Merge Dragons! by Zynga is an interesting puzzle game where you merge objects in a certain way to create new, higher-level objects. The goal is to produce the object specified by the level. Merge Dragons! is under the combination puzzle category and if you’ve played games like Candy Crush Saga and Bejeweled, then this puzzle game should be very familiar. One common way to become good in this type of puzzle game is to figure out how to efficiently create combinations. This means creating combinations with the least amount of moves but still attaining the highest possible score. Fortunately in Merge Dragons!, you do not have a move count limit compared to other combination puzzle games, however it is still important to do the most efficient moves to get the highest score and finish levels faster.

In this guide, we’re going to learn how to efficiently solve puzzles in Merge Dragons! by taking a deeper look at how the gameplay mechanics work and some general tips and tricks on how to make the best moves. If you haven’t done so already, install and play Merge Dragons! on PC or Mac with BlueStacks for the best gaming experience.

Verifying a Merge

Unless you are playing a challenge level, there are no time limits in Merge Dragons so just take your time in looking at the grid and finding the most efficient moves. Moving objects too quickly can result in accidental merges or not merging the correct number of objects.

When moving an object, do not immediately let go of it. This is because identical objects beside it can automatically move to adjust to the object that you are about to place. However, the game does not always automatically moves objects in the best possible way. Make a habit of always looking at the number of objects first and see if a merge is immediately possible. For example, if you want to merge 5 objects, then make sure that there are already 4 objects that are aligned and that you only need to place the 5th object to complete the merge. You can take advantage of the automatic moving of the objects by hovering around them and see if the game gives you a good merging position.

Adjusting Game Settings

You can enable or disable two game settings to help in making merging easier. Both features are enabled by default but try disabling them and see if you play better without them; otherwise, just turn them back on. You can modify game settings by clicking on the world map

Require Overlap – enabling this option allows you to place more than two identical objects adjacent to each other without merging. To merge, one item must be dragged and dropped on one of the adjacent objects.

Allow Chain Reaction – disabling this option disables chain reactions that happen in your camp. Combo merging will not be possible. Additionally, you can prevent accidental merges altogether if you disable this setting and the “Require Overlap” setting.

Types of Merges

There are three types of merges that you can do in Merge Dragons.

3-merge – this requires only 3 identical objects that are placed adjacent to each other to create 1 higher-level object. This is the most minimal merge that you can do.

5-merge – this requires 5 identical objects that are placed adjacent to each other. This is the hardest merge to do because it requires 2 groups of identical objects that are not already adjacent to each other. However, this is the most rewarding merge because it gives 2 higher-level objects. 

Merging Tips

Now let’s delve into some tips for merging to help you make the most efficient moves.

The first tip is to always aim for merges in multiples of 5. This is because it gives you the most high-level objects without ejecting or wasting objects. For example, merging 5 objects gives you 2 higher-level objects, merging 10 objects gives you 4 higher-level objects, and so on. You can actually get one more higher-level object by merging 8, 13, or 18 (notice these are each of the first three multiples of 5 but added by 3) objects however the added effort just for one more object makes it less efficient.

The second tip is to avoid merging 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, and 19 objects. Merging with this number of objects results in the most inefficient merges. More specifically, merging 6, 9, 11, 14, 16, and 19 objects are the worst of the worse merges because they will not even eject the excess objects but will instead waste them. If you cannot make a 5-merge, just try to stick with 3-merge or 4-merge. The 3-merge is the safest option because it will just give you 1 higher-level objects. The 4-merge will give you 1 higher-level object and 1 ejected object. Only do a 4-merge if necessary; otherwise, keep going for a 5-merge.

The third tip is to take advantage of dead land merging. If one or two identical objects are adjacent to each other and are on dead land near healed land, you can place another object adjacent to them and heal the dead land. What makes dead land merging powerful is that the healing power requirement gets ignored.

Conclusion

To make efficient merges in Merge Dragons, you must be good in verifying a merge and not become reckless. It is also very helpful to understand how merging works in the game and knowing its intricacies. For instance, merging objects by multiples of 5 is objectively the most efficient move because it gives the most higher-level objects with the least effort and wastage. In general, only make merges where the number of objects is 3, 4, or multiples of 5 because the rest of the combinations result in the most inefficient methods.

If you want some more tips and tricks in Merge Dragons, you can check out this guide.