Love & Pies - Merge Mystery Reviews

by Zentrickster

From its appearance to its storyline, this game is very cute and could easily become a favorite...Except that it’s aiming solely to make money. It’s like the developers don’t want people to play their game. You have to wait hours to get 100 energy that gets quickly depleted tediously churning out ingredients to merge into higher level recipes. The sources of ingredients often shut down to “recharge” or need to be remade (bread) after only a few plays. I get that these games are out to make a profit but this is just poor gameplay. I can’t play for more than 5 minutes at a time and progress is painfully slow. Like, it’ll take you days to fill an order with upper-level recipes. Days. Starting from scratch. Make 50 cookies and you won’t even be close to completing your order. Games are meant to be fun and the gameplay is punishing and offers very little reward. Give players more starting energy and perhaps give out more recipe items with each tap. It’s such a shame because I like everything else about this game. I am deleting it and never touching another merge game again.

by Bannister832

TL;DR: Great game, but be prepared to be frustrated if you like playing rather than waiting!

I love merge games. This quickly became my favorite with its cute storyline and awesome graphics. But it's aggravatingly slow. The energy restoration time takes way too long, the item producers are too short-lived and they spawn low-level items 98% of the time. So if your want to play and not be frustrated, you have to consistently purchase more energy when you're lives run out and gems when the item producers are exhausted. It would make more sense to either make the energy and gems reproduce more quickly and reward more supply chests throughout the "day" after completing tasks or input ads, and/or make it a paid app to earn money. As it is, it's way too slow to be enjoyable for a prolonged period.

Also, the outlines of Joe and Raj's characters aren't as crisp as the others in the story tasks, like their drawings weren't reviewed before the game went live. I just updated and it hasn't been addressed yet. It's a small detail but worth mentioning when all the other illustrations are so great.

by Timothy Thicc 😚🤞🏼💛

I downloaded this game cause it looked like something I would’ve enjoyed. I played for a few, then after an hour or so I ran out of energy. Now, this is where I start to get a bit ticked off. The energy refill is 1 per 2 minutes and I've waited about an hour or so for it to refill and it only gets to 40 or so. With 40 you can only do a few things regarding that you have to merge things from scratch to make these higher up “ meals “. This is a good game if you want to sit and wait 2 hours for the energy to refill and then only get to play for about 5 minutes just to wait again. I think you guys need to fix this maybe consider making it 30 seconds. Other than that It's a great story and good gameplay but the wait isn't worth it.

by EsmeV13

I wish there were options to purchase this as a game where you could enjoy the gameplay. As it is this game is incredibly cute and has great art direction and animation. It’s one of the most fun games for mobile I have played and enjoyed. However items run out very quickly and it asks you to purchase things in order to keep playing the game. It takes a very long time for things to reload if you don’t purchase. Even when I did purchase a couple bundles the gameplay only lasted a short time due to the “cost“ to put item producers back into commission or pop bubbles for new items. If there were some other option to buy the game I would do that. The biggest crippling factor to this game is the fact that no one thought about how much people would enjoy it but also not be able to spend $100 a day to play it.

by Joy2000

This game is really fun and beautifully designed with a good plot. However if you don’t plan to spend money on gems, the recharging will take a while along with quickly running out of energy. Most merge games allow you to watch ads to speed up the recharging process or get items in a bubble but this game does not allow that. Also trying to get bigger items to produce stuff to merge is darn near impossible. It took weeks to get the cat….and now I’m working on some cutout of a character. Increasing the storage is also hard without getting gems which makes your board full. Overall don’t make this your primary merge game unless you have money to buy gems. I hope the developers change this.

by XxLauren_LovesxX

I really enjoy the graphics and diversity of the characters, but the storyline takes up too much time. It takes DAYS to complete a single order of higher level ingredients because of the limit on energy. And when you finally have enough coins to complete a task, the tasks mostly involve scripts rather than updating the cafe. Not only is there very little progress as far as decorating, but there also are rarely any rewards for completing a task- you have to wait to “complete the day” to get a gift basket, but every now and then you’ll get a random object or energy box.
It would be helpful if our max energy could be increased because, as it stands, I’m only able to play for 5-10 minutes before I run out, thus taking even more time to complete orders. I also think boosters would be helpful! Like maybe one that splits a higher-level object into two of its previous level items, and maybe one that doubles or triples production of a resource with a single click.

by Msvoy

Better than most merge games but it takes forever to get higher level items. Things don’t always spawn the same amount of items. Sometimes I wait and it’ll spawn two or three. Haven’t been playing long and already had to delete items to make room on my board. The events are often but only 2 days. So I mostly ignore them and focus on completing task. The conversations were cute at first now it’s the same thing back and forth. You have to get like 70+ coins for a anticlimactic reveal. It’s more focused on story then actually updating anything. The concept is good. The lack of ad pushing and pop ups is good. Just think idea needs more work.

Update: They changed Joes personality for some reason randomly, now he’s being creepy and clingy. The writing started off Ok and now it’s a little annoying. “Oh I have something to tell you” “ok but first let me make this call for no reason”. “Let me call this working mom out for no reason and she is just ok with it…” .

by Islandgirlee

I’m enjoying merge games at the moment and decided to give Love & Pies a go. The graphics are solid, easy to navigate and I’ve even found myself forgetting to skip some of the stories.

Here’s why I know this will be a temporary game unless a more satisfying user playtime experience becomes the focus.

Slow progress - I don’t mind a game that is slow up unfold, especially when you’re afforded the space to do that. I’m currently at level 19 with still a dozen locked spaces on a 63 space board. If one unlocks the game through progression, why not encourage players to progress in the game by giving enough play time to want you coming back.

Time - speaking of playtime, this is the other double whammy here. And that’s not a positive if you don’t get that reference. One the earlier levels, they are quite a few new discoveries one can make with the 100 lot of energy points. However, as you level up and orders require more energy, it takes several refills of that 100 bar to meet an average order. One of the things that made that easier, the 100 energy box was just decreased in the last update. Why??

Currently, there is little enticement for me to play, so I definitely won’t invest more money into it. Unless there are more points of interest added in the next few updates, I’ll end up deleting this game. Which is a bit sad, it’s a really cute game!

by Booots27

I really enjoy this game but it frustrates me so bad waiting for things to recharge and to get energy. I thought things recharged slowly because I was a newbie, but I’ve been playing for over a month and it still takes a long time to recharge. I don’t understand how you’re supposed to advance in this game with these long rechargers. The timed activities are hard because you get 3 days to fulfill these orders for the challenges. But you have to wait half the day to get recharged or spend $50 a buying gems and energy just to play a game. I get, the creators want to make money and get people playing but this isn’t the way.

I really wanted to give this game 5 stars because I really enjoy it but I can’t because of the issues I stated above. Is there anything that can be done to change this? Watch more videos? Do activities? Anything to make the energy and the food makers to charge faster.

by VickyVail_

I really enjoy this game. The art and animation is fantastic, and the decor options are so cute. But my goodness is it just about impossible to play for more than 3 minutes at a time. Like you literally cannot do anything after about 3 minutes. Wayyyyyyy too maybe things need to charge. The spawning things for the merge objects, the energy you need to get items, everything is way too low. I’m genuinely only able to play about 3-5 minutes at a time, and when I’m finally able to save up enough coins to move forward it’s only for characters talking. Not enough decorating and WAY too much story. I love the story but there needs to also be more of the decorating.
All around it’s just a very poorly balanced game. I want to love it, but I just can’t.

by KimberleeAC

Let me start off saying the game is really cute, the graphics are great, and I like the story. I’m enjoying the game. My biggest complaint so far is that storage is tiny and when you pay $2.99 it’s only enough gems to expand it by two. This wouldn’t be so bad but some of these items you have to make require SO many matches the board is constantly full and it takes days sometimes to get things completed, in the meantime your board is filled up. I’m willing to spend a few dollars here and there to achieve goals or if I want more energy earlier, but it’d be nice to see slightly less steps to some of the items like the large cakes, just so that if we don’t have the money to spend the game is still fun.

by NiftyKitty47

I love this game, since I downloaded it, it’s been a game I wish I could play all day! I love how cute it is and, even though I sometimes skip through the storyline, when I do read it, it’s a good one and I love the faces the characters show! I also love the gameplay, I love doing the puzzles for decoration games. I also love that there are no ads! The only part I don’t like is how quick the energy diminishes and how the only way to revive energy is to wait the timer out, I don’t even think I’ve gotten energy after leveling up. I also noticed no matter what package you purchase you only get 1 full energy refill, I feel there could be more energy and less items.

by Cookies&creme

I’m surprised to love this game as much as I do. This is the first kind if game with this type of puzzles that I enjoy. the characters and storylines are entertaining, and I LOVE the progression of Edwina. The decorating is so fun, and I love seeing the bakery and home grow and expand. My biggest issue though is updates :( I guess I play so much that I don’t have any missions left and all that’s going on is the baking competition where you collect stars, which is extremely boring. I almost deleted the game because they last for so long and it gets repetitive and I never feel like opening LovePies the play. I just wish there were more special orders, or quicker updates to the story I understand the team is working though, and it takes time! So I’m trying to be patient

by Mmckeown

I enjoy the game, but like other reviewers it is frustrating that some tasks can take a week or more to complete. It is boring when all you have are high level slow tasks. The reward isn’t balanced well based on the time it takes to complete. The games/dice tasks always take forever because I’d the low drop rate. Lately all I mostly get are high level games, hot chocolate, and (strangely) honey and pie tasks. I haven’t gotten a higher level cake order in 3 weeks! I’ve been saving them while I create pies, but cakes don’t seem to be asked for anymore higher than maybe level 7. Better variety and balance would be nice. Also, my board is full of item generator parts and leaves less and less room for merging.

by Taylormicky

I truly, dearly love this game. The graphics are stunning, the character design is absolutely fantastic and so darling and expressive. For once I actually enjoy the episode scripts because I love seeing the characters’ reactions! The bright cheery atmosphere and creative character design is what made me download LovePies and what truly makes it the most memorable game I’ve played this year (and I’ve played a dozen merge games that I picked up and discarded). I can’t wait until there’s more episodes available.

My literal only recommendation is to allow players to watch ads for more energy or to pop some of the item bubbles. Everything else is absolutely top notch stellar design!

*ETA: I also am delighted beyond words to see Sven and his partner. I’m always disappointed that games with love interests as part of the story inevitably have no LGBTQ+ representation, and I am so wonderfully happy to be proven wrong here!

by Leoleum

Let me just say that everything about this game design-wise is delightful. The visuals are bright and cheery, the characters are interesting and clearly have their personalities thought through, the story is fun to follow (maybe a little cliche to begin with, but I don’t mind it), and the animation is honestly better than what I see in most mobile games. There is so, so much to love about it, and I can’t wait to see how it’s built upon in the future.

As well as that, the developers are super responsive! Perhaps just because the game is relatively new, but either way they really seem to take note of what players are saying (or complaining about, whoops) and use that feedback to make their gameplay better. It’s clear that they care deeply about the product they’re creating, as well as all those who love playing through it!

All in all, I think Love & Pies has a really fun, solid foundation, and I’m so excited to see how the story and the game itself continue to develop from here. I think I’ll be keeping this one downloaded for a good while!

by Savtornavarra05

This game is casually addicting!! I love it!! I play it every day and all the characters make me smile. The story development is juicy and has a good pace. I can’t wait to uncover something new everyday!

One suggestion that I think could be a great addition to the game is a Pizza Mini Game connecting to the Pizza Stand on the back patio… what if you could make a some pizzas to earn a few diamonds? Say maybe 2 pizzas per diamond with a max of 3 to 5 diamonds a day? If you want to mitigate the cost of giving away more diamonds instead of customers having to buy them, make the pizza mini game DLC that players can buy. I would definitely buy it!

by Bubbles18225

I adore this game. It’s probably my favorite merge game I’ve ever played and merge games are my favorite type of phone game. There is definitely a lot of merging you need to do to complete orders once you start to really progress in the game, but I don’t think that’s really an issue. After all, the whole point of the game is to merge things!! The game is so soothing and I especially love that you’re always working towards gaining more information regarding the story, unlike a lot of other merge games where you are merging to “fix up” a part of a place with no dialogue or anything involved. I really enjoy how often you get to hear about the plot and different characters because it keeps me invested and excited to keep working through orders. I absolutely recommend this game!

by Theanhee

I love merge games and this one doesn’t disappoint. The graphics are amazing! The story line is whatever to me, they always seem to be about divorce hahah, new love interest, yawn. Kind of don’t love that women are portrayed that way. Can’t she just decide to fix up the cafe without having been heart broken or have some love interest? Not all women need that. She could have always wanted to take over her moms business. She could be worried that her mom disappeared and wants to find her. Women have passions and dreams that don’t revolve around a man or relationship. Just saying. So the story I skip because all these merge games have the same dumb way of roping all women into this trope. Boring. But I like the merging and the graphics. It’s relaxing to me.

by Soap Esq

I really expected this game to be like any of the other games with this style of ad (that is “not as advertised”) but it’s style and vibe is so sweet, and the graphics and gameplay are all so well done. It feels satisfying to slowly repair the cafe, and to finish the bigger orders after days of trying to build up your supplies. And the representation is a wonderful surprise! The main character is a single mother that isn’t put down for her divorce, her daughter is in love with dinosaurs and animals and there isn’t ever a mention of those being “boy interests” (I’d die for Kate), the love interest is a man of color, there’s a bi-racial lesbian couple— it’s so wonderful to see a game like that that treats all its characters respectfully. Highly recommend

by Bluedahliagrl

I really want to like this game. But once you start getting past the initial stages it is impossible to play it for more than 5 min unless you spend your real money. It takes all your energy to make 1 item - such as the upper level cakes. And the ability to upgrade the “makers” such as the bags and coffee trays come so infrequently you are stuck on low level producers forever. Plus then the producer runs out of energy and needs to recharge for long periods of time unless you use diamonds to speed it up. I have been trying to merge to the white cat for 7 days now and still can’t. The cat item producer only gives 6 low level items before running out of energy and needs an hour to recharge. Plus those low level items need to be merged multiple times to create multiple lower level cats over and over and over again. This game is set up so you can’t play it. So frustrating.

by Electra310

It’s a very basic merge-2 game with almost no strategy involved. The plot is better than most games of this type and the animations are cute, but the further you get it, the more the game starts paywalling you. Gems slow to a trickle even as the orders you must fill get increasingly complex and the board fills with types of things. The only way to make progress is by getting extra energy. Originally once per day you could buy a full energy refill for the gems you might expect to earn in a day. That has changed gradually so that two days of gems might buy 20 energy. I have continued slogging along because I want to see the story, but I expect it to become unplayable very soon. I don’t mind supporting games I like with my money, but I won’t be forced into it with ham handed tactics like this.

by Elizabossy

I love merge games and this has quickly become a favorite. The graphics are GREAT… the story is one we have all seen before, but still enjoyable to follow along. The one critical thing I have to say about LovePies is that my progress today is really slow. I’ve been playing for three days and had no issue. I’ve been able to progress at a rate that I think is satisfactory, until today. The orders are taking a long time to complete and I am unable to get almost any of required items. This is OK right now in the beginning but I’m afraid after a while it might become a little monotonous. Hoping this becomes balanced out over time.

by 856327

Completely enamored with the animations, character designs, and representation in the cast. The game is so cute and fun, and the love put into the art direction REALLY shines.

I do agree that it’s incredibly hard to get tasks done, though- spawner items being exclusive to level-up reward chests makes getting the merge pieces hard as is, but when all your requests are for level 6+ items, it can take days to progress! If item levels were condensed a bit, or our energy was a little better-spent, it’d make a huge difference.
But really, my main feedback is I would love for an option to turn off particle effects. When I have a really lucky streak and my board fills up with bonus bubbles, I get some *severe* lag and worry the game will crash. Sparkles to know spawners are ready are still helpful, so a partial toggle could be nice, I just don’t think the bubble effect is necessary for a player like me who times them out for freebie counts.

Thanks for your hard work, guys, I can’t wait to see future updates!

by Layla Cruz Gamer

This game is amazing! You can build a bakery 🧁! Also, there are these to people in the game that I think are in love with each other 😘! But everything else is amazing! You have to serve customers to earn coins and those coins give you chances to keep building the bakery! It is super duper fun 🤩! If you have a friend that likes these type of games then come over to love and pies!❤️🥧! Feel free to come over and play! 😘😊🙂😃😁❤️🥧