Merge games

What is a merge game?

Merge games all run on one rule: when two matching pieces meet, they combine into the next piece up. Two small make one medium, two medium make one large, and so on up a ladder. The space you play in never grows, so the whole game is about keeping room to work while you build toward the top of the ladder.

There are two main kinds. In a drop and merge game you pick where each piece falls into a container and physics does the rest, so pieces roll, bump and settle in ways you have to plan for. In a slide and merge game every tile on a grid slides at once when you swipe, and matching tiles that collide join up. Both reward the same habit: put your biggest piece somewhere it won't get in the way, and build the smaller sizes next to it in order.

Moon Jar: drop and merge

In Moon Jar you drop little moons into a glass jar. Two of the same kind touching merge into the next of ten sizes, from Pebble Moon up to the Sun, and two Suns make a Supernova that clears a lot of room. You're only ever handed the five smallest moons, so everything from Coral Moon up has to be built. The game ends when a moon comes to rest above the rim for about two seconds.

Our twist is the tip. Every 15 drops the jar leans to one side for a few seconds, everything slides, and any merge that happens while it's tilting scores double. Daily Jar gives everyone the same moons in the same order, and Zen has no game over at all.

Zed Quest: slide and merge letters

Zed Quest is a sliding tile puzzle where the numbers are letters. Swipe and every tile slides; two A tiles that meet become a B, two B tiles become a C, and the summit is Z. The twist is words: whenever tiles in a row or column spell a real word, it cashes out for points and gives you moves back. You start with 40 moves, so you're always balancing two plans, building high letters and spelling with the ones you have.

Merge game tips

• Pick a corner for your biggest piece. In Moon Jar keep the largest moon in one bottom corner. In Zed Quest keep your top letter in a corner and avoid the one swipe that pulls it out.
• Build stairs. Line sizes up next to each other in order, so one merge rolls into the next. In Moon Jar that's how you get a chain and an Eclipse bonus.
• Don't bury small pieces. A tiny moon trapped under a big one, or a lone A stuck behind an F, is dead space for a long time.
• Use the preview. Moon Jar shows the next two moons and lights up the match your drop will land on. If there's no glow, it'll bounce somewhere else first.
• Watch the danger, not the score. When the jar starts ticking, drop something small that merges on the tall pile. When Zed Quest is low on moves, cash a cheap three letter word to stay alive.
• Practice without pressure. Zen in Moon Jar has no game over, which is the best way to learn how much room each size really takes.

If you like dropping things in

Not every game in the second row merges, but they scratch the same itch of fitting falling pieces into a small space. Bloom Blocks is a block puzzle on an 8 by 8 garden bed where full rows and columns clear and flowers sprout. Alpha Rain drops letters into a well for you to spell away. Trinket Trio and Jelly Jars are about grouping matching pieces until the board is tidy.

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