Fruit Merge: Juicy Melon Puzzle

Fruit Merge: Juicy Melon Puzzle Gameplay Overview

Opening screen on 
Day 2 of gameplay.

Fruit Merge Juicy Melon Puzzle is a merge objects game for mobile devices. The objective is to merge fallen fruit until they turn into a watermelon. If you manage to get and merge two watermelons then you get a bonus.

The fruit grow in this order: grape > blueberry > strawberry > lemon > orange > green apple > peach > coconut > pomegranate > cantaloupe > watermelon. There are 4-game modes with one being the basic drop to merge. Gradually, as you play through the basic mode the other three will unlock.

There's VS (versus), Dual and Drag-to-Merge. Haven't touched dual nor VS, but have played around with the Drag-to-Merge. One of the things you have to keep an eye on for this game mode is the moves limit.

I didn't see it the first few rounds, but it did catch me some time after that. In addition to the game modes, there are weekly missions where if you successfully complete objectives, you'll earn bonus coins. Moreover, if you complete chapter objectives you'll earn tickets, coins and assist items.

In the standard gameplay, there are three assist items at your disposal: mallet/hammer, beach ball and fan. The mallet/hammer smashes selected fruit to help make room on the game board (I reserve these for the larger fruit that aren't close to getting a match). The beach ball will create auto-matches for whichever fruit you drop it on.

Then there's the fan (a personal favorite). You can use tickets when you have them or you can watch ads to activate use. What it does is spin the fruit around which in turn helps with creating matches for fruit that are buried under other fruit.

The Pros

Gameplay in action.

The levels are quick and easy to complete. In fact, the levels function on a rolling basis where once you complete tasks, you go up in level, but continue to play the game. There are different play options so if you're looking for something different to play for a while, you can tackle one of the other modes.

While there is a learning curve, it becomes easy to grasp after a few rounds. In addition to this, the in-game assist items can be sanity savers when you have them. The fan is still a favorite; however, the beach ball and mallet/hammer have saved many a game board.

I've smashed many a giant fruit that weren't going anywhere fast enough. I've recently started reserving beach balls for watermelons as they are huge and take up a lot of board space. Next are trick shots (in the standard game mode).

It sounds weird, but trick shots are fun and amazing when pulled off well. I've used them to roll fruit and wedge them from the wall toward their match a fruit a way. Good aim is key.

Lastly, fruit previews (but you still have to pay attention). You are given a preview of up coming fruit so you can plan your moves accordingly. That said, you have to make sure you don't confuse the upcoming fruit with the current fruit you're trying to drop (I'm still doing this).

The Cons

Take a Break popup.
After this, an ad/ads 
appear.

Forced breaks and ads. I've played my share of mobile and online games with ads, but this one is a mixed bag. There are simple, static ads that stay up for a short amount of time before an x-button appears. These are mostly local ads or ads for car dealerships.

Next are the game promo ads that stay up for a couple of seconds before an x-button appears. While this sounds simple, there were varying varieties that have surfaced during my game play. There are the simple ones that show an x-button after a brief viewing of the game.

The next was a 2-parter that showed a preview that you could exit out of, but was immediately followed by a try it now screen that stayed up for a few seconds before allowing you to exit. The final form of these ads came in two versions. Version 1 showed screen after screen after screen of the promo game (3-4 screens total) before you can return to the original game.

Version 2 would show a couple of screens before given the option to close, but are thus forced from the game and redirected to the Play Store. This has resulted in the game app restarting as if being opened for the first time.

Though the worst ads I've encountered are the ones that: change the screen's orientation and make it difficult to close once time is up, have fake volume and x-buttons which lead to accidental clicks, forced redirects to the Play Store automatically, along side those that automatically redirect to unknown websites before the promo ad even loads.

To top all of this off are the fake ads for other games that don't accurately showcase the actual gameplay. I've already grown to dislike Lily's Garden (I've seen other variation of ads for this game over the years and they're just as bad) and Gossip Harbor ads immensely because of this. Moreover, there are gameplay ads that make horrible game moves that end in a loss.

And these are just the ads that pop up during gameplay. These are in stark contrast to the ones that you watch to earn/activate in-game assist items. I say stark because the ones you watch willing are more subdued and palatable when compared to these.

Another con is the inability to play offline. You need internet connection at all times in order to play the game. This in itself is a pain especially during outages.

AUGUST 18 - 21 UPDATE: Encountered another ad version. Got an ad that couldn't be closed and had to restart the the game app. Also noted that some ads have the close buttons at the extreme edge of the screen which make clicking on them a nightmare when trying to return to the game.

New fruit screen.

The Fruity Verdict

I started playing this game on August 1, 2025. By August 2nd, I was on Level 102. As of August 23, I'm currently on Level 445. Would've been higher, but took a break.

AUGUST 24 UPDATE: I made it to Level 501.

On its own, this is a fun and engaging game for passing the time. However, the ads can interrupt gameplay especially the ones that do forced redirects. With that said, the game gets a 4 out of 5 stars from me.