The gameplay of SWAP Force is based on the two previous games, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure and Skylanders: Giants, but unlike them Skylanders now have the ability to jump. Players use a portal to bring real-life figures into the game; SWAP Force introduces a new Portal of Power that has new technology that makes the SWAP Force characters work correctly. The SWAP Force characters have top and bottom halves that can be separated from each other and recombined with halves from other characters. In total, there are 256 combinations between the top and bottom halves. The SWAP Force characters also have eight distinct ways of moving, which are necessary to enter side areas called "SWAP Zone Challenges". These are Rocket, Spin, Dig, Stealth, Teleportation, Bounce, Speed and Climb.