Quarrel Deluxe Review: A Word Strategy Game That’s Both Words and Strategy

Quarrel Deluxe Review for iPhone-3

Quarrel Deluxe Review for iPhone-3

[rating: 3/5]

Quarrel Deluxe Review: At its core a word game, but it’s crossed with a strategy game, such as Stratego, for a different twist entirely.

Quarrel Deluxe starts with selecting a character (male or female) and then an army (choose from eight, ranging from cavemen to aliens). You then can choose to go through the tutorial or head straight to the play. Even though it’s a bit lengthy, I might recommend the tutorial. There’s a lot to this game that you’ll need to pick up on.

There are four modes of game play: Quick Match, Make Match, Domination, and Daily Challenge. In Quick Match, the territory is divided between the player and their opponent. Each side is given an equal number of squares on a “board” and a small group of varying numbers of soldiers are allocated to each square. You select an adjacent square to do battle with and the soldiers line up on the disputed border.

Quarrel Deluxe Review for iPhone-4

At this point Quarrel Deluxe turns into a word game. The number of soldiers on each side determines the number of letters you will be able to play. You are given eight random letters, each with a different point value, from which to make a word. However, if you only have five soldiers in the battle, you can only make a five-letter word. Your goal is to maximize the points-value of your word. The battle is decided based on the highest points-value between you and your opponent, and a tie goes to the quickest player. If you win, you take over their territory. If you lose, they take over yours. There can also be a prisoner exchange as part of the victory depending on the makeup of the battle.

Then it’s back to the strategy part of the game where you decide your next move. You can reinforce your positions or challenge for new territory. The more soldiers you can get on a square of territory, the better. The words you play do not have to use all the soldiers on the square, but having more soldiers gives you more options for playing words.

Quarrel Deluxe Review for iPhone-5

The other game modes can have you playing against multiple computer-driven opponents, each with their own style of play. You can also connect your games through Facebook and Twitter, as well as Game Center, to share your victories (or defeats) and provoke your friends into competition.

The animations and images are spoofs of aggression, so even as one row of soldiers is attacking another it’s rather amusing. Little angels with wings float away from the defeated. It’s almost a 1960s Batman-style “kapow,” “splatt,” and “bam” type of fight. And the music is suited to the territory. An island location has island-style music, albeit a game-show version of island-style music.

Quarrel Deluxe Review for iPhone-1

While Quarrel Deluxe {$4.99} is a little pricier than many iOS games, there’s a lot to this one. If you’ve gotten bored with other word games this may be the one that mixes is up enough to put your word skills to the test, and develop a whole new set of strategy skills on the side. If you like strategy games, this one is a good one to see if your word skills are good enough to execute your strategy. And if you’re a fan of both, well this could be the perfect game for you.

Pros:

  • A heck of a test of your anagram skills
  • Animations and graphics add to the mischief
  • The combination of word skills and strategy is unique and doubly rewarding when you win

Cons:

  • Rather complicated
  • Even quick games can get lengthy

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