Customization in video games definitely isn’t a new concept – but choosing hair colors and T-shirt styles is destined for obsolescence now that Drawn to Life is on the market. THQ’s first original property for the Nintendo DS platform takes the Wii’s popular Mii avatars to the next level, letting users draw their own characters and game environments from scratch with the DS stylus.

The app offers an endless array of colors, brush types, guides and stamps so gamers can tailor-make an avatar in their own image, or plumb the depths of their imaginations to play as human-like fantastical creatures and beasties. And as a character moves through the game to save a village from being overrun by evil forces, the stylus becomes a valuable tool for shifting the outcome of the story. For instance, a player can draw a bubble helmet around their hero’s head so he won’t drown, or scribble moving platforms in the sky so he won’t fall to his death.

Developed by 5th Cell, Drawn to Life, which hit retail in the fall, also offers multicard play with the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi connection, so gamers can swap drawings and trade heroes with friends.