Quarrel is a word-based strategy game that mixes up the likes of Scrabble, Risk and even Countdown. It was first released on iOS last summer and has now landed on the Xbox 360 courtesy of publisher UTVIgnition!
Quarrel puts you in control of some land and an army of troops and you have to take over your opponent’s territory by beating them in word battles. When you go into battle, you and your opponent are both presented with the same 8 letters. You get more points for picking out high-scoring words. You can choose how many soldiers ( up to 8 ) you want to enter into a battle but be careful because the more soldiers you enter, the more you stand to lose, should you not win. Certain letters will give you more points than others so it all depends on which kinds of witty words you can come up with. By winning battles you take over territories and win the game by owning the entire island.
You can have up to 4 players playing but only 2 people play a battle at the same time. But what i do like about the battles is that even if you’re not in one, you can still have a go at making the words out yourself. It’s a great part of the game because there’s nothing more boring than sitting around doing nothing, waiting for your turn.
Quarrel — XBLA Trailer courtesy of UTVIgnition
I have to say though that some of the words you’ll come across are pretty much impossible to get. There were words that i had never even heard of and i’m quite an intelligent kind of guy, or so i like to think anyway! But then again, that’s what makes the game challenging and educational at the same time.
There are 5 game modes set over 12 different islands. The modes are Daily Challenge, Domination, Make Match, Showdown and Quick Match. Obviously the further you progress, the harder it gets. To start with the AI Player will struggle to think of 8-letter words but as you progress, the AI Player will nail almost everything so you’ll have to be on your toes.
If you get fed up with playing against 3 other computer opponents then you can go online and take on the world.
Quarrel is great game. It not only gets you thinking but teaches you new words at the same time. There aren’t many word games on consoles these days and to be honest, we’d love to see more like this!
12 second review — A very addictive and challenging word game that, at only 400 Microsoft Points, is an absolute bargain! Well worth a purchase!
GamerSpy Rating 4/5
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