It's time to apply for Runiversity in Doodle Hex DS

What would you get by combining Harry Potter, Paper-Scissors-Stone and Top Trumps? Well, something resembling Doodle Hex, we figure.

The brainchild of Spanish developer Tragnarion Studios, this is a magical duelling game for DS, where you draw various symbols on the touchscreen in order to win battles against what we've been told to call other Doodlers.

The action's set within a Runiversity (naturally). Like Hogwarts, this is populated by a bunch of larger-than-life characters, such as Strat, the emo-rockstar elf, and Fey, the Camden Locks goth-witch.

Each has their own style of combative magic. For example, Fey relies on high-damage magic, while Strat puts together high-speed spells.

As for the runes themselves, over 200 are promised, but we suspect you'll have to be accurate with your stylus to inflict them on your opponent, as symbol recognition systems in other DS games such as Lost Magic proved tricky to handle in the heat of battle. We were also less than convinced with a similar mechanic in Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix.

The other vital aspect of Doodle Hex is your tactical choice of spells, with counter-attacks being one way of trying to ensure victory. Fortunately, as you move through the various tournaments and challenges of the Puzzle mode, new runes unlock, thereby enabling you to build up your own customised spell book.

This will become particularly important in the head-to-head multiplayer mode, where as well as performing tricks such as turning your friend into a (virtual) frog, you can swap spells after bouts as a way of making up for any annoyance caused.

Doodle Hex is due to be released sometime during spring 2008.