Overview: Made by the same folks as Ninja Wars, Office Wars is a dueling game in much the same vein. It’s close enough to almost be a simple re-skin of the same game, but there are several variations and additions that make Office Wars a more complex game.

The basic premise is exactly the same as Ninja Wars. You hire various office workers and pit them as a group against other offices. They fight one-on-one in clouds of dust until only one side has members left standing. You can get power-ups to improve the stats of your whole office, weapons to arm individual members, and different outfits both for looks and for stats. One major variation from Ninja Wars is that each employee has five different stats, and you upgrade them individually, allowing a much greater range of customization. The addition of clothing also adds a layer of variation, as if you’re willing to spend cash on outfits you can save your training points for other stats.

The method of training is the same as Ninja Wars, and has the same flaws – the training points are purchasable for real money and can also be gained over time with several of the power-ups. A forward-thinking player can get one or two of those power-ups, leave the game to run for a few days, and come back to enough BPs to become effectively several levels higher than his apparent level.

Having friends playing not only gives you an (unspecified) “Morale” bonus, but unlocks daily minigames as well. We only saw one at this point, but beating a printer to death with a baseball bat was dreadfully satisfying. That does bring up something worth mentioning – Office Wars is a very new game, and there are quite a few “Coming Soon” flags around the game, including on a Hairstyles tab in character customization, and Accessories catalog and a Bosses tab in the Fight menu. While that’s a sign that the game is still working out the kinks, it’s also a very good sign that the developers have a plan going forward.

The art style is cartoony and cute, and the weapons, power-ups, and outfits are whimsical and memorable. The battle backgrounds are varied, which is a nice change from Ninja Wars, and overall the gameplay is solid. If you tried Ninja Wars and liked it, you’ll like this as well – and if you never tried Ninja Wars but like dueling games in general, give this one a shot for sure.