With the ever growing popularity of Merge Games in both the Mobile and Casual Gaming scene, certain aspects of the gameplay have been observed to have either been derived from or influenced by old-school gameplay. These are the more popular game mechanics used by Retro Games during the industry's glorious past. Regardless, these influences have undoubtedly proven to be quite effective in engaging today's gamers in the simple, user-friendly, and addictive gameplay that the Merge Game genre, generally provides.

Merge Games are generally designed to provide simple yet intense puzzle and problem solving situations that have originated from the kind of Retro Games that focused more on these kind of situations than the fast-paced Shoot them Ups, or Hack n' Slash arcades of the past. Games like Tetris, Jigsaw Puzzle games, and the variety of adventure type "task" games that younger, or girl gamers favored back in the day, which would look kind of like grandma's games by today's standards. These seem to have the most Retro-Influence on many current Merge Game titles today.

From Classic Retro to Modern Merge

Many modern Merge Games like Merge Mansion, Gossip Harbor, and others similar to them have become quite successful in reeling-in massive numbers of gamers by adapting and focusing on the old-style adventure and task-based retro gaming that came out around the 1990s to the 2000s. Many of these games were already popular before Casual Gaming became the in-thing. Many of these games provided aspects like instant feedback, simplicity of gameplay rules, deep mastery through gameplay experience, and some could even be played through short sessions which the player could conveniently return to.

These were the times when games like "Diner Dash: Hometown Hero" attracted the younger and fairer players of the gaming world. With the kind of narrative-based, and tasked-based adventures that one can find in a Merge game like "Merge Mansion" or "Merge & Secrets: The Imperial Hotel", the gaming atmosphere as well as the gameplay is quite reminiscent to games of the past like Diner Dash and others like it.

The influence is not only in the mechanics of the gameplay but the overall themes and atmosphere used for the games. The game may be a Merge game yet share a similar restaurant and hotel situation to Diner Dash and the like. It can be anything or events, as well as aspects of gameplay that a Merge game has that would evidently point to a past retro game where the idea and influence originated from.

So, with these concepts in mind, let's now look at how the old legacy games are influencing Merge game mechanics and gameplay.

Retro Design Influence on Merge

Just like many of the tasked-based old legacy games, Merge games today though mostly simple in gameplay require some time to master. The controls may be simple “click, drag, and drop” activities but the tasks may be a bit complex and will need a bit of a learning curve to master. Merge games may be simply drag and drop the like item onto each other but the overall gameplay and objective may take several tries to fully get through. This is where limited board space, more item chains, and continual complex progressions makes Merge not as simple as it seems to be.

Another major influence in design is “instant gratification” and an “overall feeling of progress”. This is where both visual and sound cues come in to signal successful task completions and the rewards for doing so. The in-game coins and earnings as well as the forward momentum through scoring or leveling up continually provides the sense of progress to urge the player further into the game.

Organization and management of the overall activity is another engaging feature handed down from the past. Just like one has to manage the orders, food stocks, the customers, and the availability of tables and eating spaces in a Diner Game, Merge Games require management of limited board space, Merge item locations, the value of the Merge items themselves, and the logical and strategic moves one can, and should employ for a continues and as smooth as possible progression throughout the game.

The “one more time” addiction loop utilized by many Retro Games (even the fast-paced arcade ones) is being used to its full extent in the Merge Games of today. The key is to keep the player playing or continually coming back after short sessions with the game. For Merge Games, a good example would be the need to complete certain “Collection Items” or “Fill out Catalogs” to get the player to keep coming back to complete the task.

Finally as mentioned, many Merge Games today focus on the emotional side of player engagement like the old task-based adventure Retro Games did. If there’s a good story worth going through to the very end, many gamers will be encourage to do just that, get to the very end while playing the game to get there.

In today’s gaming world, whether it’s free casual games of mixed and various genres, or Merge Games that provide gamers of all ages, the immersive, fun, and healthy pastime to make everyday life a bit more interesting, one thing is for sure, the games of today are still, and hugely continuing echoes of the games of yesterday.

Image Info:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/37240/Diner_Dash_Hometown_Hero/
https://www.freemergegames.com/play/merge_and_secrets_the_imperial_hotel