🌌Complete Guide to Merge Academy
The information below was kindly provided by the player alsoszent who successfully finished the game within a span of three months. Exceptional Player and Remarkable! Additional information has also been contributed by Pogo players.
Please refrain from discarding any unusual items (unmatchable items). Keep them, they will help in the future.
* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ *。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ *
MAP
The map consists of areas. Each area has a certain number of levels to complete. Each level has a certain amount of PINK CRYSTALS that you need to accumulate in order to move on to the next level. Once you have completed all levels in an area, another area will unlock on the map, and you will receive a credit in your degrees.
Note: After completing each level in an area, you will receive a reward (or rewards). Some of these rewards will become “generators” once you merge them. Generators with a Lighting Bolts will spawn items that you can merge in order to complete your customer requests. Note: Don't forget to SAVE YOUR GAME every time you're finished playing!
UPDATE: Please DO NOT delete any level 1 generators that you receive after finishing levels! You will NEED them later, so that you can MERGE them with other level 1 generators to eventually make a generator with a lightning bolt. Generators with a LIGHTNING BOLT will spawn items that you can merge in order to complete your customer requests!
GOAL
The main goal in this game is to accumulate pink crystals and level up.
You can do this in 3 ways:
Fill customer requests.
Sell items you have on your board.
Sell pink crystals from your board.
PLAY SCREEN
At the TOP of the screen, you have PINK CRYSTALS, ENERGY, COINS and the SHOP. There is also a Question Mark on the right that explains the basics of how to play. At the left of the Pink Crystals, you will find any rewards you have collected and any items you have purchased. When it appears, click on the item to place it on your board. You can check the shop every 24 hrs for new items. You will have to use coins in order to purchase items from the shop. There is also a FREE chest with a few low level items in it which you can collect every 24 hours. Currently, the energy will replenish 1 point every 3 minutes. So, you'll get 20 energy points in an hour. It'll take 5 hours to replenish back to 100, which is the max energy when it replenishes back on its own. If you're impatient, you can purchase more energy with Pogo Gems and it will go higher than 100. You can get coins by collecting them at the garbage can at the entrance area every 12 hours from the last time you collected. Note: the exclamation point doesn't always indicate whether it's ready to be collected. You'll also be rewarded with coins by completing all the levels in each area. Another option is to purchase coins using Pogo Gems.
On the left side of the screen, you have customers ordering specific items. There are pink crystals beside the customers indicating how many crystals you'll receive for filling those orders. You can click on any item that a customer is requesting to find out what items you'll need to merge in order to get that particular item and also which generator you'll need to use. There should be 5 customers at a time, so you have a choice which orders you'd like to complete first. Once you've completed an item for an order, the cell will turn to green and you'll be aware that the item is needed for an order. You can click "done" beside the customer whenever you're ready. Note: There may not always be 5 customers on the list but new customers will appear eventually (typically every 6 hours).
On the BOTTOM of your screen is a CABINET, INFO TAB, the MAP and DEGREES. The Cabinet (storage/closet) can be used for storing items. It will appear AFTER you have completed a few levels. There are 5 open spaces in the cabinet initially, but you can purchase more with coins if you want to. You'll have to DRAG an item from your board to the cabinet. If you'd like to place an item back on your board, you can click on the item in the cabinet, and it will appear back on your board. You can check your cabinet/closet at any time just by clicking on it. Note: You can scroll inside the cabinet by clicking, holding and moving up & down. The Map icon can be used to go back and forth between areas. Note: It is EXTREMELY important that you click on the map icon every time you leave the game because it will SAVE YOUR PROGRESS in the game. The map icon should say “SAVE and EXIT”. Don't forget to click it! The Degrees icon holds the ribbons/trophies for completing each area. The Info Tab displays “Merge items to complete requests”. However, if you click ONCE on any item on your board, it will show an "i" (used to be an exclamation point) on the left, the name/level of the item in the middle, and either a trash can OR a pink crystal on the right side. If you click on the "i", it will open a window and reveal more information about that particular item. If you click on the trash can, it will delete the item from your board. If you click on the pink crystal, it will sell that item which will give you more space on your board AND add to your accumulated pink crystals. Lower-level items won't give you any crystals, so don't be confused if a trash can appears. NOTE: You can also click on any item that the customer is requesting (left hand side column) and it will give you information on that item as well.
GAME PLAY
As you begin to play the game, most of the cells on your board will be blocked. You can unblock these cells by merging items around them. After the cells open and partially reveal an item, you will be able to merge them with other items that look the same and it will totally unblock the item and create another item. For example, drag a pouch to another pouch and it will become a pestle & mortar. Drag 2 pestle & mortar together and it will become a cask, drag 2 casks together and it will become a jug, and so on. If you click on any item on the board ONCE (including generators), the Info Tab will give you more information about that item. For merging items, you just drag one item to another that looks the same (pairs). There are MANY items that can be merged, or at least there WILL be as you move further along in the game. Once you've hit the max item (as high as it can level up) there will be a little yellow star on the left hand side of the item. That means it cannot be merged any further. At that point, you can sell the item, store it in the cabinet, or keep it on your board in case a customer requests it in the future. Note: If you generate items too quickly, you may run out of space on your board. So, focus mainly on filling customer requests and merging items around the blocked cells to partially reveal them. Tip: the best time to sell an item to make room on your board is when the item is worth 2 pink crystals (usually at Level 4, depending on the chain). If you do the math, you'll get the most crystals at that point, more than you would get if you merged them all the way to maximum level.
GENERATORS
Generators are marked with a lightning bolt. They will generate items that you can merge. Most of the generators have 8 levels. NOTE: Every time you finish a level in an area, it will reward you with a low-level generator, which you will eventually merge with an identical low level generator. Keep merging until you reach the lightning bolt generator and then you will be able to spawn items. If you click on a generator (any level) ONCE, it will show on the INFO TAB. Click the "i" if you require more info on the generator and its levels. Note: it will only show generators that you have already acquired. If you click on the (lightning bolt) generator TWICE (select it & then start to spawn), it will generate items that you will be able to merge (pairs, to level them up). Once the generator is empty, it will regenerate and show you a countdown of when it will be ready to use again. Keep an eye on your energy level at the top of your screen. Every time you generate an item it costs 1 point of energy. However, merging items does not cause a loss in energy.
Note: You can no longer delete or sell any generators, no matter what level they are. The pro is that you won't mistakenly dump a low level generator that you may need later. The con is that they take up valuable space on your board and even if you want to dump them, it's not an option anymore. That being said, for some of us ... it's still possible to dump the Level 6 Gnome House and Level 6 Apple Crate. I'm guessing that is because we have multiples of each.
Time Booster
There are 5 Levels. Use it to speed up regeneration times for ALL the generators. It will disappear once you've used it. Tip: Try to use it when a few of your generators are regenerating, otherwise it may be a waste to use it on just one generator.
Currently, it is possible to have 8 (different) generators on the existing map. It is possible to have more than 1 generator of a certain type. For example, you can have a Level 5 cauldron AND a Level 6 cauldron on your board. Both will generate items, and you won't have to wait as long, but you will be using more energy to generate lower-level items. I cannot recall the proper generator names for all the levels, but there is a thread on the forum that goes into great detail about all the levels of generators, what they dispense, how many items they dispense and also regeneration times. Check it out - Tips Merged Thread! Alternatively, you can check out Page 3 of this thread which has the lists of all the generators, what chains they generate and also some visuals. The mushroom/gnome generator info is on Page 4 and the apple tree/pie info is on Page 8. Keep in mind that every time you level up a generator it will take longer to regenerate. However, it will dispense more/different items. Tip: It's not always wise to level up a (lightning bolt) generator too quickly as it will take longer to regenerate. Merging will need to be done at some point though in order to fill customer requests, which will get much more elaborate as you move further along in the game.
DAILY REWARDS
In addition to the free chest in the shop every 24 hrs, there are other items you can get for free as well. An exclamation point in any area on the map means you can collect a free item within the area. Just click the map icon to get to the map where it will show the available rewards you can collect. Once you click on an area, go to the piece of furniture with the exclamation point and click on it. It will show 2 item options. You can only pick one. The free rewards will typically be available every 12 hours from the last time you collected. Get the item you need in order to fill a customer's request. It's free! As for the Garbage Can located at the Entrance ... it is fussy. VERY fussy. Sometimes it will be available every 12 hrs. and sometimes every 24 hrs. And sometimes NOT AT ALL lol. When it is working, you can collect either energy or coins, not both. Tip: I typically alternate ... coins at 7am and energy at 7pm. It usually works for me. Just remember it SHOULD be available EXACTLY 12 hours from the last time you collected, NOT at the same time every day. So, you might want to make a note of the time, and just disregard the exclamation point above the garbage can, which isn't always accurate. All the reward items you've collected (including the free chest from the market), will appear next to the pink crystals at the top left-hand side of the screen. Unfortunately, there isn't a pop up window that appears when you click on it. So, you will have to put the items on your board in the order that you collected them. Note: you'll have to put the free chest on the board and click on it to open it. A few low-level items will be generated and then it will disappear. Make sure you have 6 free spaces on the board - one for the chest and 5 for the items it will dispense.
PINK CRYSTAL BUBBLES
Occasionally, when you merge 2 items, a bubble will appear with an item inside it. You can click on that item and view it in the INFO TAB (bottom of screen). It will give you the option of buying the item and how many coins it will cost. Personally, I have never done that before. Instead, I wait about a minute until the bubble bursts, and it turns into a pink crystal. Then I click on the pink crystal to sell it. OR ... if I have room on my board, I save it until another bubble appears/bursts and I merge the 2 crystals. For example, if you have 2 crystals in a cell and 2 crystals in another cell, you can merge them, and it will become 1 cell with 3 crystals in it and it will be worth 5 points (instead of just 4). You can have a maximum of 5 crystals in a cell, which is worth 25 points, more than what it would be worth if you sold the crystals individually.
If you have 1000 max pink crystals and have finished every area but still want to play while waiting for any updates, then I have a suggestion for you. Use the (Level 6) Cauldron to generate Potions and Cups. It produces 40 items, regenerates in 5 minutes and gives the most amount of bubbles. Wait for the bubbles to burst and then keep merging the crystals until you get 5 max crystals in a cell. Each cell will be worth 25 crystals once you decide to sell. Keep them on your board until the next update and you'll be able to level up faster when you sell them. You may need to dump some items in a chain to make room on your board, but they are worthless at this point anyway. However, the crystals will be worth something at least, when/if there is a new update. Hopefully, the powers that be won't take them away as they did with all the accumulated pink crystals, ugh. Also, keep collecting the coins every 12 hours at the Entrance! I plan to use my coins to buy more space in the storage cabinet. Cheers!
🔮 For a complete guide to Merge Academy Generators click here > Generators
⚔️ Pogo Forums for this game specifically, click here > Merge Academy Forums
👑 Alsoszent's postings on Merge Academy in the Pogo Forums, click here > alsoszent
🐶 You can also watch videos online of a fellow Pogo Player playing Merge Academy for further help, click here > TheRJY Pogo
All photos used are for educational and instructional purposes only.
