Designed exclusively for play on the Nintendo DS handheld, Sands of Destruction is a console-style role-playing game with 2D turn-based combat and an anime-inspired art style. In an unusual storyline, players quest to save the world by ending it. The adventure takes place in a desert game world, with players in the role of a gentle young man named Kyrie. The hero has, somewhere deep within him, the power to destroy the world, but he has no knowledge of why. Kyrie is joined by a rebellious warrior called Morte, whose past is a mystery but who now leads an insurgent group known as the World Annihilation Front. Morte and her companions fight alongside Kyrie against barbarous beastmen and huge monsters that stand both dual screens tall, in back-and-forth combat that includes Quick Timer-style events that allow players to enhance their characters' attacks by pressing button sequences to match on-screen cues. Players explore the sandy game world from an isometric perspective, and can rotate the camera to see their characters from multiple directional viewpoints. Hundreds of hand-drawn animated cut-scenes provide insight into the characters and move the plot forward. The story of Sands of Destruction was created by Masato Kato, a veteran scenario writer whose previous work includes contributions to the original ninja gaiden games for nes, and games in Square's Final Fantasy and Chrono series, as well as the later Mana series for PS2 and DS. Sands of Destruction inspired a manga adaptation in Japan, as well as a 13-episode anime series, localized for distribution in North America by Funimation following the U.S. release of the game.