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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Travel Town vs Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game

Travel Town 4.8★ · Free + IAP 65
Winner Travel Town
Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game 4.6★ · Free + IAP 55

Travel Town offers a more diverse and engaging merge gameplay experience despite its aggressive monetization and frequent technical issues, while Merge Hotel Empire is a simpler, more repetitive game with similar monetization complaints.

Full reviews: Travel Town · Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game

Travel Town and Merge Hotel Empire are both free-to-play merge games with in-app purchases, but Travel Town provides a more varied gameplay experience with mini-games and events. Both suffer from aggressive monetization, frequent pop-ups, and technical glitches, though Travel Town's issues appear more severe and widespread.

Head to head

Gameplay & Features edge: Travel TownR2R3R8R26
Travel Town Travel Town is praised for its fun and addictive core merge gameplay, with users enjoying combining items and leveling up R26. It also offers various mini-games like vault blasters and boat races, which some find fun R2R8R27. However, many players dislike being forced into these mini-games and competitions R8. Some users also feel the game stagnates around level 25, with boards full of unneeded items and limited paths to improvement R3.
Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game Merge Hotel Empire is described as a fun and addictive merge game . Users appreciate its relaxing nature and the absence of timers or player-vs-player anxiety . However, a common complaint is its repetitive nature, with users wishing for ways to add items without constant repetition . Some also find the matches hard to get and the levels require too many stars to advance without spending money .
Monetization & Value tieR3R5R27R28
Travel Town Travel Town is frequently criticized as a 'pay to play' or 'money grab' game R28. Users report running out of energy quickly, often within minutes, and needing to spend money to progress, especially in timed events R3R27R42. The game is seen as expensive, with costs for energy packs and building items being high . Some users feel the game is rigged, with 'chance' features consistently landing on low rewards even after spending money . Ads for rewards often don't work, stealing time without giving payouts R5.
Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game Merge Hotel Empire also faces significant criticism for its aggressive monetization, with many users calling it a 'pay to win scam' or 'greedy' R66R82. Players run out of energy quickly, often within 5-10 minutes, and are constantly prompted to buy more R82. The price point for energy and progression is considered high compared to similar games, leading some to quit . There are also complaints about not receiving payouts for playing through other reward apps .
Ease of Use & User Experience edge: Travel TownR3R6R7R12
Travel Town Travel Town is heavily criticized for an overwhelming number of pop-ups and ads that appear before and during gameplay, with users reporting having to close 9-20 screens just to start playing R6R7R12. Users also dislike forced mini-games and tedious animations R12. The energy system is a major point of frustration, with limited energy (max 100) that depletes quickly and slow replenishment R3R23R27R42.
Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game Merge Hotel Empire also suffers from frequent and annoying pop-up ads for in-game purchases . Users complain about the game being slow and repetitive . There are also specific complaints about the inability to turn off game volume and the lack of customization for hotel rooms .
Reliability & Performance edge: Travel TownR1R5R9R10
Travel Town Travel Town has significant reliability issues, with many users reporting frequent crashing, freezing, and loading problems R9R10. Some users have lost progress , while others experience issues with specific features like power boosts not working or ad rewards failing to pay out R1R5. Customer service is also criticized for slow responses and unhelpful advice R10.
Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game Merge Hotel Empire also experiences reliability issues, with users reporting that the app rarely loads or won't load at all for days . While less detailed than Travel Town's complaints, these issues still hinder gameplay.
Support edge: Travel TownR1R4R10R13
Travel Town Travel Town's support is generally viewed negatively. Users report issues with customer service being unresponsive or unhelpful, sometimes blaming the user's device despite compatibility R10. There are also complaints about poor support for community features like Facebook trade groups, with posts taking hours to be approved R13. In-app purchase issues, like not receiving purchased gems, also go unresolved R4.
Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game Reviews for Merge Hotel Empire do not extensively discuss customer support, but one user mentioned not receiving payouts from a third-party rewards app, implying a lack of resolution or support for such issues .
Pick Travel Town if

you enjoy a merge game with more diverse activities and mini-games, and are willing to tolerate frequent pop-ups and potential technical glitches R8R26.

Pick Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game if

you prefer a simpler, more monotonous merge game for passing time without the anxiety of timers or competition, and are prepared for repetitive gameplay and aggressive monetization .

Evidence note: Both apps have a free-to-play model with in-app purchases. Much of the negativity for both stems from the aggressive monetization and energy limitations, which is common for this model and impacts non-paying users more. Travel Town has a higher volume of detailed complaints regarding technical issues and pop-ups.

Frequently asked

Do Travel Town and Merge Hotel Empire have a free tier?
Yes, both Travel Town and Merge Hotel Empire are free to download and play, but they heavily rely on in-app purchases for energy and progression R28R66R82.
Are there many ads or pop-ups in these games?
Both games are heavily criticized for an excessive number of pop-ups and ads, with Travel Town users reporting closing 9-20 screens just to start playing R6R18R20R21.
Do these games have energy limitations?
Yes, both games have strict energy limitations, with users frequently running out of energy within minutes and needing to wait or pay to continue playing R3R23R42R51.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R2] Travel Town 4/5 · US Fun but frustrating at times: I’ve been playing this game for a long time now and I love it. However, it really pisses me off sometimes. First, the vault blasters minigame is near impossible. Today I spent over 64 gems to get more energy so I could keep playing and only got to the 300’s out of 1000. 3 hrs is not enough time, especially for people who have lives. PLEASE extend the time limit for th
  2. [R3] Travel Town 3/5 · US Fun BUT: The game is fun, but once you hit around level 25 everything stagnates. Your board gets full of items you don’t need, your storage is full of items you can’t get rid of and will never use, and you start running out of energy in less than 5 minutes of play because of the multipliers. There are no real paths to improvement, except these useless mini games and competitions that you’ll keep l
  3. [R8] Travel Town 4/5 · US Great game: I don’t know how they did it but this game makes you want to spend your money on the energy. I’ve never experienced fomo before this game but now I always have to know what’s next. My only complaint is being forced to play mini games, like the boat race one when I really do not want to. It’s pretty annoying if I do say so. Other than that this game is worth the try.
  4. [R26] Travel Town 5/5 · US The best: First merge gameplay I actually like
  5. [R5] Travel Town 5/5 · US Nice game but,!!!!: The ads we watch will not pay out because their close game x is under the three color dots fix this please
  6. [R27] Travel Town 3/5 · US Addicting! Hard to put down and ultimately... expensive: This game is fun and relaxing and definitely eats up your time. I love all the little mini games within the game and it keeps me playing however, you run out of energy so fast and it is expensive to purchase more!!! While your energy does fill up to 100 after a few hours why does it stop? Why not let it continue to accumulate? Seems like thi
  7. [R28] Travel Town 2/5 · US Helps My OCD, but…: This game can be addictive, but my main issue with it is that it’s more of a pay to play game. It’s free to play to an extent. It feels free at first, but when it comes to events, it’ll throw in $$$ in between free handouts, making it hard to move forward in the game. If there were less pay to play obstacles, the game would be more fun, especially with how much energy we have t
  8. [R6] Travel Town 3/5 · US Look: I love this game but I can’t even play without all the ad blocking my view, and when I think I’m finally done more pop which take forever to actually to start playing like it’s irritating . Like I get its letting me know what I miss but gawddd damn!!🥲
  9. [R7] Travel Town 1/5 · US Sucks: Open the app and get a million pop ups/money grabs. Don’t play this unless you’re bored
  10. [R12] Travel Town 3/5 · US Please stop: I just want to play the game, not sit through screen after screen that pops up before gameplay. It’s unnecessary since there’s a whole menu where you can see these things anyway. Why must we sit through the tedious animation, especially when it comes to those stupid collector cards. It wasn’t like that when I first started playing this game and now I’m thinking about deleting the g
  11. [R1] Travel Town 1/5 · US 8x and 16x Boost: The game will announce unlocking of a power boost which I cannot use. Apparently 16x and 8x power boosts are available but my game only goes up to 4x. The support tab says I need a valid email, which I entered into the system but alas, still an error. I can’t get what I need and this is too frustrating so I’m going to stop playing.
  12. [R9] Travel Town 3/5 · US 😞😞: I love the game, but keep closing and freezing and also I hate to delete the game.
  13. [R10] Travel Town 2/5 · US Love the game, but recent versions cause crashing: I’ve been playing this game for several years with no challenges and recently it crashes or freezes since the addition of the dream quest feature. Contacted customer service and they said it was my device, however, my device is shown as being compatible with this game.
  14. [R4] Travel Town 1/5 · US App purchases.: I made an in app purchase and when I went back into the game I didn’t get my 80 gems. I am very upset.
  15. [R13] Travel Town 2/5 · US Poor trade support: Facebook trade group is poorly supported. Posts don’t get approved for hours so when it is approved the person that posted isn’t always available. Finding trades is rough. Use AI to screen posts for quick approval. The amount of energy given and ability to complete tasks is ridiculous. You can never finish weekly tasks without spending money. Even when you spend money it
  16. [R66] Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game 3/5 · US Disappointed: In order to play and get far you have to pay. Not a fan when you have to buy everything to move along. I wouldn’t download unless you want to spend a lot.
  17. [R82] Merge Hotel Empire－Design Game 1/5 · US Pay to win scam!: Starts off giving good energy and okay to start. Then comes tomorrow you get no energy but using gems to buy. You need to buy all the time to even play. I’ve already spent money for a game that I’m not even fully invested in. No thanks! Deleting the game after this review.
  18. [R18] Travel Town 3/5 · US Ok Game: I gave 3 stars because each time you open the game there are about 9 pop up screens you have to click through before you get to the main game! That doesn’t need to happen if we want to open each one of those we can do that in the upper left corner!
  19. [R20] Travel Town 4/5 · US Good but…: I actually love the actual games but geez, the popups!! You have to x out of 10-20 of them just to play the game. And more when you switch to the mini games. JUST STOP!
  20. [R21] Travel Town 3/5 · US Game is fun, pop ups are annoying: This game is really fun and helps fight boredom. But the constant pop ups every single time you open the game makes me debate on deleting the game. Legitimately there are sometimes that I have to close 10 pop ups before I can even play the game
  21. [R23] Travel Town 5/5 · US energy: i don’t understand why we have limited energy. if you want us to play the game, why limit how long we can play by making it possible to run out of energy that is essential for gameplay?
  22. [R42] Travel Town 3/5 · US Great game. Need more bolts: This game is really fun but has become unplayable. The purple energy bolts are 3 bolts per move. So when you have 100 energy bolts you really only get 30 moves and they go quick especially when you constantly have to merge things. This game tries to sell you SO MUCH stuff that it’s easy to spend a lot of money if you’re not careful. There is a travel rewards app that y
  23. [R51] Travel Town 3/5 · US Okay: It’s a fun game when I’m able to play. With the limited “bolts” they give you to play with, I’m only able to play for about 3 mins before running out.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store