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Pocket Gamer Explainer: Angry Birds Star Wars II Telepods 101

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Pocket Gamer Explainer: Angry Birds Star Wars II Telepods 101

With Angry Birds Star Wars II, Rovio has followed in the footsteps of the creators of Skylanders and Disney Infinity by letting you turn real-world toys into in-game characters.

They're called Telepods, and they're pretty cool. With these Telepods, you get immediate and unlimited access to your favourite characters. And, yes, it's a joy to grab your Chewie figure to help out on a tricky level.

To help you figure out how these things work and help you get your favourite Star Wars hero in Telepod form, here's a Pocket Gamer Explainer.


What are Telepods?

Telepods are physical Angry Birds Star Wars toys. You can transport the character in question into Angry Birds Star Wars II on iOS and Android devices.


How do I use them?

Load up an Angry Birds Star Wars II level and press the 'Telepods' button (it looks like a big 'T'). Then, slot your toy of choice onto a Telepods base - there's a stump on the base and a slot on the toy's rump to make them snap together.

Finally, place the toy and base onto your device's front-facing camera. Make sure the lump on the base lines up with the white shape that's displayed on your screen.

If you do it right, the bird or pig of choice will appear in the game and replace the character who is currently on the slingshot. Remember that you can only use that character once per level, and you can only use birds in Bird Side levels (and vice versa).

Angry Birds Star Wars 2
Sounds cool. How do they work?

Each figure has a teeny tiny QR code on the bottom. The Telepods base acts like a microscope and allows your device's front-facing camera to scan the code. Pretty sneaky, sis.


Do I need to buy the toys to have this functionality?

No. You can buy access to every character from inside the game. They're a bit expensive, though, and the necessary currency runs out quick. So, yep, you may have to spend real money with in-app purchases to get access to all your favourite Star Wars heroes.

And, boy, is it cheaper to play with Telepods. It would cost about £6 to have unlimited access to Anakin Episode III with the physical toy, and about £22 to buy infinite access to the Vader-to-be through IAPs. Yowch!


Do the Telepods work with the original Angry Birds Star Wars?

Nope. You'll need the new game to play with Telepods.


How much do the figures cost?

Well. You can't buy characters separately, so that complicates matters. You can buy figures in a 2 pack, which cost £5.99 / $6.99 a go. But some figures are exclusive to the much more expensive playsets.


Sigh. Tell me about those hideously expensive play sets, then...

Okay, here are all the Telepod packs you can currently buy:

Telepods

Multi-Pack (£9.99 / $9.99)
Includes: Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin Episode II, Darth Sidious, General Grievous, Darth Maul, and Yoda figures. One Telepods base.
Telepods
Star Destroyer (£39.99 / $39.99)
Includes: Jedi Luke, Darth Sidious, Padme, Stormtrooper, Darth Vader, Droideka, Panaka, Anakin Episode I, Zam Wesell, Jedi Youngling figures. One Telepods base. Extra blocks and junk.

Death Star

Death Star (£24.99 / $19.99)
Includes: X-Wing Pilot Luke and TIE Fighter Pilot figures. One Telepods base. Some blocks and launchers and whatnot.

Telepods

Battle on Genosis (£12.99 / $14.99)
Includes: Mace Windu and Battle Droid figures. One Telepods base. A whole load of plastic nonsense.

Bounty Hunters

Bounty Hunters (£12.99 / $14.99)
Includes: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jango Fett. One Telepods base. Some bits and pieces.

Telepods

Duel Count Dooku (£12.99 / $14.99)
Includes: Anakin Episode II and Count Dooku figures. One Telepods base. A whole heap of landfill fodder.

Telepods

Endor (£24.99 / $19.99)
Includes: Endor Luke and Biker Scout figures. One Telepods base. Loads of blocks and bikes and a ramp and other stuff.

Telepods

Darth Vader Case (£19.99 / $19.99)
Includes: Chewbacca figure and one Telepods base. An enormous Darth Vader carry case that can hold 30 figures and some other bits and bobs.

Telepods

Telepods 2-Pack (£5.99 / $5.99)
Includes one Telepods base, and two figures selected at random.

Those might be Emperor Palpatine, Anakin Episode II, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Jedi Luke, General Grievous, Yoda, Anakin Episode III, Stormtrooper, R2-D2, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Boba Fett, Anakin Episode I, Jar Jar Binks, or C-3PO.

They're available online in most major toy shops.


I just want to play with [insert favourite Star Wars figure here]. How do I get him / her / it?

Gosh, you ask a lot of questions. Fine, here's the complete list of birds and pigs, and how to get them all. We'll start with the birds:

  • Jedi Luke - Star Destroyer, 2 Pack
  • Padme - Star Destroyer
  • Captain Panaka - Star Destroyer
  • Anakin Episode I - Star Destroyer, 2 Pack
  • Jedi Youngling - Star Destroyer
  • Qui-Gon Jinn - Multi Pack
  • Anakin Episode II - Multi Pack, Duel Count Dooku, 2 Pack
  • Yoda - Multi Pack, 2 Pack
  • X-Wing Luke - Death Star, 2 Pack
  • Mace Windu - Battle on Genosis, 2 Pack
  • Obi-Wan Kenobi - Bounty Hunters, 2 Pack
  • Endor Luke - Endor, 2 Pack
  • Chewbacca - Darth Vader Case
  • C-3PO - 2 Pack Princess
  • Leia - 2 Pack
  • Jar Jar Binks - 2 Pack
  • Han Solo - 2 Pack
  • R2-D2 - 2 Pack

And the pigs...

  • Darth Sidious - Star Destroyer, Multi Pack, 2 Pack
  • Stormtrooper - Star Destroyer, 2 Pack
  • Darth Vader - Star Destroyer
  • Droideka - Star Destroyer
  • Zam Wesell - Star Destroyer
  • Darth Maul - Multi Pack
  • General Grievious, - Multi Pack, 2 Pack
  • TIE Fighter Pilot - Death Star
  • Battle Droid - Battle on Genosis
  • Jango Fett - Bounty Hunters
  • Boba Fett - 2 Pack
  • Count Dooku - Duel Count Dooku
  • Biker Scout- Endor
  • Anakin Episode III - 2 Pack

Got any questions? Chuck them in the comments below and we'll do our best to answer them.
Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer