What is Disney Infinity 3.0?

Disney Infinity 3.0 is… well, it’s many things! It has combat, it has platforming, it has racing, it has puzzles – it’s both a game and a creation platform that allows you to mash up your favourite Disney properties.

The game is split up into a few different sections – the first is the playsets. These allow you to play through a ‘campaign’ of sorts set in a specific world, by yourself or in splitscreen with another player. 3.0 currently has four playsets currently available – three Star Wars ones (one focusing on the Clone Wars TV show, one covering the original trilogy of movies, and one following the plot of The Force Awakens) and one playset based on Inside Out. There’s also a Marvel playset coming in March.

The Star Wars playsets feature open hub areas based on locations from the Star Wars universe where you’re free to take on missions or roam around exploring. Each hub also has an associated space area above it that you can fly your starships in, with missions of their own. Each Star Wars playset has a different gameplay focus – Twilight of the Republic (the Clone Wars playset) has a big focus on lightsaber combat. Rise Against the Empire (the original trilogy) focuses on vehicle gameplay. The Force Awakens’ combat is more designed with ranged shooting in mind.

The Inside Out playset is a platformer, where you need to use each emotion’s unique abilities in order to collect balloons and progress through levels. There isn’t much combat in this one, the focus is on platforming challenges. It features a new plot set after the events of the film.

3.0 also features two Toy Box Games, which are like playsets but designed to be shorter, more replayable experiences that you can use any of your characters in. Toy Box Takeover is a dungeon crawler in which you fight your way through Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars worlds in order to stop Syndrome from taking over. You can team up with a sidekick and beef them up with equipment looted from each dungeon. The other game is Toy Box Speedway, which features nine race tracks based off Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars locations. Using the vehicles you’ve unlocked in the Toy Box, you’ll race against other racers or the clock in order to unlock new toys.

The other big mode is the Toy Box. This is a sandbox environment where you can play around and build with all of the toys you’ve unlocked in playsets and Toy Box Games, without restriction. You could race around Tatooine as The Hulk driving Cinderella’s carriage, or fight Omnidroids as Donald Duck. If you’re willing to invest time into learning the ins and outs it’s actually quite a powerful tool that will enable you to make some awesome levels. Disney holds frequent themed Toy Box contests and features the best entries in game for you to play.

It looks like a kids’ game – is it a kids’ game?

It’s a game that kids can easily play, but it’s not a game designed just for kids. On lower difficulties kids can get by with button mashing, but by turning up the difficulty you’ll need to make full use of all the tools available in combat – it becomes a lot more like a traditional character action game. Likewise, kids won’t struggle too much completing challenges and sidequests in the game, but getting the top scores might require some help from more experienced family members.

What platforms is it on?

The full game is available on PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PC and Apple TV.

The Toy Box can be played on iOS and Android devices with an app.

Are there differences between each version?

The PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U versions of the game have weaker performance than their new gen counterparts. You’ll encounter longer loading times and won’t be able to put as much in your Toy Boxes. They’re also slightly limited in terms of features – you won’t unlock new buildings and structures in your Toy Box Hub, and the races in Toy Box Speedway will be limited to races against 3 Cars characters, instead of races against 5 random character and vehicle combinations.

The PC version is a digital version of the console experience – instead of placing character toys on a portal to unlock them, you purchase unlock keys to the characters as microtransactions and swap between them in a menu. You can also unlock characters and playsets by entering single-use webcodes that are packaged with the toys, and logging into the Disney account those codes will now be assigned to (physical power disc packs do not come with codes, however). There are some characters marked as ‘Trial’ characters that you can play for free until a new set of characters are cycled in. The PC version is currently lacking multiplayer, which will be patched in at an unknown later date, but PC versions of the previous games have been missing splitscreen multiplayer so it is possible multiplayer will be online-only.

The mobile version is much like the PC version in how content is accessed, except this version of the game is restricted to the Toy Box, Toy Box Hub, and Toy Box Takeover modes. Playsets and Toy Box Speedway cannot be played in this version. It’s also a lot harder to control due to lacking physical buttons and joysticks, so you might want to purchase a compatible controller if you’re wanting the get the most from the mobile version. Additionally, it’s very unstable at the moment – I’ve had it crash every time I’ve tried using Logic tools in the Toy Box, which makes building Toy Boxes a pain.

Disney Infinity 3.0 is now also available on the new models of Apple TV. I’ll admit that I’m not yet familiar with this version, and can’t comment on its performance or quirks, but it aims to replicate the full console experience. You will have the choice of playing the game with the physical toys, or by entering webcodes as with the PC and mobile versions.

What do I need to buy?

Console

The easiest way to get into the game is by buying the Starter Set. This will give you a copy of the game, a portal, the Twilight of the Republic playset, and Anakin and Ahsoka Tano figurines. This will allow you to play the Clone Wars story with Anakin or Ahsoka (or both at once if you’re playing with a second player!) and access all the missions and sidequests. There will be some collectibles and optional objectives you won’t be able to complete without extra characters, which will prevent you from unlocking a few toys to use in the Toy Box.

If you already have a portal compatible with your console then you could also download a digital copy of the game from your console’s online store (PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Store, or Nintendo eShop) and use your portal with that. This gets you access to the base game for cheaper, but note that this will only allow you to play in the Toy Box with characters you already have until you buy a 3.0 playset or Toy Box Game. This option would be best if you’re not into Star Wars, as you could use the money saved from not buying the full Starter Set to get, say, the Inside Out playset, or Toy Box Takeover and a figurine.

Extra playset packs come with two characters and the playset piece that unlocks the story mode. Each playset lasts for 3-12 hours depending on whether you take on optional missions and hunt for collectibles. If you take your time and mess around in the open world playsets they could potentially even take longer. The two Star Wars playsets not included in the Starter Set will require extra characters in order to 100% complete, but you can access all missions and sidequests without buying any more. The Inside Out playset can be completed with just the included characters, and actually allows you to temporarily use the additional emotions at certain points so that you can use their special abilities. Supposedly it’s possible to use this feature to 100% complete the playset, but as this is quite the challenge I can’t confirm whether it is indeed possible or not.

In addition to playsets, you can also buy two ‘Toy Box Games’ for 3.0 – Toy Box Takeover and Toy Box Speedway. These are smaller playset-like modes that allow you to use ANY character from any current Infinity game (except Cars characters can’t be used in Takeover). Toy Box Takeover is a dungeon crawler in which you fight your way through Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars themed worlds while collecting equipment. Toy Box Speedway is a kart racer like Mario Kart or Sonic All-Stars Racing, with racetracks based on locations from Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars movies.

Characters that aren’t included with a playset can be bought individually. Some of these can be used in playsets (e.g. Star Wars characters are playable in every Star Wars playset, and the emotions from Inside Out can be used in the Inside Out playset), while others can only be used in the Toy Box, and in Toy Box games. Check the back of the figure’s box to see what they can be played in if you’re unsure. Each character has their own moveset and abilities, and some characters will allow you to access to more collectibles in playsets (which will contribute to unlocking items for the Toy Box).

Some more minor content can be added to the game through packs of Power Discs. In previous games these were distributed in blind bags, but the new discs for 3.0 come in set packs of four. These discs add things like new vehicles, weapons, and costumes into the game that don’t drastically change anything but can be a bit of fun. Some examples of Power Discs include a Stormtrooper costume for Finn, Arlo from The Good Dinosaur, and the ray gun from Tomorrowland.

 

PC

You can download the PC version of the game from three different places, and each seems to behave differently, so bear with me. The first location is from Disney’s website. Reports suggest that this is the most up to date version. It can also be downloaded from Steam, but people have reported performance issues with this version. The final location is from the Windows 10 app store. Each of these versions are free, so if you don’t mind using the data and harddrive space you could try each of them. I’ve seen the most positive talk about the Disney website version, so maybe try that one. Redeeming webcodes will make the appropriate content available in all three versions, but supposedly buying content in-game won’t carry over to the other two. Very confusing, I know.

Some characters will be available to try out for free for a limited time. These characters will rotate out as time passes. To get permanent access to characters you will either need to purchase them in-game (with real money), or redeem a webcode on your Disney account. These codes come packed in with every figure and playset, so if you buy the physical toys you will have one. People are always reselling these codes on eBay or giving them away on reddit, so you could theoretically get them a lot cheaper, but as it is with purchasing codes anywhere you’ll need to be very wary in order to not get ripped off.

Web codes are also available for playsets and Toy Box Games, which will also unlock any characters that came packaged with the playset. All playsets and Toy Box Games can currently be played on the PC version of the game.

Power discs don’t come with webcodes, so if you want to use them in this version you’ll need to purchase them (with real money). However, a bonus of this version is that a bunch of circular power discs are usable for free, or unlockable in-game.

One annoying quirk of the PC version is that regardless of how much you buy or redeem, you will be considered a ‘Free’ user until you redeem a code for the Twilight of the Republic playset/Starter Set, or purchase an add-on in-game called ‘Toy Box Unlock’. While your account has this ‘Free User’ status you will not be able to purchase new items for the Toy Box mode with in-game currency.

For more information on playsets, Toy Box Games, and Power Discs, please read the ‘Console’ subheading just above.

 

Mobile

The Toy Box app can be downloaded for free from the appropriate store – make sure you download the right version, as 1.02.0, and 3.0 are all available! In these versions there are a set number of characters that are able to be played for free for a limited time. These characters rotate out on a regular basis. To get permanent access to a character you’ll need to either purchase them in-game (with real money), or redeem a webcode on your Disney account. These codes come packed in with every figure and playset, so if you buy the physical toys you will have one. People are always reselling these codes on eBay or giving them away on reddit, so you could theoretically get them a lot cheaper, but as it is with purchasing codes anywhere you’ll need to be very wary in order to not get ripped off.

The mobile version doesn’t allow you to access playsets, so keep that in mind if you’re playing this version. However, you can play the Toy Box Takeover mode if it is purchased/redeemed.

Power discs don’t come with webcodes, so if you want to use them in this version you’ll need to purchase them (with real money). However, a bonus of this version is that a bunch of circular power discs are usable for free, or unlockable in-game.

For more information on playsets, Toy Box Games, and Power Discs, please read the ‘Console’ subheading just above.

 

Apple TV

TBD – I don’t own this version and there’s not a lot of information on it 🙂

Do I really need to buy the toys to play on console?

Yes.

But-

No buts.

Can I use toys from older versions in this game?

Figures and power discs are compatible with every Infinity game released after their game, but not any before it. So you can buy Buzz Lightyear’s 1.0 figure and play as him in 1.02.0, and 3.0. Likewise, Tinkerbell’s 2.0 figure can be played in 2.0 and 3.0, but not 1.0.

Playset pieces (the transparent objects you place on the portal to unlock the ‘campaigns’) and Toy Box Game discs (those blue discs that unlocked the Tower Defence and Dungeon Crawler games in 2.0) aren’t compatible in games other than the one they were released for. So, for example, the Cars playset can only be played in 1.0, Avengers playset can only be played in 2.0 and The Force Awakens can only be played in 3.0. However, if you place these older pieces on the portal while playing a newer game, you will instantly unlock all the Toy Box toys that came with them, allowing you to instantly get building with them in the Toy Box.

So if you want to play the older playsets you will need to purchase a copy of the older games. If you’re playing on PC then you’ll need to download the appropriate version from Disney’s site or Steam.

The portal that you place the toys on is the same between each instalment of the game – no matter which Starter Set you bought, you can use the portal with earlier or older versions. So portals used for the Wii, Wii U, PS3, and PS4 versions are all interchangeable. However, some of the other versions are a bit trickier:

  • Xbox 360 portals only work with Xbox 360 versions of each game
  • Xbox One portals only work with the Xbox One versions of each game
  • The portal that came with the 3DS version of 0can only be used with that version of the game
  • The portal that came with the Vita version of 0can only be used with that version of the game

Additionally, portals from other platforms will not work with these versions of the game (i.e. the Xbox One version requires an Xbox One portal and you can’t use an Xbox One portal with the game on another platform).

Are my digital purchases carried across platforms?

Things purchased in-game using the microtransactions are not carried across the digital versions of the game (PC, iPad, etc). However, if you redeemed a webcode to your Disney account, then you will be able to access the redeemed content on any version of the game that uses webcodes.

I’m not big on Star Wars, can I play the Marvel playsets in this game?

Unfortunately playsets can only be used with the version they released for, so only playsets with the 3.0 packaging can be played with this game. However, all Marvel characters from 2.0 can be played in the Toy Box, Toy Box Hub, Toy Box Takeover, and Toy Box Speedway modes. There will also be a new Marvel playset releasing for 3.0 in 2016 in which you can use all your 2.0 and 3.0 Marvel characters.

Does the game have multiplayer?

Sure does!

Playsets allow for up to two players in splitscreen mode (the upcoming Marvel Battlegrounds playset will allow for four), but do not support online play.

Toy Box Games allow for up to two players in splitscreen, and up to four online. They do not feature matchmaking, so these players must be on your Friends List.

The Toy Box allows for up to two players in splitscreen, and up to four online. Matchmaking in the Toy Box is only permitted through Flynn’s Arcade in the Toy Box Hub. There you can get in lobbies of random players to participate in specially designed competitive Toy Boxes. In theory, anyway – all reports suggest that wait times are unreasonably long for matches.

I got an error when placing Rocket Raccoon on the portal in the Star Wars playset – are there restrictions on what characters can be used where?

Playsets are locked to certain franchises. In 3.0:

  • All Star Wars characters can be used in all Star Wars playsets. However, if a character is a villain (e.g. Darth Vader) or does not belong in that playset’s storyline (e.g. Finn in Rise Against the Empire), then you will need to find a Champion Coin in the playset with that character’s face on it to use them.
  • Only the Inside Out emotions can be played as in the Inside Out playset
  • The Marvel Battlegrounds playset will allow every Marvel character from 0and 3.0 right away
  • All characters can be used in the Toy Box, Toy Box Takeover, and Toy Box Speedway modes (with the exception of Cars characters in Toy Box Takeover)

If you’re ever unsure of what works where, check on the back of a figure’s box – it’s generally an accurate guide, but won’t take future games into account.

I want to start building things in the Toy Box but don’t know where to start – any tips?

Some basic Toy Box tutorials are accessible from the Toy Box Hub. At the front of the Main Street area there should be a door with a blue/purple glow. From there you can access tutorials, and examples you can pull apart and examine to see how the Toy Box works.

If you’re after info on more complex Toy Box functions, the official Disney Infinity YouTube Channel is a great place to look. They’ve got useful tutorials that show you how Creativitoys work, and provide some practical examples of what you can use them for. You might not find a tutorial for the exact thing you want to do, but having the knowledge of how Creativitoys interact with each other will help you work things out for yourself. Start small – understand how the Toy Box works before jumping onto something big because you might not understand the solution yet anyway.

Disney also has help articles that act as a reference for what Creativitoys do.

If you’re trying to do something specific, Googling with keywords can be surprisingly useful. There’s been times where I’ve found other people trying to do similar things, and seen responses that have pointed me in the right direction. If nothing shows up, asking for help on the Infinity subreddit can be fruitful. The community’s very nice there, but make sure you do a search first to see if your question’s been asked before!

I put my power disc on the portal and it says an invalid toy is on the portal – is something defective?

Check that you’re not in the Toy Box Hub (the area split up into different themes with the hosts who tell you how to play). For some reason hexagonal power discs aren’t allowed in here and give that scary error message, so you’ll need to go into the actual Toy Box in order to use these power discs.

You can get to a brand new Toy Box from the Pause Menu by selecting Load -> New -> [Theme you want to play], or if you wish to play a Toy Box you’ve already saved you can get there by selecting Load -> Toy Box Saves -> [Toy Box you want to play].

I heard Disney Infinity has been cancelled, what does that mean?

Long story short, if you’re playing the games on a PlayStation, Xbox, Wii, or Wii U then you don’t have too much to worry about. You’ll still be able to buy and play packs but the online features will be limited. If you’re playing on PC, mobile, or Apple TV then unfortunately you will be locked out of more content, and in fact might not be able to play your version of the game anymore. For more information on what the cancellation of the game means, please read our more in-depth article on the subject.