Merge Mayor

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t played all too many merge games prior to playing this one, so maybe it was the novelty rather than the gameplay, but I found Merge Mayor surprisingly good fun. I found myself skipping out on big AAA titles and instead combining my bricks and fruit together into ever elaborate structures time and time again. The first thing that stuck out for me was the visuals. The partnership of a bright and charming interface and a model-village-esque town design makes for a joyful and well polished title, regardless of the simplistic play style. Building up the town step by step was genuinely satisfying. I found myself looking forward to new areas and a selection of novel tasks and vocabulary, made all the better by the brief, but still enjoyable, story (If it can be called as such…).

Platforms and Languages – 6/10

Merge mayor is a mobile exclusive for both Android and Apple and is free to install. There’s a healthy number of enticing microtransactions if you’re desperate for an item but they won’t add any readability.

The language options can be changed while on the main interface using the pause menu and allows for rapid switching between numerous languages with no loading or closing of the app.

Glossary

Usability – 5/10

Merge mayor is quite brief in its concept but repeatable and enjoyable. The majority of your time will be spent looking at the merge screen. Here you can see a variety of foodstuffs, tools, vehicles and building materials to combine, but also a text box at the top of the screen that shows the name of the item and a description of what you can expect to yield when its matched. The names of these items are a fairly even split of katakana loan words, good for strengthening your katakana reading, and more difficult kanji. The titles are unexpectedly uncommon in textbooks and other resources and yet they hold a lot of usage. Structures that can be found around your home and around your neighbourhood are named and some of the more complex items are given short descriptions such as “Opened” or “Wrapped”. While this won’t teach you extensive conversational dialogue it does provide a weightier variant of simple one-word vocab that may be given in similar mobile formats.

While you are merging, you’ll get the occasional interjection from Olivia, the resident advisor and spritely corporate chatterbox. In the early stages she’ll offer you guidance but as you progress her interactions become fewer and farther between. She’ll usually only pipe up for the changes between districts and a few of the weekly events. Her, dialogue, and that of the other NPCs, can be somewhat amusing, with a lot of colloquialisms thrown in there, but more importantly they are relevant to your current actions and objectives. A short list on the right hand side of the screen summarizes each of the missions and by clicking on them, or their icon on the map, you can read a short excerpt that can either be a witty joke based on the item needed or a dull and to the point instruction. Each style holds its own merit and they are well worth reading when new missions are unlocked. The benefit of seeing and reading about your objectives is that it gives you visual cues and references to tie your newly learnt words to. This opposes the worst format for learning which is pick up words arbitrarily from a pictureless list or a dictionary.

The overall layout of Merge Mayor is minimalist which makes for some easy and relaxing reading. The font is particularly clean and I find that, because of the small quantities of text, the lack of furigana is not a negative. Furigana can be a crutch for many beginners but having large blocks of text without it can be off-putting if you’re still developing your reading ability. Merge Mayor draws a healthy balance and even boasts some larger sections of reading in its event text and tutorial screens. It really is a best of both worlds experience.

Merge Mayor is not an endless boon of words and conversational grammar however it does have its strengths and, if used correctly, it can round off and benefit sections of your vocabulary. The overall theme for the gameplay is its ace in the hole. Reading about buildings and infrastructure isn’t too fun but developing it yourself makes even the most mundane parts tolerable, even setting up safety equipment to cordon off the site for your tiny square builders becomes a hoot. As much as the topic isn’t as interesting as monsters and magic it is much more beneficial to your day to day life so any opportunity to make this welcome and fun is a highlight.

Challenges and Methods – 5/10

Learn what you’re merging

The items that you can merge are numerous but not infinite. It’s well worth your time to learn each of the item names (and descriptions if skill and time permit). You are also able to flick through the items at will simply by tapping them rather than swiping. Try stopping periodically and reading all items on screen, or limiting merges only to items when you read them out loud. This method can be exhausted however when a new event starts a whole new flood of words can be found.

Mission log

Much in the same way as the item names, missions in this game are ever-present. The difference is that they are refreshed as you progress. Limit yourself to not being able to submit items unless you’ve learnt how to read each sentence. Try to ensure you can read the each word and ensure you verify readings on words that you’re unsure of. For an added challenge and a bit of variety, try writing out each sentence before you deliver the goods.