Skylanders: Giants

Skylanders: Giants builds upon the fundamentals of the first game, which merges a line of physical toy figures with a video game world. The game introduced over 40 new toy figures, some of which are more than twice the size of the original Skylanders cast in both physical and virtual form. The game involves connecting a physical toy to the video game console through a "Portal of Power"; whichever toy is used creates a respective character in the game. Toy figures from the first game are also forward compatible with Giants, although there are also new versions, called "Series 2", which have more powerful attributes than the originals.

If the Series 2 Skylanders are used in the first game, they act as their own Series 1 counterparts. A new series of figurines called "LightCore" was also introduced, which glow when put on the Portal of Power and have a flash bomb attack in-game. The game has a new and improved "Battle Mode" for head-to-head play, featuring more areas and gameplay options as well as offering a new variety of alter ego Skylanders.

10,000 years ago, the Arkeyan Empire, which consisted of robots, enslaved Skylands. The Giants, the first Skylanders who are larger than the normal Skylanders, rebelled and defeated the robot king who held the source of Arkeyan power, the Iron Fist of Arkus. The victory powered down every robot, but the Giants were suddenly transported to Earth by the Fist, where they froze into toys due to lack of magic. Over time, they came to be regarded as myths because of their unexplained disappearance.

In the present day, following the events of the first Skylanders game, Kaos, who was shrunk and put on display in a toy store on Earth, returns to the Skylands after finding a Portal of Power.

Skylanders: Giants received "generally favorable" reviews for most platforms according to review aggregator website Metacritic; the Nintendo 3DS version received "mixed or average" reviews. However, the reviews in general were slightly lower than that of the previous game, especially for the Nintendo 3DS version, which received the lowest Metacritic score in the series.

IGN gave the game an 8 out of 10 score, calling it a "...a more polished but by-the-numbers sequel that's really fun to play". PlayStation Lifestyle, however, gave the game a lower score with a 70/100, saying, "The reality is that Skylanders: Giants is age-appropriate fun that harkens back to the delight you had collecting Pokémon cards or mashing your way through a dungeon crawler. If you've got little ones, then you already know the verdict here."