Common Sense Media Review
By Chris Morris
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Repetitive-motion app with no real rewards, strategy.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Merge Town!
Privacy Rating Warning
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
What's It About?
There's not any sort of plot or storyline when it comes to MERGE TOWN!. There's clicking and matching, lots and lots of clicking and matching. New boxes arrive on-screen every 10 seconds, but you can speed that process along by repeatedly clicking the screen. From there, you pair similar houses (they all start at the same level) to build larger structures. Wash, rinse, repeat. Occasionally, gift boxes will appear with higher-level buildings, which can be upgraded by watching a video advertisement. But there's no game winning moment; you'll simply keep clicking and building, until you decide to move on to something else.
Is It Any Good?
Repetition can be fun in games, but only in limited quantities. Merge Town!, though, is nothing but repetition. So while it might be soothing to tap away at the screen and pair buildings, there's no meaning behind it -- and that eventually saps any fun away from the game. Typically, treadmill-like game activity is done for a notable reward. But it's not until you've played Merge Town! for some time that you'll realize the only reward you receive is more of the same.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about time limits. Even when a game is appealing, when should you step away and do something in the real world?
Talk about the purpose of advertising and how to not be taken in by it. Why do you think games like this pack in so many ads during gameplay? Does it work?
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : August 29, 2017
- Genre : Puzzle Games
- Publisher : Gram Games
- Version : 1.7.1
- Minimum software requirements : Requires iOS 7.0 or later.
- Last updated : September 25, 2017
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate