Non-scammy merge dragons

August 12, 2023 5:18 AM

My kid loves Merge Dragons…she likes the cartoonish style, putting things together to make new things, etc. However, I don’t especially want her playing a Zynga game given their history and their reliance on microtransactions, etc. I’d much rather pay for a game, have no ads, and not have kids playing something designed to separate them from as much money as possible. Is there a non-scammy game similar to Merge Dragons for the iPad? Preferably one I can pay for up front? Thanks!
posted by griseus to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Apple Arcade games are required to have no ads/microtransactions. I'm not sure if there's anything like Merge Dragons on it, but there's a separate section in the app store for it that you can look over without subscribing to see if anything fits the bill.
posted by juv3nal at 5:41 AM on August 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

I don’t have an answer but just wanted to offer my solidarity as a parent of a fellow merge dragons lover!
posted by missjenny at 7:17 AM on August 12, 2023

I used to play some Merge Dragons on work downtime. It's not pay-to-win like Candy Crush, with the monetization mostly being around collectibles. You can play perfectly fine without monetization, and there's an option in the app to disable purchases. However, they do make sure that you see those collectibles you're not buying.

I'm not saying you should let her play it - it's not great. But I just wanted to mention the disable purchases option if this becomes a sticking point and you pick another battle.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:55 AM on August 12, 2023

Longleaf Valley plants trees with their advertising revenue - not as cute as the dragons, but maybe not as scummy?
posted by Bottlecap at 5:40 PM on August 12, 2023

I've been playing merge dragons since basically the beginning of the pandemic, have an embarrassing amount of progress in it, and have required not a single unit of real currency to do so. Paid transactions are entirely optional in the game.

I also haven't found a single other game in the genre of merge dragons that is as good as merge dragons, over literally years. Is it an inane time wasting game? Sure, of course. But time is the only cost.
posted by phunniemee at 5:21 AM on August 13, 2023

In the regular App Store there’s Merge Mansion which doesn’t have ads but does have micro transactions but they’re way less intrusive than a lot of games. However your daughter may find the story aspects and the things you make kind of dull unless she’s also really into landscape maintenance.

Apple Arcade has a My Little Pony one—Mane Merge—which may work. There’s also several cozy games (Cozy Grove, Wylde Flowers, a Hello Kitty one) that have a collecting and upgrading mechanic that is sort of like the merging which she might get into. They also I’d say have way more interesting story aspects than the straight merge games. Check out the descriptions and age rating on them. Cozy Grove and Wylde Flowers may be better for slightly older/mature kids.
posted by sevenless at 6:05 AM on August 13, 2023