Quarrel DX review

Quarrel DX is gorgeous, fiendish, and by some way Denki's finest game yet. So good, in fact, that if it weren't for the criminal lack of multiplayer – and more on that later – you'd be tempted to delete Words With Friends. Yes, Quarrel DX is serious business.

Business, by the way, is a much better word than Serious – though neither would ever face off in Quarrel. The B's magnetic – five points! Yes, Quarrel gets into your head. 

The game takes place over two parts. First, a Risk-like map made up of squares owned by each player, with a number of little inhabitants on them. When one player attacks another, this starts the second part of the game, 'quarrels' in which both players have to make a word – they share the letters, but are restricted to words made of as many letters as they have chunky little inhabitants on the square. 

The inhabitants' populations fluctuate depending on battles and reinforcements, and can be transferred between adjacent squares. Their micromanagement is Quarrel's great trick - spread your army too thinly and you'll have a disadvantage in numbers when attacking and defending; fail to hold enough squares and you won't get enough reinforcements; get isolated and get torn apart. It's simple enough to grasp, but what unfolds has depth and richness.

That Quarrel is merely a great game mechanically is one thing. But the game propels itself into the top tier through impeccable presentation, a winning sense of humour, and the astounding wealth of word trivia that continually scrolling across the screen. The art style is reminiscent of Amiga-era sprite renders, the sound effects are big and brassy, and very rarely does Quarrel even hint at boring you. 

Yes, it can be wearing when two of your AI-controlled opponents are facing off, which is usually bearable because you're so given the chance to make a word and gain some reinforcements. But sometimes that's not enough. Moreover, the AI isn't enough. Quarrel absolutely screams for online – or local - multiplayer. It's the only disappointment in this otherwise exceptional package. 

Quarrel DX is the funniest and most stylish word game around, with layers of strategy that go down so deep it sometimes feels you're just scratching the surface. Even without multiplayer this is an essential purchase. With multiplayer, it could take over the world – or, at the very least, be the thinking person's Angry Birds. [8]