Entering the third year of Skylanders is a very exciting time. They took the world by storm in 2011, they proved they could keep it going in 2012, and now we’re ready for the next chapter in 2013. Activision has been busy and ready to power the franchise.

The timing couldn’t be better, as this year the Skylanders will see their first real competition in the form of Disney Infinity. While there are many differences between these two games, the basic mechanics for bringing toy figures to life are quite similar. So it will definitely be interesting to see how it could affect sales.

However, competition or not, the new Skylanders are sure to impress. This year’s launch will feature SWAP Force. The SWAP Force will be joined by many old fan favorites, as well as many other new Skylanders.

Skylanders character distribution

There are currently 56 figures planned for Skylanders SWAP Force. Not all of them will be available on launch day, but you will see them eventually. Within these 56 characters you will find various subsets. They are divided into four groups:

• 16 SWAP force members
• 16 new Skylanders
• 16 returning Skylanders
• 8 Skylanders by LightCore

At this point, many of the names of these Skylanders have yet to be revealed, but that will come in time.

SWAP force members

Unsurprisingly, the members of SWAP Force are the highlight of this game.

What makes them special? They are special because the figures themselves are interchangeable. Figures come in two pieces (held together by a single magnet), a top half and a bottom half. You have the freedom to mix and match any upper half with any lower half of a SWAP Force character.

Also, you can not only swap the figures, but you can also play with your new creation in the game!

Although there are only 16 of these special characters, you can create a whopping 256 variations if you own them all. This “simple” mechanic is sure to provide hours of fun.

Known SWAP Force Members

• Blast zone
• Fire kraken
• Free ranger
• Freeze sheet
• Grilled drilla
• Hoot loop
• Sleeve charge
• Night shift
• Rattle shake
• Rise of spies
• Stink bomb
• Wash shield

Name the characters

Naming these new Skylanders is not as difficult as it sounds.

Each of the 16 characters comes with a two-part name. The first part of the name is always associated with the upper half of the character, while the second part is always associated with the lower half.

Take, for example, Free Ranger and Night Shift. If he had to swap his upper halves, he could create Night Ranger and Free Shift.

So not only will each combination have a unique (sometimes comical) name, but mixing up certain skills can greatly affect the way you play the game.