Marvel and DC Get into the Skylanders Business with Tabapp Elite

When Toys for Bob and Activision first announced their action figure/video game hybrid Skylanders, our initial reaction was “Hmm, that’s interesting, it’s a shame the figures aren’t from some recognizable IP, like cartoons or comics.”  Apparently some of the executives at Wizkids, makers of the popular Heroclix tabletop miniatures games, had the same idea. 

Based on the original app released in the autumn of last year, Tabapp Elite lets players place special Heroclix models of some of DC and Marvel’s most iconic heroes on a Clixstation base and import them into an iOS and Android tablet game.  The game, a hex-based brawler, includes multiple game modes and allows players to select different roles (and the accompanying power sets) by toggling through options on the figures rotatable base.

In King of the Hill, a wave-based horde mode, players fight through handfuls of enemies with one primary hero and one secondary ally acting as support.  In Survival mode, the objective is to defend a number of crashed satellites from various thugs and the occasional nefarious super-villain. 

 A recent update allows owners of figures from the original Tabapp use their models in the new game.  This expands the slender three figure launch lineup (Superman, who comes with the Clixstation, Batman and Wonder Woman who are available in a booster pack) substantially, adding a bunch of Marvel characters including Thor, Wolverine, Spiderman, Iron Man and others, Bane and Catwoman from the DC side.

While the game itself isn’t quite as robust as the Skylanders games or Disney’s upcoming Infinity toy/game crossover, as tablet games go it’s fairly full-featured, and hopefully will continue to expand with expansions and DLC.  It’s already considerably better than the very bare bones game from the original Tabapp, and Wizkids has shown some expertise where iterating on their products is concerned. 

 The Clixstation starter set with Superman is currently available for around $20, and the Batman/Wonder Woman booster is $12.99.  Also, if you don’t already own any of the original Tabapp figures, you can find the three-figure packs of them on Amazon or other online retailers for anywhere between $3 and $11.