Skylanders Giants Review and Giveaway

My youngest son produced his Holiday Wish List as soon as I got the last gravy stain out of the tablecloth from Thanksgiving. He listed “Thumpback” as his first item on the list. “What’s this, honey?” I asked. “It’s the giant whale Skylander, Mom! He’s awesome and he swings his anchor all over the place.”

Of course it’s a Skylander. I should have figured. Ever since we got the new Skylanders Giants video game from Activision, our conversations have centered around characters named Tree Rex, Hot Head, and Stealth Elf. My boys love the game. Like the Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure game, figures are placed on a “Portal of Power” and come to life on the gaming screen. Players can experience the game individually or with other players with the multi-player function. The Skylanders figures have “brains” and remember the upgrades that each player earns. These upgrades help players achieve new levels within the game. When you switch out your figure on the Portal of Power, you switch your player in the game.

Skylanders Giants are bigger than the original Skylanders and have new “pow wow upgrades.” They also light up when placed on the portal. (The boys love this feature.) All of the Skylanders we have from our other Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure game are compatible with the Skylanders Giants game. (I love this feature.)

I also love how my kids play with the game after it’s powered down. Usually when the technology has to be turned off, the game is over and playing with something else starts. With Skylanders, the game is turned off, but my boys play with the figures all over the family room even when they aren’t engaged in the screen play. My boys aren’t allowed to play video games in the afternoons, but they still play with the figures and coach each other how they can play with them in and out of the video game.

Whether your kids seek out the game for the individual personalities of the characters, the interesting arenas of play within the game, or the ability to play with the figures any time, they are sure to love Skylanders Giants.

Win a Skylanders Giants Starter Pack for Wii!

One lucky Mom Central reader will win a Skylanders Giants Starter Pack for Wii. New game and figures included.

To enter, leave a comment below by December 12, 2012 about why your kids would enjoy this Skylanders Giants video game.

Winner to be chosen at random and will be notified by email. Entrants must be 18 or older and located in the US only.

When Eileen Calandro isn’t trying to figure out the language of video games, she is the Chief Mom Connector of Mom Central. You can connect with her on twitter at @MomCentralChat.

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Disclaimer: Mom Central received a copy of the Skylanders Giants video game from Activision to facilitate this review. The views expressed here are entirely our own.

Eileen Calandro