The core aspect of the game is building your army. Your army is built up of Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie and you can collect up to 1,000 of each at one time. To build them up, you need to StreetPass with other players of the game. This requires local communication so some players will not be able to utilise this feature

However, it does appear that there are some aspects of the game utilising the 3DS console's Play Coin system,. You can spend 5, 10 or 15 Play Coins and can get a varying amount of Pokémon. However, this amount changes the further you get in the game. The more you spend, the better deal you get.

You also have a limit of the amount of each species you can get at any one time, which builds as you progress throughout the game. You can also only enter each stage with a limited amount of Pokémon.

As each stage has got several parts to it, you have the ability to leave your Pokémon at one point and exit the level. This allows you to regroup if you are running low on characters. These Pokémon will stay at that specific spot.

When you return to that spot in a replay of the level, those Pokémon will then join you again and you can build your army up through this manner. However, it's not unlimited. You can only have around 333 of the Pokémon rejoin you at any one time so you cannot build up an army and rush through the entire stage.

Now you have your army, you can go through the game. There are various levels with different opponents in. When you enter the level, your army of Pokémon will attack. If your Pokémon are strong enough, they will push back the opponent and eventually win the level.

This is determined by two factors. First is numbers. If you have a sufficiently large army, then you'll be able to get through the stages and defeat the Pokémon. The second factor is type. Like all Pokémon games, type is a significant factor, so if you send waves of Chespin against a Pokémon like Delphox, you'll require far more Chespin to get through. Alternatively, if you use Froakie, it'll take far less.

You can see your progress on the bottom of the top screen. Your progress is the orange part that comes from the left and the opponent is the red that comes from the right. When either colour fills the entire bar, the battle is complete.

At the end of each stage, you will see the amount of Pokémon that you lost in the battle.

We'll provide full details at launch