Comparison

Merge Magic! vs Three in a Row Duel

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Merge Magic!

Combine magical items, eggs, and creatures to create more powerful ones and restore a cursed land. Solve puzzles, hatch mythical beings, and nurture your garden in this enchanting adventure.

Highlights
  • Combine over 500 objects
  • Hatch and evolve mythical creatures
  • Solve 81 challenging puzzle levels
  • Lift a curse from a bewitched land
  • Participate in frequent events
  • Discover unique hybrid creatures
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Discover enchanted tales and quests in the mysterious world of Merge Magic! where you can combine everything into better and more powerful items for your journey. Merge eggs to hatch magical creatures, then evolve them to uncover more powerful ones! Encounter and solve challenging puzzle levels: match the items to win, then bring rewards back to your Garden to collect and grow. The only hope to lift the curse from the bewitched land rests in YOUR extraordinary power to MERGE ANYTHING -- eggs, trees, treasures, stars, magical flowers, and even mythical creatures. Reveal wonders as you merge your garden to perfection and nurture your amazing creatures! MERGE MAGIC! FEATURES: • Discover over 500 fantastic objects to match, merge and interact with through 81 challenges! • Unearth fairies, unicorns, minotaurs and never-before-seen hybrid creatures like Butterphants (butterfly & elephant), Peacats (peacock & cats) and many more. •An evil curse has been placed on the garden, fight off the fog and lift the curse to restore, and take back the creatures’ home! • On your puzzle journey, you may cross paths with evil witches. You will need to watch out and be careful! • Participate in frequent events, win more advanced creatures that you can take back to your garden. Merge Magic! is brought to you by Gram Games, the studio behind the top hit titles Merge Dragons!, 1010!, Merged!, Six!, Bounzy!, Merge Town!, Merge Farm!, Paint Tower!, and Merge Gems! Use of this application is governed by Zynga’s Terms of Service, found at https://www.take2games.com/legal. Merge Magic is FREE to download and includes optional in-game purchases (including random items). Information about drop rates for random item purchases can be found in-game. If you wish to disable in-game purchases, please turn off the in-app purchases in your phone or tablet’s Settings.

About

Three in a Row Duel

A clean and classic take on the familiar 3-in-a-row game. Enjoy quick matches against friends on one device or challenge the computer with adjustable difficulty levels. Track player statistics and game history locally for a private gaming experience.

Highlights
  • Two players on one device
  • Play against computer
  • Three computer difficulty levels
  • Named-player leaderboard
  • Game history and statistics
  • No ads, accounts, or tracking
Features
Read full description

The classic 3-in-a-row, done right. Tic Tac Toe is a calm, clean take on the game everyone already knows — built for quick matches at the table, in the back seat, or anywhere your phone goes. No ads. No accounts. No tracking. Just the game. TWO WAYS TO PLAY • Two players on one device — pass and play with anyone nearby • vs Computer — pick a difficulty and see how you stack up THREE COMPUTER DIFFICULTIES • Easy — plays at random, perfect for younger kids • Medium — blocks your winning moves and takes its own when it sees them • Unbeatable — full minimax search, the way the math says: you can draw, but you cannot win NAMED-PLAYER LEADERBOARD • Add a real name for each person who plays • Track wins, losses, draws, total games, and win rate per player • See who's actually the household champion EVERY GAME REMEMBERED • Every match is recorded with X / O players, winner, and game mode • Your stats persist between sessions • Reset any player from the Players tab when you want a fresh start DESIGNED TO STAY OUT OF YOUR WAY • Big, tappable cells • Clear winning-line highlight • Standard light/dark mode support • Portrait iPhone PRIVACY YOU CAN TRUST • No accounts. No sign-ups. • No analytics. No ads. No tracking. • Everything — players, games, stats — stays on your iPhone. • Delete the app and it all goes with it. Whether you're settling a debate, killing five minutes in line, or teaching a kid how to think a move ahead, Tic Tac Toe gives you the original game in the cleanest possible form.

Screenshots

Merge Magic!4 screens
Three in a Row Duel3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Merge Magic! at 4.8 against Three in a Row Duel's 4.0. Merge Magic! also leads on ratings volume (91K vs 1) and chart position (#60 vs unranked). Three in a Row Duel's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Merge Magic! sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Three in a Row Duel asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Merge Magic! holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Merge Magic! has 91K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Merge Magic! ships an update fortnightly, Three in a Row Duel every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Merge Magic! versus Three in a Row Duel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMerge Magic!Three in a Row Duel
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (91K ratings) — better4.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews58.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings91K — better1
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#60 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size343 MB1 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperGram GamesJohn Doan

Customer experience

Merge Magic!

All ratings90,864 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral2.8%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews1,262 reviews
Positive58.6%
Neutral13.8%
Negative27.6%

Three in a Row Duel

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Merge Magic!

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Creatures disappearing from garden
  • Inability to sell or delete items
  • Compasses not properly regenerating
  • Compatibility issues with device updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • More frequent level updates
  • Ability to delete or sell unwanted items
  • Shorter cooldown times for creatures and compasses
  • More ways to earn premium currency without spending money

Three in a Row Duel

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Merge Magic!

One-time9
  • 30 Day Magic Gem Payout$4.99
  • Premium Land$4.99
  • Pouch of Magic Gems$6.99
Show 6 more
  • Premium Land2 variants$8.99
  • Goblet of Magic Gems$12.99
  • Gold Pass$12.99
  • Bowl of Magic Gems$24.99
  • Chest of Magic Gems$59.99
  • Wagon of Magic Gems$99.99
None

Three in a Row Duel

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Merge Magic! free?
Merge Magic! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Three in a Row Duel free?
Three in a Row Duel is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Merge Magic! or Three in a Row Duel?
Merge Magic! is rated higher. Merge Magic! averages 4.8 out of 5 from 91K ratings, while Three in a Row Duel averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Merge Magic! or Three in a Row Duel have ads?
Merge Magic! shows ads; Three in a Row Duel does not.
Which is updated more often, Merge Magic! or Three in a Row Duel?
Merge Magic! ships an update fortnightly, and Three in a Row Duel every 2 weeks. Most recently, Merge Magic! was updated on November 13, 2026 and Three in a Row Duel on November 10, 2026.

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