There 7 different modes in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin of which two are multiplayer modes. Listed below is a list of the modes with a brief description.
Single DS Play[edit | edit source]
There are two modes to go on for single play: Story Mode and Free Battle.
Story Mode[edit | edit source]
This is where you follow the storyline of the game where the world has been devastated by meteor strikes. There are 26 missions in total with 38 training mission or trials to go on. As you progress though the story, new COs will become unlocked for use in the other modes. Up to three separate files can be saved and in progress at a time. Unlike in previous versions, you can replay missions you have already completed.
Free Battle[edit | edit source]
This replaces the War Room and Versus Battle from Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Free battle lets you face up to 3 other A.I.s or against 3 other real people all using one DS. This is also where you can play on maps downloaded from other people or you created yourself. You can freely adjust the settings for each battle.
Multi-Card Play[edit | edit source]
Multi-card plays allows you to use the DS wireless feature to connect with up to four people. You can either battle against up to four other people each with their own DS and their own game card with the same kind of settings as Free Battle or you can trade maps with each other.
For more information, see Multiplayer.
Wi-Fi[edit | edit source]
The Wi-Fi ability, a much welcomed feature of the game, allows you to come together with people all over the internet. You can trade maps or battle opponents online. Another feature is Friends Mode which allows you to use extra features like voice chat with people you know.
For more information, see Multiplayer.
Design Room[edit | edit source]
Like previous versions, the design room allows you to customize your game. There are two modes Design Map and CO Colours.
Design Map[edit | edit source]
Here you can make your own maps for which you could play on and share with other people. There is a limit of 50 units and 99 civilization but you can change your map size from 5x5 to 30x30 squares. You can have up to 50 custom maps stored on one game.
CO Colours[edit | edit source]
For each COs you unlock, you have a choice of four different colour schemes.
Records[edit | edit source]
As you play the game more, you earn some medals, ranks and most of all - music.
History[edit | edit source]
Here you can view a detail record of your previous battles. Depending on your performance you can earn up to 8 medals and gain different ranks.
Music Player[edit | edit source]
As you progress though story mode, you unlock more background music in the game. There are 50 different background music to be unlocked & listened to again. You can select which songs to listen to in a loop or just listen to one.