Merge Wood Block Puzzle

 

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 stack the cargo into the Derigable on: Merge Wood Block Puzzle

Today is a very simple game that has been advertised a lot in the past couple of months. This is a game that has many clones on the market and may or may not contain the same mechanics as the others. This game is based on the merging game called 2048. 

The game is easy you click on a block to select it and then you slide it around to match it up with the same number. As you combined the number, the number is increased by 1. Over time the board fills up with more random numbers. If any blocks touch the top like Tetris, you lose the round.

Sometimes you can find a block that will give you a key to unlock new block skins. There appears to be 4 different skin thems for number blocks. You can only unlock a skin for a single block at a time. At a point you can also pay coins to unlock a random skin.

The effect tab allows you to buy new particle effects that show up when you drag around and connect blocks. Honestly these effects are very hard to notice and dont add to the experience all that well. These also cost gold coins as well to buy.

The themes tab are unlockable backgrounds that also cost gold coins. You can earn more of these coins by completing some daly challenges that I do not seem to have a screenshot of them.

The last tab which has the most expensive unlock changes the blocks to alphabets. This makes me think the highest block number is 26. I was only have to reach number 25 only once while I played this game. I have no idea what happens beyond that.

Overall:

 4 of 5 cogs.

This is a game you can pretty much play in one sitting. It is very easy to master and the game doesn't offer too much beyond what you see.

Story:

 0 of 5 cogs.

There is no story, except the story you tell about your progress.

Amount of ads:

 Way too many.

Many many ads. You get a bar on the bottom of the screen and then an ad after everytime you lose.

Accurate Advertising?:

💯%

The video ads are very straight forward and do not contain any click-bait methods in them. Again there are many clones of this game on the google market.

Graphics:

5 of 5 cogs.

The graphics are simple but the themes for the different blocks do look very nice. The graphics are the best part of this game.

Gameplay:

 4 of 5 cogs.

Simple, fast and repetitive. The game works well without bugs but... it doesn't offer anything longterm for anyone to keep playing. I feel you can play this game and unlock most things in a couple sittings.

Free play:

💯%

Yup, you can play through and get everything in this game without paying for anything. There are many ads in this game that make up for that.

Fun factor:

📱 A game playable anywhere.

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Mahjong City Tour

 

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Greetings mechanics and tinkerers!

Today the antique gears make: Mahjong City Tour

Today is a classic Mahjong Solitaire game. This game does suffer a bit of the same pay-to-play setup as the last game, yet this game does provide you a way to gain more coins than last week. This game is a little fairer in that respect and you can watch extra ads every so often to earn coins. 

Here you get a pretty standard map like every mobile game standard. Each level has 3 stars you can obtain and you must also farm some items that randomly drop after you beat a level to unlock the next set of levels. This is an artificial slowdown that forces you to replay several levels over again. You can view these under the Ticket button. You can also gain gifts and unlock special in-game visual locations for completing many levels with a max of 3 stars.

There is only one currency here and it's gold coins. You also have a set of lives that refill over time. The lives do not take too long to regenerate them. 

The first major button on the bottom of the screen is the shop screen. There are many options here to choose from but the basic shuffle upgrade cost 150 coins which is $2 USD and I feel that is way too expensive.

The second button on the bottom is the events tab. Here you have daily tasks that earn you coins or power-ups. You also have a daily spin as well. It says each objective resets at 3 am.

The fourth tab contains a club menu. Here you can join a club and get hearts to continue playing for longer. There appear to be club-only events as well.

The last button contains the global leader tab. It shows you who has the most stars of all the levels. You can sort it based on local country or world.

You can travel to other areas when you click on the airplane on the map screen. It shows you all the stars you've collected along with the special locations you unlock.

As you play along there are a few objectives that show up as well. Sometimes you have to free bears or only match golden tiles. Sometimes pieces will be 'wrapped' and you must remove all tiles around them to free them. So far this game only has rare super hard levels, unlike the previous blog post where hard levels are around every 5 or 10 levels. Along the bottom, there are several power-ups. The flashlight will highlight tiles that are considered 'free' by Mahjong Solitaire rules.

When you click on a level you get the goal overview and then you can select some power-ups to use. You also see the collectible trinkets needed to unlock new levels.

Each day you can play special levels to unlock alternate tilesets. You get 3 random ones a day and you can spend coins to unlock it sooner. Some sets may be easier or harder to match some tiles.

Lastly, as you can see, you have to earn a lot of points to unlock other tiles. Most of these seem to be locked behind holiday events.

Overall:

 4 of 5 cogs.

Over all the game is classic Mahjong Solitaire. I have been a fan of mahjong for such a long time and I even own a physical set of tiles. Mahjong can be a very relaxing game to play but I have had several connectivity issues with this game. Normally the game will still let you play but the screen stays dimmed until you choose a level.

Story:

 1 of 5 cogs.

No direct story at all. You have an indirect story that is told visually thought the levels. No deep or filling story to find here.

Amount of ads:

 Many

You get shown many ads after every level win or fail. You can also watch bonus ads to gain coins or power-ups every so often.

Accurate Advertising?:

💯%

No click bait here. Just straight forward Mahjong action.

Graphics:

 5 of 5 cogs.

Professional and crisp graphics for tiles. The HUD and other assets are cartoony and kind of follow the paper art style.

Gameplay:

 5 of 5 cogs.

Basic Mahjong Solitare, not much more to say about it. It's easy for anyone that can match images to play. Those with poor eye-sight may have trouble with this one.

Free play:

💯%

Mostly free to play. There is a small amount of skill needed to pay attention to how some tiles are arranged or you can easily lock yourself out of a win. The concept of Mahjong Solitare is pretty standard now and have been around as far as I know since the 80s.

Fun factor:

🈸 Mahjong.

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