Published by a relatively new game company called Yolo Games, Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon emerges as a very fun and fresh take on the puzzle-centric, building simulator games that flood the market nowadays.
In this game, you play as a newly-divorced woman who just arrived on the island her ex-husband gave her.
Photo: Yolo Games
From there, it is up to you to help her become the very best hotel tycoon (like no one ever was) by managing the entire island—one merge at a time!
Starting Out (The Basics)
This section of the guide explores the mechanics and features you’ll encounter as a beginner in the game.
Here, you’ll learn the basics of Merge Topia so you can identify every icon and tile you’ll encounter as you play, as well as how the merging system works in this game.
The “Merge” In Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon
Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon incorporates a fun gameplay mechanic called “Merging“, which allows you to merge several resources to form a better one.
For example, merging three small Wheat Sprouts will produce even bigger Wheat Sprouts.
Merge enough Wheat Sprouts and you’ll eventually be able to create a Wheat Field, which allows you to collect Wheat occasionally!
Photo: Yolo Games
Recipes, on the other hand, can be unlocked mainly by leveling up your island by completing tasks on your to-do list or unlocking sections of the map.
Photo: Yolo Games
Unlocked Recipes can be cooked by your Characters, which in turn give you random resources once they are done cooking.
You can only cook unlocked Recipes if you have enough ingredients for them, so make sure to merge and collect as many resources such as Milk or Wheat whenever possible.
Photo: Yolo Games
In Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon, you can also enter and play several game modes such as events and the Magical Zoo.
Photo: Yolo Games
Make sure to visit these game modes as often as you can, as you’d likely be able to farm a lot of resources in addition to the ones you normally get from your island!
All Icons & Tiles
Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon features a lot of icons and tiles that might overwhelm newer players.
These icons and tiles each serve a different purpose, such as merging, unlocking, placing, and collecting. However, interacting with any of them will allow you to develop your island further.
On that note, listed below are all the icon and tile types that you should know about as a beginner and what each of them is used for.
Mergeable Resources
Photo: Yolo Games
These resources can be merged with other resources that look exactly like they do.
They typically have no tiles below them and can be moved anywhere on the map, unlike Tiled Resources.
Here are a few examples of Mergeable Resources:
- Wheat Sprouts
- Gold
- Coins
- Milk
- Buildings
- Keys
- Knives
- Pans
- Spatulas
- Notebooks
- Backpacks
- Cubes
- Beds
- Sofas
Note: You cannot merge these resources unless there are more than three of them. Merging five items of any resource will give you an extra product, which is highly recommended for beginners!
Unlockable Resources
Photo: Yolo Games
Unlockable Resources are resources that cannot be moved and require Workers to be interacted with.
One of the most common Unlockable Resources are Chests, which give you several items when opened by a Worker.
Although, do keep in mind that Chests require Energy to unlock. Use your Energy wisely!
Collectible Resources
Photo: Yolo Games
Collectible Resources are tiles that give you resources every few hours.
They function as this game’s idle gameplay mechanic and require you to log in to the game multiple times a day so you can claim the resources they give.
A few examples of Collectible Resources include:
- Wheat Fields
- Milk Factories
- Egg Farms
Building Slots
Photo: Yolo Games
Building Slots can be filled up by Buildings, which can be pretty hard to merge in this game as a beginner.
When all four slots have been filled, a much bigger building will emerge—making your island one step closer to looking like that of an actual hotel tycoon’s!
One Building Slot that lets you place up to four buildings in them will be made available as soon as you proceed with the game’s tutorial.
Gift Boxes
Photo: Yolo Games
These tiles give you valuable items such as Diamonds and Coins, but there is one caveat—you need to pay IRL money for them.
Gift Boxes such as the ones highlighted in the image above require in-app purchases for you to unlock them, so it’s not exactly a tile that F2P players can use.
Ad Boxes
Photo: Yolo Games
These tiles, much like Gift Boxes, also give you some valuable resources when opened. To unlock them, you’ll need to watch an Ad, which can take up to around 30 seconds of your time.
Although they typically don’t give you as many items as Gift Boxes, Ad Boxes are a great alternative for F2P players to earn some extra resources.
Cubes
Photo: Yolo Games
Although Cubes can be classified as Mergeable Resources, they need special attention because they represent a special gameplay mechanic that other mergeable resources don’t have.
Simply put, Cubes can be used as a substitute when you don’t have enough copies of Mergeable Resource to merge.
For example, if you only have two Wheat Sprouts and you want some Wheat ASAP, you can use a Cube in place of a third Wheat Sprout to merge them. Now that’s useful!
Four-leaf Clovers
Photo: Yolo Games
Four-leaf Clovers is a floating icon that gives you one copy of a random resource when clicked.
They spawn very often on the island, so don’t forget to take advantage of them as a beginner and collect them whenever they fly around on your screen!
Ad Bubbles
Photo: Yolo Games
Ad Bubbles are much like Four-leaf Clovers in that they both float around your screen, but they give you slightly better items when opened.
Although to open them, you also need to watch an ad just like how it is when opening Ad Boxes. Every resource counts for a beginner, so try to watch at least a few of them a day!
Unlockable Map Zones
Photo: Yolo Games
Map Zones are multiple locked tiles that can only be unlocked by using Keys, which is a Merge Resource.
Unlocking Map Zones gives you a larger area to work with, allowing you to place and merge more resources and buildings to your liking.
Characters
Photo: Yolo Games
Characters are unlocked as you do specific tasks and go further into the story. Once available, you can place them wherever you want on the map.
They can cook Recipes that you unlock mainly by leveling up your island, which in turn gives you resources such as Keys, Coins, and other Mergeable Resources upon completion.
Three Primary Objectives For Beginners In Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon
Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon is a huge simulation game that is jam-packed with gameplay features and mechanics that can get a bit too much for newer players.
If you want to know which tasks should be prioritized, here are the three most important tasks that you need to accomplish ASAP as a beginner in this game.
Objective #1: Unlock As Many Map Zones As You Can
Photo: Yolo Games
The first thing you’ll need to prioritize as a beginner in this game is to unlock as much of the map as you can in your first few days of playing.
This is because not only do you get more space for your buildings and resources if you do this, but you also get a bunch of items from newly unlocked map zones you can collect!
Tons of Chests, for instance, are spawned whenever you unlock a new map zone. They’re fantastic if you want to collect a lot of resources at the start of the game!
Objective #2: Create Characters As Fast As You Can
Photo: Yolo Games
You can create characters by simply progressing through the story and doing tasks that you would normally do, such as merging or collecting different resources.
Unlocking as many characters as you can early on is very important, as having several of them allows you to cook multiple Recipes at the same time.
This ultimately lets you earn more resources via cooking, which gives you a huge advantage as a newbie hotel tycoon.
Objective #3: Participate In Event Missions
Photo: Yolo Games
Event Missions are time-limited content that can be played as an additional game mode in Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon.
Despite being a beginner, we highly recommend that you participate in them as you can earn tons of free items just by playing them consistently.
Five Best Tips For Beginners In Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon
If you’re planning to play this game for the long term and want to build a strong foundation for your island early on, here are the five best tips we highly recommend you follow as a beginner.
Tip #1: Save Your Cubes (For Another Day)
Photo: Yolo Games
Cubes can be used as a substitute for any Mergeable Resource. If you’re missing a copy of a resource you want to merge, all you need to do is drag over a Cube and you’re good to go!
This is exactly why Cubes are a very important resource in the game, and you must learn to use them responsibly.
For maximum efficiency, we recommend simply merging them to their highest-tier copies (Universal Cubes) before using them on other high-tier Mergeable Resources.
Tip #2: Always Merge Five Copies
Photo: Yolo Games
While you can merge three copies of Mergeable Resources at the very least, we highly recommend waiting until you have five copies before you do it.
This is because of the special mechanic in which you get an additional copy if you merge five resources instead of three.
This might not sound like much, but your extra copies add up tremendously as you continue to play the game and will basically allow you to progress much faster than those who do not take advantage of this mechanic!
Tip #3: Organize Your Island
Photo: Yolo Games
Keeping certain resources in specific parts of the map will not only help you find them easier, but it will also allow your island to look more aesthetic to visitors.
Also, merging small resources to form higher-tier ones will also become less of a problem once they’re gathered neatly on their side of the map.
More often than not, the game helps you with this by spawning resources right beside their copies no matter where they are on the map. However, it is still up to you to arrange them however you like.
Tip #4: Always Clear Your Daily & Weekly Tasks
Photo: Yolo Games
Your Daily and Weekly Tasks is a treasure trove full of valuable farmable items such as:
- Coins
- Energy
- Diamonds
- Mergeable Resources
Never forget to clear them—especially if you’re a beginner who wants to play the game completely F2P.
After all, your Dailies and Weeklies are among the very few sources of farmable Diamonds in the game.
In any case, you wouldn’t want to miss these two if you want to farm lots of resources over time!
Tip #5: Always Put Your Workers To Work & Consume Your Stamina
Photo: Yolo Games
This is arguably the most important tip that you should take to heart as a beginner.
Once you start playing the game, you have to make sure that you’re using all of your Workers to unlock Map Zones or Chests as much as you can.
Workers are hard to come by, but you can unlock a free Worker by clearing Starter Tasks, which is located alongside the Daily & Weekly Task pages:
Photo: Yolo Games
Alternatively, you can hire an extra Worker for $3.00 to work for you for three days, but we don’t really recommend doing this since you won’t need extra Workers that much as a beginner.
This purchase is better made later in the game, where building or unlocking certain Chests and establishments takes more time.
Photo: Yolo Games
Also, make sure that you don’t leave the game with your Energy still full or nearly-full, as this won’t allow you to farm as many resources as you can per day.
Photo: Yolo Games
To get more Energy, you can claim them by completing tasks or participating in Events.
Additionally, you can get them from the Energy Shop by either:
- Claiming them for free via Lucky Raffle
- Buying them with Coins
- Watching an Ad
- Buying them via In-App Purchase
Conclusion
Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon is a very entertaining game that shows off its distinctness compared to other games in the building sim genre by introducing the “Merge” mechanic.
If you’re looking for other fantastic management sim games like Merge Topia-Hotel Tycoon, then you might want to check out some of our featured games such as Cat Spa, Boba Story, or Resortopia.
Alternatively, feel free to check out our list of the 10 Best Idle Tycoon-type Games For Android if you want more great recommendations!
