If you grew up in the late 2000s or the early 2010s, you would remember the juggernaut that was the toys-to-life genre. These games were everywhere, and you couldn’t set foot into any shop without seeing one of these toys or an ad for them. It was a space that felt indestructible, until it wasn’t. At the end of the 2010s, the toys-to-life genre had become oversaturated, and people were losing interest. Not everyone was willing to drop hundreds of dollars on toys that, without the game, did nothing. And so, like the dodo bird, the genre ceased to exist (except amiibo’s, but that’s because Nintendo and they’re a special case).
But now, after several years with no new players in the toys-to-life space, a new challenger has finally entered the arena, and it's called Aerthlings. Is it looking like the toys-to-life genre is back, or is this new endeavour doomed to fail?
For those of you who were either too old or not alive during the early 2010s, allow me to give you a little history lesson on what exactly the toys-to-life genre is. This all started back in 2011 with the release of Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, published by Activision. This game had you use something called a Portal of Power that you plugged into your console. You would then place a Skylander (the toys part in toys-to-life) on the portal, and you’d then be able to play as that character in the game. The figures used NFC tags to record and track things such as the Skylanders' level, what abilities they had unlocked, and even any customisation options you’ve chosen. Having a physical toy that interacted with the game was groundbreaking and had many kids (including myself) becoming obsessed with collecting every Skylander possible.
Other companies took note of this masterful exploitation of consumerism and soon followed with their own toys-to-life games. Games like Disney Infinity, LEGO Dimensions, and Starlink: Battle for Atlas were released throughout the 2010s, aiming to replicate Skylanders' success. Unfortunately, this oversaturation did more harm than good for the genre, as no one could afford all the individual toys, level packs, and random accessories needed to get the most out of each game. Not even Disney and LEGO could make it work, with Disney Infinity and LEGO Dimensions failing to last even three years. Skylanders kept releasing games until 2022, but even that juggernaut eventually faded away.
The only survivor was Nintendo with their amiibo, but they were a little different. Instead of being usable in only one game, amiibo could be used in multiple games, giving different bonuses depending on which amiibo was used in which title. An example would be the Super Smash Bros. Link amiibo, which you could use in Smash Bros. to fight against and train, but you could also scan it into Breath of the Wild for bonus items. Being able to use amiibo across multiple games is a major factor in why they haven't faded away like the rest of the genre.
With that history lesson all wrapped up, we arrive at today with the toys-to-life genre getting a bit of a resurgence with Aerthlings, developed by Modern Games. The game is available on mobile devices and involves you collecting various Aerthlings to battle Moonlings, the main enemies. Doing so gives experience for your Aerthlings, allowing them to grow stronger and level up. You’ll need to fight your way through hordes of Moonlings and complete quests to earn Hearts, which can be used to help rebuild the home world of the Aerthlings, Aerth. It’s a fairly simple premise, but I wasn’t expecting a game like this to have an incredibly deep plot.
The gameplay of Aerthlings is also pretty basic, which is actually what you want in a mobile game sometimes. The movement circle is in the bottom left of the screen, and your attack/action buttons are in the right corner, which is pretty standard. The game runs well on an iPhone 16 Pro, and I didn’t encounter any major dips in performance. All in all, the game is fun enough to help you kill some time, but it's not what has me most intrigued about Aerthlings; that would be the unique way they’ve tackled the toys-to-life formula.
In games like Skylanders, you need to keep the toy with you to play. This meant you’d have to carry around not only all of the characters you wanted to use, but the Portal of Power as well, which was quite the workout back in the day. Aerthlings gets around this issue with two big changes: the size of the toys and needing the toys whenever you want to play the game. Starting with the size of an Aerthling, they are pretty small, slightly bigger than a normal bag charm. These little squares are easy to attach to a bag, phone, or lanyard, making them easy to transport. It’s also helpful that you don’t need an additional peripheral to play the game, since most phones nowadays already have NFC readers.
The other big difference with Aerthlings is that after scanning a toy once, you don’t have to scan it every time you want to play. Each Aerthling is registered to your account once you scan it, and then you have it forever. This alleviates the issue of having to lug around so much stuff to play these games. You still might want to carry around some Aerthlings, though, as you can also trade with other players, similar to trading cards. But even if you trade the physical toy with someone else, you still have access to it in-game, which is a smart way to prevent people just stealing from each other.
Is Aerthlings reviving the toys-to-life genre? Honestly, it’s too soon to tell, and I doubt one game will revitalise a horse that was so thoroughly beaten. However, with the unique approach Modern Games has taken regarding the toys themselves, I think there’s a chance that we might get a few more toys-to-life games in the future (bring back Skylanders, Activision!).
Have you tried Aerthlings? Are you a toys-to-life fan? Did you play any when you were younger? Let us know in the comments where we can talk about our favourite toys-to-life games.
