Medieval Merge

While the storyline is somewhat vague and the action isn't particularly adrenaline-charged, the matching portion of this game has some appeal. Between brief character conversations and observing parts of a village get repaired, Medieval Merge repeatedly takes kids back to a board that contains small glove, plant, and other icons. To enable actions, such as restoring a house, they need to repeatedly pair items that emerge from certain images when you tap them. A brief description of what will be formed if you combine an item with an identical item appears when you click on an image. Kids can also view a succession of what they've already formed.

The guidance they get about future versions of items they may combine isn't quite as solid, which could cause some confusion. Having to click through multiple screens to indicate you've finished a task can make the gameplay feel slow. Kids also play a passive role in task completion. They essentially just watch things unfold, which can feel underwhelming after creating the required items to make it happen. Dragging items together on the board to combine them can be fun, though, especially if kids get into a groove and make a number of matches. But they may find they reach a point where all the spaces are filled with items that don't have a match -- or the source for new items is undergoing a lengthy replenishment process. In either instance, it isn't hard to feel like your only option is to shell out some cash to keep playing. For awhile, kids should be able to draw from the in-app currency reserves they've built up by playing. That money won't last forever, though, and kids can find themselves locked out eventually, unless they want to buy more currency to fund more energy. If they're willing to potentially wait out some refueling or replenishment-related delays, Medieval Merge can provide logic and critical thinking practice -- which it matches with a fair amount of entertainment.