EverMerge is a puzzle with merge mechanics from the Belarusian studio Neskin, which has become a big hit and has earned $50 million over the past seven months. Deconstructor of Fun has an analysis of the game with an analysis of the elements that helped it become successful.
The author of the material was an independent manager of gaming products Gordon Rowe. We have highlighted a couple of points from his material.
So, Gordon believes that the main reasons for the popularity of EverMerge lie in its gameplay and ways to motivate players. In total, he identified four main reasons for the success of the game.
Gordon Rowe
Old-fashioned balance
EverMerge shows a master class in terms of balance mechanics. The presence of three systems (energy system, resource system and one that is associated with inventory) gives a wide range of activities to the player. This, in turn, gives the user a sense of novelty from the game with each new launch.
For example, sometimes my task is to clear the field as much as possible. Then I am engaged in combining objects, thereby freeing up space (combined three or more objects merge into an improved one).
Another time I go in to exclusively set timers for cooking recipes and building houses (after several merges, some types of items begin to assemble into buildings).
My favorite activity in the game is the use of an unlimited power—up with energy, with which I can fill the playing field with objects (there are obstacles on the EverMerge map that need to be removed, cleaning them wastes energy, but they leave a lot of items and consumables on the field after themselves).
This closes the game cycle and in the next session I can start combining items again.
“Multi-layered” progression
In EverMerge, players are always working on combining different types of items to guide them through a series of evolutions. The subjects are different. When combined, they give different results and behave differently.
Some immediately unite, and the number of their evolutions is quite small (this is relevant for resources and characters). Others have a very long chain, and they require buildings before combining (the same houses), and this is a long time (a timer is hung up during construction).
Almost any of the processes can be accelerated by diamonds. But the number of resources you get and the amount of energy you expend, for example, when clearing the playing field, has an element of randomness, which brings a fan to the game.
Events with valuable awards
For any free—play game, one of the main and most important success factors is the frequency of content release and the appearance of new events. And here EverMerge again offers an interesting solution.
Some large-scale events offer separate islands and a separate pool of items that are only available for a limited time. The player’s task is to have time to get the maximum rewards.
One of the types of events encourages players to store prize chests at all (one of the types of rewards for clearing the field of obstacles). The fact is that as part of the Treasure hunt event, the player receives stars for opening chests. The more stars, the more rewards.
Thus, different types of events motivate users to plan their game ahead. EverMerge rewards players who accumulate chests of rewards during regular sessions and spend them to complete events and receive more valuable prizes.
Skill
EverMerge has two skill levels. The first is related to meta, the second is related to game mechanics.
Mastery in working with meta is determined by the ability to plan your actions in the light of upcoming events, requires saving resources and buffs for passing events.
Mastery in game mechanics implies that the user carefully approaches the combination of items, that he understands which chain of evolutions is most important now for optimization.
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At the end of his material, Gordon Rowe notes that EverMerge has a great potential for development. First of all, the developers and publisher of Big Fish can follow the path of Playrix, releasing sequels and expanding the ecosystem of their project.
According to Rowe, EverMerge can add a deeper social gameplay, as well as improve the quality of support and interaction between developers and users. This can take an already successful project to a new level.