Appy's cooking up something magical for iOS with SpellCraft School of Magic
Mixing up blood of Potter, hair of D&D, wart of Pokemon
By very its theme, SpellCraft School of Magic sounds a bit Harry Potter-y, but the game's inspiration is said to rather more ancient - Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.
It's been developed by US outfit Appy Entertainment, best known for its FaceFighter and Trucks & Skulls games on iOS.
SpellCraft looks an all-together more ambitious product, however.
Stir the magicA freemium social game, you start out as a young apprentice wizard who has to save your teachers who have been trapped in the dungeons beneath the school.
In order to fight with the monsters that stand in your path, you'll have buy and look after lots of magical plants (32 in total), so you can brew up 40 spells, stirring them just right to ensure their potency - that's the time-based and mini-game part of the experience.
Gimme a deep, dark dungeonIn terms of the action, the combat is turn-based and card-based, and generated as you move around the dungeon maps.
Spells are based around Fire, Chaos, Water, and Earth elements, with knowledge about each monster's vulnerabilities opening up strategic possibilities in a Pokemon-style.
Mixing up the genres even more, each spell is triggered using a golf swing-style mechanic where the correct touch timing is required to unleash it with maximum power.
You can also fight your friends asynchronously via Apple's Game Center via the multiplayer mode, which Appy describes as being akin to Spellcasting With Friends.
Big pointy hatOther elements of the game include customising your wizard with hats, clothes, items and accessories, including animated pets, with in-game currency needed to get the best stuff. Of course, you can spend real cash if you want to speed up the process.
SpellCraft School of Magic is due to be released for iPhone and iPad during November.
You can get some idea of the gameplay in the following video.