads, I am powerless before them.

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* Value wise, what I worked out was that, based on what I've seen so far, playing through the existing two chapters should let you unlock one of each element and a smattering of skills, aka the bare minimum team you need to play through all the actual content. Of course, that leaves many skills and portal spells locked, as well as that niggling matter of the more than 40 skylanders that won't be unlocked without considerable "grinding", at least until they release the promised other two chapters, but then that's only another half dozen or so. If you really wanted to fill out a team and then comfortably be able to work toward unlocking others slowly you'd probably need to buy the $15 900 gem package, which with me and two kids is $45, or buy the portal set for $50 and trust that figures can be used on multiple installations and then use them with the Wii.

The take away is that the game is quite playable and enjoyable with or without IAP or any actual figures or accessories, but that the majority of characters will remain firmly locked behind a digital door no matter how well it plays. Which is a nicely done job of pure evil You don't *need* to get more skylanders, you just want to. I also give it to the developers - the other iOS skylander titles were cute, well done, but nothing that grabbed anyone's attention, this one does.

 

Gah, went to try and buy a tech Skylander but after going back a screen from reading his bio it brought me to the water Skylanders which I didn't notice. And I ended up buying a water one, argh!

 

Gems are earned easily enough in this game. About the only dilemma there is is whether to unlock skills right away or save up a bit longer to unlock another character.

 

After the first five levels the difficulty ramps up increasing the dilemma: skills or characters. Of course, the back up feature is cheap, 100 coins for the first, 200 coins for the second, so it's not a big deal to BFI it in search of characters, which is still where my aim is. I figure once I get a refund or two from the portal when it gets here, that will free up some gems to go back and beef up skills.

The rub is that, yes, it's generous on handing out gems but only on the first play through. "Grinding" is going to be slow as heck unless higher level mobs yield better skirmish rewards down the road.

Regardless, my game of the week and a big raspberry to all the devs out there that have borrowed so liberally from Battleheart without making a game that stands on its own two feet.

 

I'm hoping the higher levels will reward with more gems :\ I just finished Level 1-7 and here are my results below after fighting all monsters on the board and getting everything I had access to.

Gold - 15,230.
Gems - 76 (20 Came from one chest which needed a specific type of Skylander), (20 More came from another chest where any Skylander could access it), (30 Came from completing the stage).
Anvils - 5.
Potions - 1.

 

this is a fun game for the wii for little kids around 7-10 years old.. if you are any older and playing this without a kid beside you.. lulz

 

Just finished Level 1-8 here are my results from it. Grinding for gems is going to suck is all I can say :\

Gold - 23,060
Gems - 58 (20 Came from a chest which a specific type of Skylander was
needed to access). (30 Came from completing the stage).
Anvils - 3
Potion - 4

 

Hello! I am a developer at Vicarious Visions. (Developer for Skylanders Battlegrounds, Skylanders Lost Islands, and Skylanders Cloud Patrol).

I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble with your Skylander codes not working. Could you help me out by providing me with some more information?

1. What device are you using?
2. What is iOS version?
3. Were you online when trying to use the toy codes?
4. Have you tried using your codes in other Skylanders mobile titles (Skylanders Lost Islands or Skylanders Cloud Patrol?) Did they work in those titles?
5. Have you tried the codes on another device? Did they work there?
6. Would you be willing to PM me one of the codes so we can troubleshoot the issue?

Again, sorry to hear about your troubles! Hopefully you can help us get to the bottom of this.

Thank you.
-Advisor Orville

 

How are you people doing so poorly at gems. I've already unlocked my 5th and I'm not even done with chapter 1 AND I'm positive all the big rewards are "scripted" so you can't not get them if you're actually cleaning the maps, opening all the fixed chests (some of which will require specific element types to reach admittedly), etc..

Level rewards alone are 30 gems a level first time through.

 

I like the fact that it is not IAP. It seems like a great game by the reviews of others.

 

1. What device are you using? Ipad 3 and iphone 4s
2. What is iOS version? Latest 6.something
3. Were you online when trying to use the toy codes? Yes
4. Have you tried using your codes in other Skylanders mobile titles (Skylanders Lost Islands or Skylanders Cloud Patrol?) Did they work in those titles? Yes to both questions.
5. Have you tried the codes on another device? Did they work there? Yes, including my friend's ipod touch (though he does use my apple id, he has his own Gamecenter id). My friend has not used all of the codes though.
6. Would you be willing to PM me one of the codes so we can troubleshoot the issue? Yes, a bit later as I am just about to go to sleep (working graveyards).

 

1. What device are you using? ipad 3
2. What is iOS version? ios 6
3. Were you online when trying to use the toy codes? yes
4. Have you tried using your codes in other Skylanders mobile titles (Skylanders Lost Islands or Skylanders Cloud Patrol?) Did they work in those titles? both games, worked fine
5. Have you tried the codes on another device? Did they work there? codes worked in cloud patrol on iphone 3g
6. Would you be willing to PM me one of the codes so we can troubleshoot the issue? sure, send my a pm if you need one, and i'll reply with a code.

I only got a handful of codes to work (orange base), the rest were invalid (orange and green). Also, do item figures have any use in this game? It was disappointing seeing potions with the same abilities as released magic items, but no way to unlock them with a figure.

 

I picked up the mobile starter pack. The portal came with a mini USB cable as well. I assume if I pick up the XBOX or PS3 version I can use this portal with those. Is that correct?

 

One thing that will push me over the fence, are the maps randomly generated?

 

No, they are set levels. So far there are 20 levels with two bosses, and 20 more levels and two bosses that say they are coming soon.