Squirrels take on beavers in hand-drawn iOS strategy game Tree Wars on January 23rd

It's fine, you can laugh at the idea of squirrels and beavers battling it out in a iOS strategy game called Tree Wars.

I laughed at first. But then this hand-drawn strategy game slapped me with its stiff learning curve until I started taking it seriously. So I did.

Tree Wars has you taking on a small army of squirrels as they try to push back the frontlines of the dam-dwelling beavers.

Each level has you generating squirrel soldiers, archers, and bombers from your castle on the left. You have to wait for time limits to pass before generating another of each unit.

Your goal isn't just to defend your castle, though, as the only way to beat a level is to destroy the beavers's dams. These dams are lined up on the right side of the screen.

Keeping it tough but fair, the beavers are able to generate the same units as you are. What usually sways the tide of battle is how you spend the golden acorns you collect from defeating beavers.

They golden acorns are used to unlock more unit types, upgrades, and spells, you see. Spells include healing your squirrels and sending fireballs on to enemy beavers.

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After a battle has been won, you can upgrade an aspect of your units, such as how fast they move, or how much damage they cause.

You can also find extra challenge across the three difficulty options for each level, if need be.

I honestly thought Tree Wars was going to be another dull tower defence game, but it's not. It's surprisingly engaging due to its simple yet challenging gameplay.

It can get pretty intense if you start losing the sway of battle. However, as far as strategy games go, it doesn't get much deeper than spamming archers and foot soldiers as much as you can.

Tree Wars is heading to the App Store on January 23rd and will cost £1.99 / $2.99.