Off the AppStore: Dabbling in corrupt combos in Forbidden Merge

• A merge mystery in a dark and odd world
• Feed the altar to restore some light to the land and discover new things
• Work with resources, creatures, and life itself to merge and expand

Welcome to Off The AppStore, a weekly feature with a twist. Namely, that while these - as with all the games we cover here - are games that you can play on your phone, they're ones that operate outside of the realms of the big two ways to play: The Google Play Store and the Apple AppStore.

That means that there might be a bit of work required in downloading alternative AppStores or APKs, or that the games can simply be played in your phone browser. We'll make sure to detail that for each game though. Anyway, read on to find a new game or experience to play Off The AppStore.

If you think about it, there are so many toys and activities that are tailored towards encouraging building and combining things. You've got blocks, LEGO, and puzzles, all about combining pieces to make something bigger. There are also so many forms of child-friendly clay that we took as kids, and once on a blue blood moon, we would combine the wads into something that resembled something other than a giant wad of clay.

However, Nedo Kontent is trying to delve into the dark, building thoughts in the brain by pulling us into the ominous world of Forbidden Merge to see what we can combine.

You don't get time to fathom what's happening or where you are; you're just suddenly in the midst of a dark fog. The only source of light is a creepy ritual altar that seems alive and hungry. By tapping on it, you can see exactly what the altar is craving, and it's your obligation to feed its desires.

You'll start with a meagre amount of space and resources, so the combinations will be limited at the start. The only reprieve is that the more you feed the altar, the more light it bestows on the area so that you can see and access a little more.

Of course, it's not just resources that you'll be working with. Sure, there will be plenty of natural elements like rocks and plants to combine into other forms, but there will also be sources that you can plunder for different materials.

But you can't do it alone; you'll have to manipulate the energies of life itself to create creatures that will aid you in collecting, harvesting, and crafting. Just be wary that too many creatures can be difficult to handle, and you may need to use the cauldron to reclaim their life sources.

Forbidden Merge is a 2D top-down take on the merge genre, going for the dark and haunting angle with the limited lighting and the types of resources you must use. As the space grows, it can be tricky to come up with new combinations, so experimentation is encouraged.

Just be careful not to waste resources, or you may need to start merging from the beginning. Perhaps forbidden knowledge is what is needed to perform the forbidden merge… Choose wisely.

Forbidden Merge is available to download and play from its itch.io page!