How to Play

In Merge Inn, your goal is to help Maisie and her trusty sous-chef Mort to feed the hungry patrons of her restaurant. Along they way, you'll discover many new recipes and food items, improve and upgrade your kitchen, learn new exciting cuisine, and take on challenging Side Jobs.

### Kitchen Board

The Kitchen Board is the heart of Merge Inn. On the top of the screen, you can see your Energy, Coins and Gems. Below these, you can see and expand active Orders in the current Level.

On the board itself are your Containers and merge Items.

At the bottom of the screen, you can view and access your Storage.

### Merging Items

Drag identical items together on the Kitchen Board to merge them into higher level items. You can make an unlimited number of merges, but to get more items to merge, you need to tap on your Containers.

Each Container will give you a number of a certain type of items, before it needs to be recharged. The number of items available per charge depends on the level of the container.

Getting items from Containers consumes Energy.

Tip: Some items are not available directly from containers, but from other items you create by merging. To get these items, you need to first merge the sub-container together, and then you can access the item chain in that item.

### Containers

There are multiple types of Containers on the Kitchen Board, and you will discover more as you progress further in the game. Tapping a Container generates items on the board.

Each type of Container gives different items, with their own item chains.

Containers give a limited number of items, before they need to Recharge over a period of time.

#### Recharging Containers

While a Container is Recharging, you can:

* purchase an instant Recharge with Gems.
* speed up the Recharge timer by watching a video ad.

#### Upgrading Containers

You can Upgrade a Container by merging Container parts, and merging Containers of the same type and level.

Tip: Upgrade your Containers regularly - upgraded Containers give more items before needing a Recharge. They also have an improved chance of giving better items.

### Energy

Getting items from Containers consumes Energy. When you have used up your Energy, it will automatically regenerate over time up to 100 units.

To refill Energy instantly:

* Use gems to purchase a refill
* Watch a video ad in exchange for a partial refill
* Use Energy items obtained from various Containers

Tip: Merge Energy items into higher level ones to get more Energy.

### Orders

In each Level, you need to complete a set of Orders from customers. You can view the active Orders on top of the Kitchen Board. For each item in an Order, you can tap the [i] symbol to view how you can get the item. In the Orders view, you can also see the rewards for completing the current Level.

Finish all active Orders to complete the current Level.

Tip: Always check the Orders list and see which items you already have on the Kitchen board - figure out which items you want to merge first, without crowding the board!

#### Stars and Star Chest

You get Stars for completing the individual Orders. Stars unlock the Star Chest rewards in the Home Screen.

#### Level Chest

The Level Chest is found in the Home Screen. The Level Chest displays the Level you must reach to open it. When you reach the Level, the chest unlocks and you can collect rewards!

### Storage

You can temporarily place items in the Storage at the bottom of the screen. Swipe left or right on the storage to view the items inside, or tap 🔎 to open Storage.

The Storage has a limited number of slots available. You can purchase more permanent slots with Coins.

### Experience & Reputation

When you merge higher level items, Experience items appear. Merge them to collect more Experience into your Reputation meter.

When you collect enough experience to fill the meter, you can rank up your Reputation. Each Reputation rank gives you free rewards.