How to make big progress in Skylanders Lost Islands: hints, tips, and tricks

As you may have gathered, I'm a big fan of Skylanders Lost Islands.

If, like I, you're really digging Activision's world builder, and you're looking for some helpful advice on how to get the most from your game, then you've come to the right place.

Below this very paragraph (a bit further... yep, you've found it), you'll find information on how to be ultra-precise with your controls, how to maximise your earning potential with Skylanders, and how to game the Energy system.

Which all sounds rather good, right? Read on, sir.

Control!



Skylanders Lost Islands can be a bit finicky about where it thinks you're touching, occasionally confusing your tap on a Mabu house with a tap on the adjacent post office.

There are two very simple ways around this.

The first solution is to simply space your buildings out a bit when constructing them. Early in the game, at least, this isn't always an option due to the presence of bushes, spooky trees, gravel, and the like.

The second solution is to make frequent use of the zoom functionality. When you're harvesting fields of crops, simply focus in a little on the patches of soil - this should speed up the process no end and prevent you from making any silly mistakes.

It's also a good idea to quickly lump together all of the buildings that produce XP for you into one area. Basic houses give off experience rapidly, so lump them all together and make them your first port of call when you fire the game up.

By the time you've carried out the rest of your planned in-game actions, you will, in all likelihood, be able to get another quick shot of XP from your buildings.

Oh, and here's another minor tip regarding control: if you pan around the world, an icon will pop up above your Skylanders showing where they are on the island. It's really useful for quickly finding out whether you have a hero free to go on a mission.

Redeem!



If you (or any of your pals) have a younger brother or nephew who owns some figurines from the series, then, for Pete's sake, redeem them. And for John's.

It's really surprising just how advantageous it can be to have another Skylander wandering about your pastoral fields.

If you're ahead of the game's curve in terms of accruing extra resources (you get an extra Skylander every five levels), then you can take on more challenges at a faster rate. You can ensure that your extra hero is fighting off Sheep Mobs or Troll Encampments while the others are concentrating on quests to build up their Hero Rank.

This is really beneficial, too, because as your heroes get tougher, the missions they can embark upon become more lucrative. Sure, it may take longer for them to come back from later quests, but you can be earning thousands of gold each time they return, which is essential if you want to keep expanding.

Each new island section costs 50,000 gold, which is a daunting chunk of cash when you begin the game. However, if you've got a few high-level heroes returning from prestigious missions a couple of times a day, you'll have the dough in no time.

Energise!



To head out on missions - and to perform other actions - you'll need Energy. And this is a resource that's perhaps more valuable than currency.

As you'll know by now, Energy is grown in the fields. You only receive Energy when you harvest the crops. Plants that take longer to grow obviously give you more energy, but the really potent ones are only available when your rank is sufficiently high.

If you're prepared to put the work in, though, you can get marginally more Energy for the time and money you put in. It costs 10 gold and one minute of growth time to produce Floats, which in turn give you four Energy.

However, if you plant Cloudlings for 105 gold and 10 minutes of growth time, you only get 37 Energy. Therefore, if you spend 10 minutes planting Floats 10 times, you'll receive three more Energy than you would just by planting Cloudlings.

On top of this, there are bonuses for planting Element of the Day crops. You can check which element is paying out in this way by tapping the drop-down menu in the top-left-hand side of the screen.

If it's Water, then Cloudlings are your friend, and each one harvested gives you one extra energy. That may not sound like a lot, but that's 25 per cent extra for free, and it soon builds up.

These are OUR tips, but do you have any up your sleeve? Don't keep them to yourself - let us and the rest of the Pocket Gamer community know how smart you are by leaving a comment in the box below.