Comparison

Merge Mayor vs Brain Explorer

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

Head to head
About

Merge Mayor

Become the new Mayor and transform a small town into a thriving metropolis. Solve match puzzles, build, organize, and upgrade your city. Enjoy fresh 3D graphics, discover hidden stories, and unlock new areas in this relaxing yet challenging game.

Highlights
  • Build and upgrade your city
  • Solve merge puzzles
  • Repair and renovate homes
  • Discover hidden stories
  • Unlock new areas
  • Fresh 3D graphics
  • Seasonal items and events
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Merge Mayor match puzzles and town building, the relaxing yet challenging puzzle game where you are the new Mayor of a small town. With the help of your assistant Olivia, you'll solve match puzzles and build, organize, restore, and upgrade your city into a thriving metropolis. Featuring fresh 3D graphics, new items regularly, and satisfying match and craft gameplay, you'll enjoy discovering secret ways to upgrade the town and watch it evolve. - Build, Upgrade, and Organize your own city as the new Mayor in this fun and challenging game! - Solve Merge 2 puzzles to earn rewards and help grow your town. - Repair and Renovate homes, discover hidden stories, and unlock new areas. - Enjoy fresh 3D graphics, fun crafting and power-ups, and ever-expanding content. - Multiple game modes for casual and challenging gameplay. - Relax and Challenge your brain with Merge Mayor, the ultimate Merge town building game! - Featuring Merge, Match, Craft, and Puzzle gameplay, with new items and storylines added regularly. - Increase your Mayor Points by combining everyday items and unlocking big upgrades. - Explore hidden worlds and discover Exclusive Rewards, seasonal items, and limited-time events. - Easy to learn but challenging to master, Merge Mayor is the perfect game for idle time, casual fun, and fans of merge, puzzle, and matching games. - Get to know the townspeople, uncover their secrets and build relationships as you progress through the game. - Join limited-time Events and unlock new game modes and mini games as you play. - With new content and challenges added regularly, there's always something new and exciting to discover in Merge Mayor. Try it today and see your small village evolve into a city…and beyond!" QUESTIONS? We love our fan community! Want to shoot us a message? Our door is open at support@starberry.games or join our lovely and helpful Discord channel at https://discord.gg/8sQjtqX Please note! Merge Mayor is free to download and install. However, some virtual items can also be purchased for real money inside the game. Merge Mayor may also offer randomized virtual items for purchase. You can disable in-app purchases in your device settings. Merge Mayor may also include advertising. Merge Mayor may be updated from time to time for content or technical updates. If you do not install the provided updates, Merge Mayor may not function properly or at all on your device. Privacy Policy: https://www.starberry.games/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://www.starberry.games/terms-of-service

About

Brain Explorer

Engage in fun, scientifically-backed games to test your cognitive abilities. Compare your brainpower with others and contribute to neuroscience research. Explore a galaxy-themed adventure while unlocking new challenges and earning achievements.

Highlights
  • Play brain-testing games
  • Compare brain scores with others
  • Win medals and unlock games
  • Help scientists understand the brain
  • Space-themed exploration
  • Anonymous data collection
Features
Read full description

How does your brain work? How is your brain power compared to your friends? Play the fun and entertaining games in the Brain Explorer app and learn all about your brain. The Brain Explorer app was developed by world-leading neuroscientists at University College London (UCL) and brings you the newest games to measure your brain power using the most state-of-the-art brain tests. Using this app, you can - Play many fun games that test your brain power - Compare your brain scores with others - Win medals and unlock hidden games - Help scientists understand how the brain works. You will explore outer space, find new planets, visit intergalactic marketplaces and hunt for treasures across the entire galaxy. This space-themed app entails multiple entertaining games, each of them probing another brain function. You get feedback about your performance, can learn about your brain strengths, and compare yourself to others. By playing these games, you will collect moons and stars that allow you to further explore the galaxy. If you play well, you will win medals and get badges for your achievements. Brain explorer is a citizen science project. By playing these games and answering questions, you will help scientist understand how the brain develops and how brain functions are linked to mental health. Become a researcher yourself and help uncover the hidden mysteries of the brain. Data collection is entirely anonymous.

Screenshots

Merge Mayor4 screens
Brain Explorer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Brain Explorer at 100% against Merge Mayor's 64%. Brain Explorer also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 13) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Merge Mayor's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs monthly) and ratings volume (27K vs 6). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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 Mayor sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Brain Explorer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Brain Explorer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Merge Mayor has 27K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Merge Mayor's written reviews are positive against 100% of Brain Explorer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Merge Mayor ships an update every 4 days, Brain Explorer monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Merge Mayor versus Brain Explorer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMerge MayorBrain Explorer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (27K ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings27K — better6
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size377 MB51 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStarberry Games GmbHthkp, LLC

Customer experience

Merge Mayor

All ratings27,326 ratings
Positive95.5%
Neutral2.8%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews984 reviews
Positive63.6%
Neutral10.3%
Negative26.1%

Brain Explorer

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Merge Mayor

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game freezes when trying to claim rewards
  • Ads sometimes fail to load or freeze the game
  • Progression blocked due to inability to unlock new areas

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to sell/trade excess items
  • Faster energy recharge
  • More storage space
  • Ability to skip or dismiss pop-up bubbles
  • More varied and frequent content updates

Brain Explorer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Merge Mayor

One-time13
  • Handful of gems$1.99
  • Shop Offer S$1.99
  • Special Shop Offer S$1.99
Show 10 more
  • Shop Offer M$2.99
  • Shop Offer$2.99
  • Shop Offer$3.99
  • Hat full of gems$4.99
  • Shop Offer L$4.99
  • Safe key$4.99
  • Shop Offer$4.99
  • Shop Offer$6.99
  • Box of gems$9.99
  • Shop Offer XL$9.99
None

Brain Explorer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Merge Mayor free?
Merge Mayor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Brain Explorer free?
Brain Explorer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Merge Mayor or Brain Explorer?
Brain Explorer is rated higher. Merge Mayor averages 4.8 out of 5 from 27K ratings, while Brain Explorer averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Merge Mayor or Brain Explorer have ads?
Neither Merge Mayor nor Brain Explorer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Merge Mayor or Brain Explorer?
Merge Mayor ships an update every 4 days, and Brain Explorer monthly. Most recently, Merge Mayor was updated on September 30, 2026 and Brain Explorer on September 11, 2026.

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