Merge Maestro

About

Merge Maestro is a single player strategy game. It was developed by Stingless and was released on June 19, 2025. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Merge Maestro is a combo-driven rogue-like puzzle game where you merge emoji-themed Tokens to create stronger ones and defeat waves of enemies. With hundreds of unique Tokens and over 50 powerful abilities, every run offers endless strategic combinations and challenges. Customize your set and adapt your strategy to overcome increasingly difficult foes.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

96%

Audience ScoreBased on 289 reviews

gameplay16 positive mentions

monetization3 negative mentions

Merge Maestro offers a surprising depth of strategy and variety, with countless synergies and combinations to explore, making each run feel unique and engaging.
The game is incredibly addictive and provides excellent value for its low price, with frequent updates and a responsive developer enhancing the overall experience.
Its simple mechanics combined with complex interactions create a satisfying gameplay loop that rewards careful planning and experimentation.

Some players find the game overly reliant on RNG, leading to frustrating runs where the necessary tokens for success are not available.
The mechanics and token interactions can be poorly explained, making it difficult for new players to fully grasp the game's depth without trial and error.
Certain enemy types, like Sharks, can disrupt otherwise fun builds, creating a sense of imbalance that can detract from the overall enjoyment.

gameplay
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
64%
6%
The gameplay of "Merge Maestro" is characterized by its strategic depth and simplicity, focusing on merging tokens and deck-building to create powerful combinations. Players engage in a unique puzzle experience that encourages experimentation and critical thinking, with over 300 distinct tokens providing endless variety and replayability. While the mechanics are straightforward, the emergent gameplay can become complex, offering a rewarding challenge for those willing to explore its intricacies.
- “The game’s combination of merging mechanics, token abilities, and deck-building elements creates a unique puzzle experience that encourages experimentation and thoughtful decision-making.”
- “The core gameplay loop of the game is genius, with endless builds and things to learn and see, with synergies between unexpected tokens being found around every corner.”
- “Surprisingly deep mechanics with the numerous combos you could do.”
- “The game is too random and the details of the mechanics are poorly explained.”
- “Whereas games like Balatro feel well-rounded between presentation and gameplay, Merge Maestro feels more clumsily hewn, as if made with less wisdom and insight to guide it.”
- “The music is fine at first, but eventually I found it to be so grating that I had to turn it off and put on my own music—which mentally took me out of the gameplay experience somewhat.”
music
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
64%
18%
The music in Merge Maestro is functional but largely consists of a limited selection of royalty-free tracks that can become repetitive and grating over time, leading some players to prefer their own playlists. While the sound effects effectively enhance gameplay, the overall soundtrack lacks variety and depth, prompting suggestions for more diverse music options to improve the experience. Despite some players finding the music initially enjoyable, it ultimately detracts from the gameplay for many, indicating a need for improvement in this area.
- “The music is top tier, jaunty, and the style is simple and understandable. The game itself is easy to play, hard to master, and infinitely replayable.”
- “Some players may prefer to mute the in-game music and use their own playlists, but the sound design generally supports gameplay without distracting from it.”
- “Well, either they're royalty-free, or whoever composed and produced this soundtrack must view Kevin MacLeod as a paragon of what music ought to be.”
- “The music is fine at first, but eventually I found it to be so grating that I had to turn it off and put on my own music—which mentally took me out of the gameplay experience somewhat.”
- “I slogged through a few turns of this, listening to the grating royalty-free music, waiting to check the shop.”
- “Now I don't love the game but I like it, it feels fun, especially for how early in development the game is, but I have nitpicks, the soundtrack is okay, but as of now there are only 2 songs which get very repetitive.”
replayability
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
39%
23%
The game offers exceptional replayability, featuring a variety of token packs, boards, and enemies that change with each playthrough, catering to both casual and hardcore gamers. Its scalable difficulty and frequent content updates enhance the experience, ensuring players can enjoy diverse strategies and challenges without feeling overwhelmed. Overall, the combination of simple mechanics and deep strategic elements makes it a highly replayable title at an affordable price.
- “At first glance, the game may appear simple, with its colorful, emoji-inspired tokens and straightforward 4x4 grid layout, but beneath this accessible surface lies a wealth of strategy, planning, and replayability that will appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers.”
- “Having different token packs, different boards, and different enemies every time means the replayability is insanely high, especially on the highest two difficulties which also add random modifiers to the enemies.”
- “Music is top tier, jaunty; the style is simple and understandable, the game itself is easy to play, hard to master, and infinitely replayable.”
- “This probably isn't a game to spend 5000 hours in with endless replayability.”
- “So much replayability, so many builds, so cheap.”
- “And to top all this off, there are several different decks to play with, several challenges to beat/master, something else that is coming soon, and with the enemy update that removed the only part of the game that was static, making the game even more replayable, and significantly harder (at least for me).”
graphics
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
The game's graphics feature a simplistic and cute emoji art style that, while initially perceived as lighthearted, effectively aids in gameplay by allowing quick recognition of token types and effects. Although some players find the aesthetic unappealing, it is generally considered charming and inoffensive, complementing the game's depth and engaging mechanics. Overall, the visuals are seen as minimal yet functional, contributing positively to the overall experience.
- “While the simplistic art style might initially appear lighthearted, it serves a practical purpose: making it easy for players to recognize token types, effects, and potential merges quickly.”
- “This game might look simplistic with the cute emoji art style, but it is actually an incredibly deep yet not too overwhelming roguelike 'merge-builder'.”
- “Huge sucker for small roguelites with quality visuals I can pop in and out of; saw this and thought it looked fun, had no idea the value that would be in it.”
- “The game is quite good at certain things, but in its shortcomings—from audio, to visuals, to game design—it over-relies on crutches to resolve those issues.”
- “My only issue is I'm not the biggest fan of the aesthetic, but it should be inoffensive if not charming for most people.”
- “This game might look simplistic with the cute emoji art style, but it is actually an incredibly deep, but not too overwhelming, roguelike 'merge-builder'.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its amusing animal characters and the combination of funny and sad situations that arise during gameplay. Players find joy in the absurdity of the game, with elements like customizable CRT filters and the comedic experience of verbalizing moves adding to the overall lightheartedness. Overall, the humor effectively enhances the gaming experience, making it both entertaining and engaging.
- “The animals are so funny they make me merge without looking.”
- “A lot of combinations create funny and sad situations.”
- “Good game, I enjoyed it; saying your moves out loud is funny.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game's monetization approach effective, as its engaging gameplay keeps them invested despite the presence of advertisements.
- “The game is riddled with microtransactions that feel exploitative and detract from the overall experience.”
- “It's frustrating to see that progress is often locked behind a paywall, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
- “The constant barrage of ads and prompts to purchase in-game currency ruins the immersion and enjoyment of the gameplay.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story in this roguelike game is characterized by a blend of RNG-driven gameplay and a Lovecraftian horror narrative, where players navigate challenges with unique builds and strategies. The experience is described as both stylish and engaging, highlighting the tension between elegant design and underlying complexities.
- “Guided by your newfound knowledge, you navigate the uncertain waters of RNG-reliant gameplay, sailing swiftly towards victory with style and flair—such is the story of any good roguelike.”
- “To cap things off: a Lovecraftian horror story about my fun tornado build with heavy countdown reduction—or how the façade of elegant design collapsed at its foundation.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game performs smoothly with well-executed UI and animation elements, providing a crisp overall experience. Users appreciate the ability to customize animation speed, enhancing the optimization of the gameplay.
- “Performance-wise, it runs smoothly. Although the emojis themselves aren't designed by the creator, the UI and animation elements are well done. The general experience is crisp, and being able to customize the animation speed is a big plus.”