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Denki Word Quest allows you to kill with literacy

Quarrel maker's latest word game is out now and runs in a browser.

Denki, the studio behind the brilliant iOS and Xbox Live Arcade puzzler Quarrel, is back with a new word game that you can try out for free right here in your browser. It's called Denki Word Quest, which at least boasts the virtue of transparency, and it blends anagrams with very light RPG trappings to create something that feels a little like Bookworm Adventures.

You're cast as a plucky little fellow in a yellow cape: always a good start. Armed with nothing more than a determined frown and a habit of turning bright shards of the English language into deadly weapons, you're sent into a series of very pretty 2D environments to take on foes the only way you know how - by out-spelling them.

Battles are turn-based and you start off with a three-letter limit to go along with your random handful of tiles. The fancier the word, the more damage it will do. The more damage you do, the faster you'll power through your foes, the more loot and XP you'll earn, and the closer you'll be to upgrading your character stats and maybe even expanding the number of letters you can use at once. You know, so you can make even fancier words. Who doesn't want that?

I had an obdurate cat once.

As you'd expect considering Denki's back catalogue, the whole thing's wonderfully warm-hearted and witty, from the seemingly random quest chatter that sends you on your way to the varieties of monsters - including evil kittens and obdurate boneheads - you'll meet along the path to victory. The paywall comes down rather abruptly after the second level, but it only takes £3.00 (or €4.00) to raise it again.

Compared to the territorial intricacies and vicious AI of Quarrel, Denki Word Quest feels a little simplistic, perhaps, but it's still a lovely time-waster that's well worth checking out. Just watch out for those boneheads, alright? Some of them can be rather obdurate.

Watch on YouTube