Miracle Merchant 12+

I was looking for a game to play and I came across this one. At first I was hooked by the amazing graphics so I decided to give it a try. First opening this app I thought there was going to be more of a story but a few clicks a way and it’s to the game menu. There’s no tutorial that first popped up so I was confused and it took some time getting use to and it’s a relatively easy game. I took 1 star off because I was disappointed in 2 things, One being that it was miss leading. When I open to the main page the first thing I notice is the little add for purchasing the full game which made me loose motivation to play since there are so many things I could do but can’t because it cost money and Two being that it’s to simple. I wish there was more to the game, maybe a story, challenges, anything but I didn’t get that

Earlier I had given this game three stars in a review. I took the time to play the game three straight hours in a row, and that has convinced me to change my rating to five stars. Earlier, I had said the game didn't have the the same hook factor that grabbed me like Card Crawl and Card Thief. That's why I took three hours to really dive into the game. This game took time to grow on me. Once it did, I found quite a clever game behind the bright colors, wacky characters, and catchy music. Earlier I had said the game seemed too random, but as I played it more I found said randomness was more because it took me a while to really grasp the game. Once I really started figuring out how to make good card combos, and seeing how the game plays out, I realized the randomness was really my lack of truly understanding the game at first. Thanks to Arnold Rauers and Tiny Touch Tales for another delightful card game. Oh, if anybody is having problems running this game on older devices, go to the in game options menu and turn on the power save function. That cuts down on the game animations so it will run smoother. An added thank you to A.R. and T.T.T for putting that option into the game. Well, time for me to get back to making more potions — POOF!

This is the third game app made by these guys I have played - so suffice to say I am fan of their games. Like most of them, there’s a card design going on - this one using color matching and alignments to score points. It does this fundamentally well. It creates interesting combinations for you to determine by adding negative effects that can impact your score. Lastly, it presents a list of new challenges every day for you to try and beat, plus there’s an online scoreboard for you to compare to.

That’s the mechanics of the game, but what really sets it apart is the great use of artwork, theme, and music to make it really interesting to look at while you play. It makes for a fun game that doesn’t seem overly repetitive. There’s also an underlying fantasy world theme going on that ties it with their other games which I found interesting.

Issues with the game are basically learning curve - easy to learn but not necessarily transparent on how you master it. The tutorial shows the mechanics, but understanding how to maximize points and what different terminology means (things like how you get a twin, triplet, or distillate) aren’t spelled out. Depending on your expectations, this can mean it can take awhile to catch all the details of play. In my experience, that’s a hallmark of all their games, so no surprise if you have played any of them.

Overall, it’s a neat little game to occupy you for a short break or to unwind.