Latest Reviews of Merge Games Games
Mini Review Crimson Keep (Switch) - A Fun Dungeon Crawler With A Few Gremlins
Keep going
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. Crimson Keep is a dungeon crawler with an...
Review Bramble: The Mountain King (Switch) - Solid Puzzle Platforming In A Horrid Nordic Mythscape
Step aside, Hansel and Gretel
A young boy named Olle treks through dark woods after his missing sister. At first, nothing seems awry, yet he soon comes upon pinecones arranged in strange formations. Not long after, a massive shadow flits overhead. In the distance, obscured by the moonlight slanting through the trees, a massive, insidious shape...
Review Time On Frog Island (Switch) - Charming Zelda-Style Trading With Animal Crossing Island Vibes
A 'tad' simple
Time on Frog Island is like a playable fever dream in the best of ways. It places you in the role of the captain of a little sailboat who finds himself marooned on a strange island populated by a frog society. His only hope of getting off the island is by successfully mingling with the frogs and getting them to help him with the...
Review Monster Harvest (Switch) - Poor Execution Of A Promising 'Stardew Valley X Pokémon' Premise
It hurt itself in its confusion!
It must be tough to be a hopeful dev working on a farm sim project. Stardew Valley—a simple looking project made by one guy—has so effectively raised the bar for what a pure farm sim can be that matching it seems almost impossible by this point. The only way that a new game could feasibly beat it would be by...
Review Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX (Switch) - Vintage Sega Hero In Mediocre Remake
Putting the sham in Roshambo
We know we're risking the ire of several hundred very cross Sega Master System fans by saying this, but we have to be blunt — the original Alex Kidd in Miracle World, while inarguably an important and formative classic, is and always has been an exceptionally flawed game. Don't get us wrong, there's plenty to like and...
Review Cloudpunk (Switch) - An Evocative Noir Adventure Ruined By A Messy Switch Port
Blade Scunner
Nivalis, the futuristic metropolis in which the events of Cloudpunk take place, really is the heart and soul of Ion Lands' captivating "neon noir" adventure game. A wonderfully evocative voxel art city, it immediately transports us to a future that so precisely recalls the neon-drenched storefronts, rain-soaked streets and seedy...
Review Bounty Battle (Switch) - A Reprehensible Indie-Infused Take On Super Smash Bros.
Indie Bin
Dark Screen Games' Bounty Battle is such a great idea. "The ultimate indie fighting game." Super Smash Bros. with a roster of pugilists from the cream of the underground scene over the past few years. The protagonists here hail from classics such as Dead Cells, Blasphemous, Axiom Verge,
Mini Review Spirit Of The North (Switch) - Minimalistic Mystery Mired By Myriad Mistakes
The fox and the... other fox
Since the release of the hugely popular Journey, many other games have gone down the route of minimal storytelling, focusing primarily on visuals and music to evoke emotions within the player. Spirit of the North leans heavily into this, tasking you with a very simple objective; explore the environment and solve puzzles...
Review Sparklite (Switch) - An Enjoyable Roguelite That Pays Homage To Zelda In The Best Way
Spark lite, spark bright, you must play Sparklite
Sparklite is a charming action-adventure game that channels the Zelda franchise whilst satisfyingly differentiating itself and establishing its own quirks and nuances. Players will find something both familiar and new here, but what everyone will definitely agree on is that this is an instant...
Dead men crop no farms
There are few things in life as relaxing as a farming simulator. From the likes of Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley and, well, Farming Simulator, it’s a genre that has crept into the mainstream as mellow experiences that can be tackled at your own pace. The joy of them, of course, is that feeling of accomplishment when you...
Latest Merge Games Articles
News Indie Publisher Merge Games Closes Down After 15 Years
Update claims it's actually been "integrated within Maximum"
Another video game company has announced its closure this week. This time it's Merge Games, who is apparently "closing down" after a 15 year run. In a now-deleted post, it was mentioned how the indie-focused team was made up of "incredible" people who "worked their hardest". "Starting...
News Dead Cells: Return To Castlevania Physical Edition Launches This August
Pre-orders are now open
Merge Games and Motion Twin have today announced that physical copies of Dead Cells: Return To Castlevania are heading our way from 11th August. We had a great time with this latest batch of DLC when it launched back in March, awarding it a 9/10 in our review and describing it as "an intense, brilliant nostalgia trip to...
News Bramble: The Mountain King Brings Nordic Myths To Little Nightmares Chills On Switch In April
Update: Release date announced
Update [Tue 7th Feb, 2023 14:30 GMT]: We all got collectively freaked out by the initial trailer and demo footage for Bramble: The Mountain King back in December last year and now Merge Games has announced that the title will be crawling its way onto Switch on 27th April. This news was shared alongside a new release...
Exclusive Farming Game SunnySide Shows Off 24 Dateable Residents In New Trailer
Spoiled for choice
Farming games have millions of fans at this point, thanks to the killer combo of Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, Rune Factory, and Stardew Valley, but they all have one thing in common that has very little to do with farming: The ability to date people in town. Let's be honest, a lot of people who love farming games aren't just...
News Paper Mario Tribute 'The Outbound Ghost' Gets Physical Release Date On Switch
OooooOOOOooo~
Conradical Games' The Outbound Ghost has been haunting our thoughts ever since it was confirmed to be coming to Switch, and we might not have too long to wait. Merge Games has confirmed it's working on a physical release of the turn-based RPG, heavily inspired by Paper Mario, and we should be able to pick up a box of this ghostly...
Exclusive "The Farming Genre Is A Bit Tired" - How SunnySide Aims To Refresh The Farm Sim
"In order to have a Sunny Side, there has to be a dark side…"
It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that farming games all have a lot in common. Crops, livestock, and dateable townsfolk are the staples of the genre, and if you've played one, you've likely experienced what a lot of them have to offer — and that's not even necessarily a bad...
Exclusive Sing-Along To This Brand New 'Time On Frog Island' Trailer
Hip-hoppin', flip floppin'!
Publisher Merge Games has shared a brand new video of the rather delightful-looking Time on Frog Island as pre-orders go live on the US and UK Switch eShops — an exclusive trailer that includes a little sing-along with an overview of what the game is all about. Talk about a frog chorus, eh? If you've somehow
News Trading Time: A Croak Tale Gets A New Name And Fresh Details
And in hops a trailer, too
UK-based publisher Merge games has announced that its upcoming game Trading Time: A Croak Tale has a brand new name. Now called Time on Frog Island, this sandbox puzzle adventure game sees a sailor getting shipwrecked on an island populated by frog-like creatures. Based on that alone, we think the name change is perfect...
Anniversary Alex Kidd, Mario's First Real Rival, Is 35 Years Old Today
He still looks so young!
Before Sonic came along and really gave Super Mario a run for his money, Sega relied on the talents of Alex Kidd, the company mascot during the Master System era. Alex starred in a series of titles during the late '80s, including Alex Kidd in Miracle World,
News The Pokémon And Stardew Valley Hybrid Monster Harvest Gets Delayed For The Third Time
"There was one final development hurdle"
Update #2 [Thu 5th Aug, 2021 00:55 BST]: You might find this hard to believe, but Monster Harvest has been delayed for the third time in a row. Merge Games and Maple Powered Games are now promising the upcoming farming sim meets critter collecter adventure will arrive on 31st August, across all platforms -...
News DeathRun TV Lines Up Deadly Gameshow Combat For Switch
Likes are everything
Merge Games has announced top-down roguelike shooter DeathRun TV for Switch and other platforms. We would embed the trailer above, but it's age-restricted and unfortunately won't play here — so off to YouTube with ya! Channeling equal parts Hunger Games and The Running Man, it appears that developer LaserDog will have you...
News 'Buildings Have Feelings Too' Is A City Management Game Where You Play The City
It's out on the eShop today!
The word "but" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in game pitches these days. "It's Stardew Valley, but you're a cat." "It's a dating game, but you get to date pigeons instead of boys." And now, we present to you: "It's a city management game, but you play as the buildings." We're not complaining, though. We're quite fond...
News Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX Lands In June, Along With An Awesome Signature Edition
New trailer miraculously appears, too
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX, developed by Jankenteam, looks like another welcome remaster of a much loved retro title. The pleasing news for old SEGA heads is that it now has a firm release date, arriving on Nintendo Switch on 24th June. To celebrate the release date it has a neat new trailer (via IGN). It...
News Monster Harvest, A Pokémon-Meets-Stardew Valley Game, Is Ploughing Its Way Toward Switch
Harvest Moon-ster
How many more ways can we invent to say that a game is coming to Switch with a cute play-on-words that references the game's genre? The answer may surprise you. Anyway, Monster Harvest (not to be confused with Monster Hunter, Monster Rancher, or Harvest Moon) is coming to the Switch on the 13th May, with a physical release...
News Foreclosed Looks Like A Cyberpunk Comic Book Game, And It Comes To Switch This Summer
Hack in to the mainframe
Foreclosed manages to hit a bunch of cyberpunk buzzword beats in its one-minute trailer: "jacking in", "blockchain", guns that respond to your ID, and "a system where you're in debt before you're even born". Sounding a lot like The Matrix, and looking a bit like a neon Alan Moore graphic novel, Foreclosed is a...
Feature Bounty Battle Dev On Building A Smash-Style Brawler With Indie Game Heroes
"There are 23 characters from other games ... that involved contracts and a lot of emails!"
When you look at the behemoth that is Super Smash Bros. these days, game developers with an idea for all-star brawler could be forgiven for thinking 'what's the point?'. Nintendo's series has grown to become the byword when it comes to frantic fighters, and...
News Heroes Assemble In A New Animated Trailer For Bounty Battle, An All-Star Indie Brawler
Pre-orders now live ahead of next week's release
A new animated trailer for Bounty Battle has dropped along with pre-orders for the all-star fighter that's branding itself the 'Ultimate Indie Brawler'. Coming from Dark Screen Games (with publisher Merge Games handling the Switch version), the trailer above shows fighters from some of the finest...
News Merge Games Delays Its All-Star Indie Brawler Bounty Battle
"we still had significant improvements to make"
At Nintendo's Indie World Showcase in March, publisher Merge Games revealed the indie brawler, Bounty Battle. The Dark Screen-developed multiplayer brawler is inspired by games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate but replaces all of the famous industry mascots with indie icons. The game was scheduled to...
News Mario's One-Time Rival Alex Kidd Is Getting A Timely Revival
And it's coming to Switch!
Before Sonic, Sega had Alex Kidd. This odd-looking character starred in a series of titles on the company's 8-bit Master System console (and a solitary 16-bit outing) before making way for the Blue Blur on the Mega Drive / Genesis, and the rest is history. Alex has had minor roles in recent Sega games – including Sega...
Feature Spirit Of The North Developers On The Challenges Of Bringing Their Fox To Switch
"It was very important that the game be as perfect as possible on the cart"
Following Spirit of the North's debut on PS4 last year, Merge Games revealed back in February that it was heading to Switch (and PC) this year in the Spring. Well, despite many of us having been stuck indoors for the last few weeks, Spring 2020 has indeed sprung and Infuse...
News A New Fox Emerges On Switch This Spring In Explorative Adventure Spirit Of The North
Update: May release date revealed
Update (Thu 23rd Apr, 2020 15:15 BST): Merge Games has now revealed that Spirit of the North will arrive on Switch on 7th May, with pre-orders going live on the eShop from 30th April. It'll be priced at £19.99/ €20.99/ $24.99. Original Article (Tue 18th Feb, 2020 18:30 GMT): Following its PS4 launch last year,...
News Merge Games Releasing Dead Cells - Action Game Of The Year Edition
Includes Rise of the Giant DLC
Update: Merge Games has now clarified the Rise of the Giant DLC will still need to be downloaded. The Action Game of the Year Edition is aimed at players who haven't tried the game yet, and celebrates Dead Cells' 1 year anniversary! If you haven't picked up a physical copy of the wonderful roguelike / Metroidvania...
News Dungeon Master-Inspired Steampunk Adventure Vaporum Is Coming To Switch
Arrives this April
Merge Games has revealed that it is bringing Fatbot Games' dungeon crawler Vaporum to the Nintendo Switch this April. This award-winning, grid-based adventure title takes inspiration from the likes of Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder and Legend of Grimrock, but rather than opt for the traditional fantasy setting, it uses a...
News For The King Physical Switch Release Arrives In The Month Of May
A roguelike tabletop adventure
For The King will be receiving a physical Switch release, according to a pre-order listing over on Amazon UK. The page reveals the IronOak release will be published by Merge Games and arrives on 24th May, for the price of £29,99.
Go ninja go!
Aragami is a third-person stealth game that casts you as an undead assassin with the power to control the shadows. You can teleport to any shadow, become invisible, materialize weapons or even summon a shadow dragon to infiltrate the enemy ranks and dispose of your targets. In short, it's a proper hoot, and Switch is getting what...
News Indie Publisher Merge Games Closes Down After 15 Years
Update claims it's actually been "integrated within Maximum"
Another video game company has announced its closure this week. This time it's Merge Games, who is apparently "closing down" after a 15 year run. In a now-deleted post, it was mentioned how the indie-focused team was made up of "incredible" people who "worked their hardest". "Starting...
News Dead Cells: Return To Castlevania Physical Edition Launches This August
Pre-orders are now open
Merge Games and Motion Twin have today announced that physical copies of Dead Cells: Return To Castlevania are heading our way from 11th August. We had a great time with this latest batch of DLC when it launched back in March, awarding it a 9/10 in our review and describing it as "an intense, brilliant nostalgia trip to...
News Bramble: The Mountain King Brings Nordic Myths To Little Nightmares Chills On Switch In April
Update: Release date announced
Update [Tue 7th Feb, 2023 14:30 GMT]: We all got collectively freaked out by the initial trailer and demo footage for Bramble: The Mountain King back in December last year and now Merge Games has announced that the title will be crawling its way onto Switch on 27th April. This news was shared alongside a new release...
Exclusive Farming Game SunnySide Shows Off 24 Dateable Residents In New Trailer
Spoiled for choice
Farming games have millions of fans at this point, thanks to the killer combo of Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, Rune Factory, and Stardew Valley, but they all have one thing in common that has very little to do with farming: The ability to date people in town. Let's be honest, a lot of people who love farming games aren't just...
News Paper Mario Tribute 'The Outbound Ghost' Gets Physical Release Date On Switch
OooooOOOOooo~
Conradical Games' The Outbound Ghost has been haunting our thoughts ever since it was confirmed to be coming to Switch, and we might not have too long to wait. Merge Games has confirmed it's working on a physical release of the turn-based RPG, heavily inspired by Paper Mario, and we should be able to pick up a box of this ghostly...
Exclusive "The Farming Genre Is A Bit Tired" - How SunnySide Aims To Refresh The Farm Sim
"In order to have a Sunny Side, there has to be a dark side…"
It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that farming games all have a lot in common. Crops, livestock, and dateable townsfolk are the staples of the genre, and if you've played one, you've likely experienced what a lot of them have to offer — and that's not even necessarily a bad...
Exclusive Sing-Along To This Brand New 'Time On Frog Island' Trailer
Hip-hoppin', flip floppin'!
Publisher Merge Games has shared a brand new video of the rather delightful-looking Time on Frog Island as pre-orders go live on the US and UK Switch eShops — an exclusive trailer that includes a little sing-along with an overview of what the game is all about. Talk about a frog chorus, eh? If you've somehow
News Trading Time: A Croak Tale Gets A New Name And Fresh Details
And in hops a trailer, too
UK-based publisher Merge games has announced that its upcoming game Trading Time: A Croak Tale has a brand new name. Now called Time on Frog Island, this sandbox puzzle adventure game sees a sailor getting shipwrecked on an island populated by frog-like creatures. Based on that alone, we think the name change is perfect...
Anniversary Alex Kidd, Mario's First Real Rival, Is 35 Years Old Today
He still looks so young!
Before Sonic came along and really gave Super Mario a run for his money, Sega relied on the talents of Alex Kidd, the company mascot during the Master System era. Alex starred in a series of titles during the late '80s, including Alex Kidd in Miracle World,
News The Pokémon And Stardew Valley Hybrid Monster Harvest Gets Delayed For The Third Time
"There was one final development hurdle"
Update #2 [Thu 5th Aug, 2021 00:55 BST]: You might find this hard to believe, but Monster Harvest has been delayed for the third time in a row. Merge Games and Maple Powered Games are now promising the upcoming farming sim meets critter collecter adventure will arrive on 31st August, across all platforms -...
News DeathRun TV Lines Up Deadly Gameshow Combat For Switch
Likes are everything
Merge Games has announced top-down roguelike shooter DeathRun TV for Switch and other platforms. We would embed the trailer above, but it's age-restricted and unfortunately won't play here — so off to YouTube with ya! Channeling equal parts Hunger Games and The Running Man, it appears that developer LaserDog will have you...
News 'Buildings Have Feelings Too' Is A City Management Game Where You Play The City
It's out on the eShop today!
The word "but" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in game pitches these days. "It's Stardew Valley, but you're a cat." "It's a dating game, but you get to date pigeons instead of boys." And now, we present to you: "It's a city management game, but you play as the buildings." We're not complaining, though. We're quite fond...
News Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX Lands In June, Along With An Awesome Signature Edition
New trailer miraculously appears, too
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX, developed by Jankenteam, looks like another welcome remaster of a much loved retro title. The pleasing news for old SEGA heads is that it now has a firm release date, arriving on Nintendo Switch on 24th June. To celebrate the release date it has a neat new trailer (via IGN). It...
News Monster Harvest, A Pokémon-Meets-Stardew Valley Game, Is Ploughing Its Way Toward Switch
Harvest Moon-ster
How many more ways can we invent to say that a game is coming to Switch with a cute play-on-words that references the game's genre? The answer may surprise you. Anyway, Monster Harvest (not to be confused with Monster Hunter, Monster Rancher, or Harvest Moon) is coming to the Switch on the 13th May, with a physical release...
News Foreclosed Looks Like A Cyberpunk Comic Book Game, And It Comes To Switch This Summer
Hack in to the mainframe
Foreclosed manages to hit a bunch of cyberpunk buzzword beats in its one-minute trailer: "jacking in", "blockchain", guns that respond to your ID, and "a system where you're in debt before you're even born". Sounding a lot like The Matrix, and looking a bit like a neon Alan Moore graphic novel, Foreclosed is a...
Feature Bounty Battle Dev On Building A Smash-Style Brawler With Indie Game Heroes
"There are 23 characters from other games ... that involved contracts and a lot of emails!"
When you look at the behemoth that is Super Smash Bros. these days, game developers with an idea for all-star brawler could be forgiven for thinking 'what's the point?'. Nintendo's series has grown to become the byword when it comes to frantic fighters, and...
News Heroes Assemble In A New Animated Trailer For Bounty Battle, An All-Star Indie Brawler
Pre-orders now live ahead of next week's release
A new animated trailer for Bounty Battle has dropped along with pre-orders for the all-star fighter that's branding itself the 'Ultimate Indie Brawler'. Coming from Dark Screen Games (with publisher Merge Games handling the Switch version), the trailer above shows fighters from some of the finest...
News Merge Games Delays Its All-Star Indie Brawler Bounty Battle
"we still had significant improvements to make"
At Nintendo's Indie World Showcase in March, publisher Merge Games revealed the indie brawler, Bounty Battle. The Dark Screen-developed multiplayer brawler is inspired by games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate but replaces all of the famous industry mascots with indie icons. The game was scheduled to...
News Mario's One-Time Rival Alex Kidd Is Getting A Timely Revival
And it's coming to Switch!
Before Sonic, Sega had Alex Kidd. This odd-looking character starred in a series of titles on the company's 8-bit Master System console (and a solitary 16-bit outing) before making way for the Blue Blur on the Mega Drive / Genesis, and the rest is history. Alex has had minor roles in recent Sega games – including Sega...
Feature Spirit Of The North Developers On The Challenges Of Bringing Their Fox To Switch
"It was very important that the game be as perfect as possible on the cart"
Following Spirit of the North's debut on PS4 last year, Merge Games revealed back in February that it was heading to Switch (and PC) this year in the Spring. Well, despite many of us having been stuck indoors for the last few weeks, Spring 2020 has indeed sprung and Infuse...
News A New Fox Emerges On Switch This Spring In Explorative Adventure Spirit Of The North
Update: May release date revealed
Update (Thu 23rd Apr, 2020 15:15 BST): Merge Games has now revealed that Spirit of the North will arrive on Switch on 7th May, with pre-orders going live on the eShop from 30th April. It'll be priced at £19.99/ €20.99/ $24.99. Original Article (Tue 18th Feb, 2020 18:30 GMT): Following its PS4 launch last year,...
News Merge Games Releasing Dead Cells - Action Game Of The Year Edition
Includes Rise of the Giant DLC
Update: Merge Games has now clarified the Rise of the Giant DLC will still need to be downloaded. The Action Game of the Year Edition is aimed at players who haven't tried the game yet, and celebrates Dead Cells' 1 year anniversary! If you haven't picked up a physical copy of the wonderful roguelike / Metroidvania...
News Dungeon Master-Inspired Steampunk Adventure Vaporum Is Coming To Switch
Arrives this April
Merge Games has revealed that it is bringing Fatbot Games' dungeon crawler Vaporum to the Nintendo Switch this April. This award-winning, grid-based adventure title takes inspiration from the likes of Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder and Legend of Grimrock, but rather than opt for the traditional fantasy setting, it uses a...
News For The King Physical Switch Release Arrives In The Month Of May
A roguelike tabletop adventure
For The King will be receiving a physical Switch release, according to a pre-order listing over on Amazon UK. The page reveals the IronOak release will be published by Merge Games and arrives on 24th May, for the price of £29,99.
Go ninja go!
Aragami is a third-person stealth game that casts you as an undead assassin with the power to control the shadows. You can teleport to any shadow, become invisible, materialize weapons or even summon a shadow dragon to infiltrate the enemy ranks and dispose of your targets. In short, it's a proper hoot, and Switch is getting what...