Merge War: Army Draft Battler Review

I Want You for the Army

At the start, Merge War: Army Draft Battler has a straightforward concept in terms of gameplay. However, developer Funovus creates an enjoyable and complex strategy game that takes more thought than initially presented. This makes sense since strategy games seem to be Funovus’ specialty with their developed games. Wild Card TD – Grow Empire and Wild Sky TD have nearly perfect reviews in the google play store. Merge War: Army Draft Battler is no exception. 

This Army Looks Familiar

Right away, players will feel a sense of familiarity since the game’s art style is reminiscent of Clash of Clans or Clash Royale. It’s a style that players are all too familiar with and sometimes feels stale. Even the game user interface feels like I just downloaded Clash Royal with bright colors, bubbly-shaped characters and items like chests. This art style has been done before and is a safe bet since it continues to be used today by multiple games. Games in this genre feel like carbon copies when they employ this overlapping art style. It would be nice to see future developers break the mold and offer a fresh unique art style and user interface in this genre.

Attack my Army!

Gameplay is where Merge War shines. Initially, the game seems simple, but the gameplay has a surprising layer of strategy. At the start of the game players have eight tokens. Three tokens draft a unit, and the players use the limited space to fill on the battlefield with units. Players commence the battle whenever they want with their drafted archers and footmen battling goblins and dragons. 

The complexity lies in merging units to free up space to add more units and upgrading units by carefully selecting suitable locations to merge. For example, when you merge a footman, they buff the two units below and merge to create a stronger footman. When you merge an archer, they buff the unit diagonally above and merge into a stronger archer. Without these buffs to other units, specific units will not reach their full potential at the end of the stage. This can prevent you from completing the stage, leading to a complete restart.

The strategy lies in vigilance on which units you want to upgrade and buff. If done correctly, it will help your army later on in the stage. Players have three or four units to reach their maximum potential and clear the stage quickly. However, there is one other way players can win battles. Players are given an ultimate ability that they can use to clear the battlefield for their units. It is not a guaranteed win, but it can help turn the tides of battle.

Wait for Back-Up

As fun as the gameplay is, Merge War does have a limit to how much the player plays. Players start with 20 energy, and five energy is used to start a stage. Once your energy is depleted, you will have to wait till your energy recharges to play more. This is alright since energy is recharged by one point every six minutes. It takes about 10 to 12 minutes to finish a stage, so you can knock out five to six stages in one sitting. On top of that, there is some monetization in the form of purchases or watching some ads. It is beneficial if you want to play more or fast-track your army’s upgrades if desired. 

Overall, Merge War: Army Draft Battler was a surprisingly enjoyable experience. Graphically, the game will not win any awards, but the gameplay is where a game like this shines. Merging units is more complicated than it would appear. Once figured it out, you will not want to put this game down. Getting three or four units to their full potential is satisfying, and seeing them decimate a stage is just icing on the cake.