Game Mechanics

When you first download Merge Friends, your account is level 1, with 100 Energy, 10 Gems, and 100 Coins. The tutorial starts and guides you through the basics of the game, teaching you about merging, deliveries, and Creators.

## Board

This is the main screen and work area for the game.

The board is 9 by 7, but at the start of the game, most of it is obscured by dust clouds with numbers correlating to the level you must reach to unlock the area. Underneath these areas, and at the start of the game, are Cobwebbed items. These cannot be moved and need to be unlocked by merging them with a regular item.

**SPOILER WARNING: *Board Upgrade***

The challenge lies in managing your space effectively so that you may complete the tasks set by the Townies! Sometimes you might need to move items around, sell ones that you don’t need immediately, and definitely merge others to free up space and create higher level items!

## Menu

The navigation buttons show up at the bottom of the screen. On the top right of the board, you can tap the cogwheel to manage your settings.

### Settings

Shows the different settings you can turn on or off: Music, SFX, language, and Facebook. The latter will show whether you have connected your Facebook account to the game. You can also access our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy in this pop-up. Your player ID is available here as well, and you can always contact support by tapping the contact button.

### Shop

Gives you access to the different sections of the Shop, in which you can purchase Coins, Gems and bundles, as well as items in the Flash Sale.

Check the Daily Deals in the Shop for a free piggy bank, and a 50-coin Energy Chest.

The Crates and Chests section will have crates and the Epic Chest available.

Finally, you can also refill your Energy by paying Gems.

### Events

Here you can find the daily task that’s available on that specific day.

### Social

Friends: In this section, you can see your friends who currently play the game. You can also like Merge Friends on Facebook, join the Facebook Group, or invite friends to play the game with you for a reward!

Crews: This section shows you the crews menu, where you can join or create a Crew, and then participate in the cheer wave or request items from your crewmates!

### Town view

By tapping this icon, you are directed to the deliveries page, where you can see all active tasks and shipments, as well as the map of the town.

### Gift Holder

The empty space between the four buttons at the bottom of the screen is known as the Gift Holder. When you purchase an item from the Shop, for example, it will be sent here for you to collect. This is the same for any rewards you earn, plus any compensation from support.

## Merging

This is the main mechanic of the game. The act of merging is when you drag an item onto another of the same type and level. Merging these two items creates one item that is now one level higher. Each item has a maximum merge level, which depends on each item chain. Once an item reaches its maximum level, a gold star indicator appears on it and you won’t be able to merge it anymore. You can also receive Experience when merging after a certain level.

You can check your progress with an item by selecting it and then tapping on the “info” button on the top of the screen. This opens a pop-up where you can find the item’s progress level in the chain, plus all the others you have discovered so far. Any items that have not been found yet have a gray question mark.

When you have two or more of the same item on your board, they do a little bounce animation to show you they can be merged!

## Energy

Energy is your basic resource in the game, as you need it to get items from Creators. It naturally replenishes itself; every two minutes, you gain 1 energy up to a maximum of 100. When you refer a new friend, your maximum energy will increase!

Energy can also be replenished by collecting Energy items. You can obtain these from different kinds of Chests, but especially from Energy Chests, which can be bought from the store for 50 Coins once a day. As with most things in the game, the Energy items can be merged together to make exponentially higher values of energy with each merge. We suggest holding on to the lower level ones until you can merge them to the maximum for more Energy!

When your Energy is depleted, you are offered a 10 Energy boost for watching an Ad, which you can rewatch after a 15-minute cooldown. You can also spend Gems to completely fill your Energy. This offer is always available in the Shop, and its price will increase with each purchase.

Energy

## Experience

Experience (XP) is a resource that can be earned through deliveries and shipments, where upon completion, the XP is automatically added to your experience bar on the top left.

It can also be found as an item when merging together items above level 3. XP can also be merged together for exponentially increasing XP amounts.

When the XP bar is completed, you level up. Congratulations! This often unlocks more items, areas on the board, tasks, and maybe even Townies! You also receive rewards to help you move along towards your next level.

Experience

## Completing tasks

Townies need your help with getting specific items! When completing these requests, you can be rewarded with XP, Coins, or other items. These are the main tasks to progress through the game; complete them to continue the Townies’ stories as seen through their dialogue and sometimes cutscenes.

At times you might receive requests from mystery Townies where you only see their silhouette. Once you complete them, the character is revealed and they move into town. You can see your active delivery requests at the top of the screen on the main board, and you can cycle through them by tapping on the Recycle button.

The Conductor at the train station in town helps you send orders to neighboring cities. These shipments, unlocked at level 17 and up, work in a similar way to deliveries where a number of items are requested and you need to collect them and send them over. The rewards take some time to arrive in your town, but they are worth the wait! You can find the shipments in the Town view.

There are also Looping Tasks. These can be found in the Town View menu and have an infinity symbol on them. As the name indicates, these deliveries will repeat in a loop and are there to ensure that you always have requests to complete!

Finally, daily tasks are available on the Events button on the bottom left of your screen, and are unlocked at level 13. You need to complete 5-7 tasks increasing in difficulty to receive a great reward at the end! These refresh daily, and give you a chance to talk to several Townies!

Items on the board that are required for a delivery or shipment get highlighted with green.

## Currencies

There are two kinds of currencies in the game.

### Coins

Gold Coins are used to buy items from the Shop, complete certain tasks, and unlock more slots in your **Backpack**. They can be obtained from different sources, including as a reward from certain chests or tasks, by letting bubbled items pop, or by buying them from the Shop. The best source of Coins is the piggy bank, which you can obtain from the Shop for free once a day. You can also obtain Coins by selling items from your board.

The Coin items can be also merged together to make exponentially higher values of coins with each merge.

### Gems

Gems are a currency used for speeding up Creators, popping bubbled items, and purchasing some items in the Shop. They are really valuable!

You can get Gems as a reward from certain chests, including the piggy bank, by completing shipments and certain daily tasks, and by purchasing them from the Shop.

The Gem items can be also merged together to make exponentially higher values of gems with each merge.

Gems

## Backpack

The Backpack is a storage space that unlocks at level 9. It can also be upgraded to have more slots up to a maximum of 16, by paying coins. This will help you manage your space more efficiently, so save those coins to get more storage for your precious items!