WTF is going on with the Merge Mansion ads with Kathy Bates (2024)

WTF is going on with the Merge Mansion ads with Kathy Bates (1)

WHAT is Grandma Ursula up to??Credit: Screenshot/ Merge Mansion

If you've spent any significant amount of time online, you've likely seen advertisements for Merge Mansion, a mobile game from Finnish studio Metacore Games.

The dozen or so shorts, which started out as cartoons before shifting to live-action (featuring stars Kathy Bates and The Good Wife's Grace Rex), tell the story of Maddie and her grandmother, Ursula. Maddie is a jilted bride whose ex-fiancé Arthur ditched her at the altar. Ursula burns Arthur's house down in an act of retaliation and ends up in jail as Maddie works to break her out.

None of these plot points have any real bearing on the match-three puzzle game itself. The titular "Merge Mansion" is Ursula's gift to Maddie after the failed wedding. Teases in different ads that Arthur is still alive or that you're Ursula's next target don't inform the gameplay in any way. They're hooks with no payoff, seemingly by design.

That kind of attention-grabbing marketing speaks to the advertising monster that social platforms like Instagram and TikTok have become. These wild ads don't actually have to be about the game for Merge Mansion to capture an audience; they simply need to be compelling. And, if they're compelling enough, Merge Mansion can find a certain kind of success — even if the gameplay kind of sucks in comparison.

"I'm actually super close to downloading it because of [the] ads," Romz Bacungan, a 25-year-old from the Philippines, said in a Twitter message to Mashable. "Based on what I see [in] the ads, the story is wild. It's not every day you see a game about a sweet old lady with a seemingly sinister vibe."

"Also, they even got the Kathy Bates (one of the OG horror queens) to play the grandma in their live-action ads, which is just crazy to me," Bacungan added.

For her part, Bates said she and Ursula "fit like a pair of beloved old garden gloves."

"What a crazy grandma. I loved scurrying around the grand old house," Bates said, according to The Mary Sue. "So much fun working with the brilliant Jim Jenkins and Grace Rex who played my granddaughter — a very talented young actress. The lovely crew, the production design and the beautiful cinematography."

It's true — the cinematography is beautiful. So beautiful that it's even led game players and fans of the ads to call for a Netflix adaptation. Ryne Vollbracht, a 28-year-old in Denver, Colorado, who has never played the game, told Mashable that he'd love to see a more complete version of the story. "In a heartbeat. Netflix, I am available to help adapt the screenplay when you’re ready for me."

The enthusiastic fan support for an adaptation completely sidesteps the reality of Merge Mansion, the game. It's similar to Candy Crush in its simplicity. You use energy to match up sets of tools that are needed to complete small missions, like planting a flower or cleaning a statue. That energy is a limited resource, and running out means you have to either wait for a timer to tick down or spend money to buy more.

Free-to-play games are inherently built to convince people that they should spend money, so it makes sense that the ads are telling you Kathy Bates murdered someone, and the only way to find out is to play the game. But once you do play, the only conversations you get to see between Ursula and Maddie are engineered to forestall any narrative payoffs, like when Ursula makes up an excuse to leave early because her cat needs a bath.

The game is mostly unremarkable, but the ads have been so unbearably catchy that it's attracted ardent fans like Carson Blanchard, an 18-year-old in Rhode Island. Despite not downloading the game, he, like Bacungan, has been served up a hearty plate full of the games on most every social media platform he's on.

"The ads really intrigue me because there's so much lore happening," Blanchard told Mashable. "When I [notice] a Merge Mansion ad, I watch it in full to see if it's a new one or if it's one I've seen before." He's hoping there will eventually be an ad that outs Ursula as the murderer.

It's hard not to theorize what Bates' character is up to. Bacungan thinks she's good at heart, only working to keep Maddie happy and safe. Blanchard hopes Ursula is "part of some sort of secret mafia or whatever." Vollbracht said he thinks she's "running a bad bitch fight club."

"I hope everyone who does play is there because they were hypnotized by the ads," Vollbracht said. "I think there’s something about the combo between the nostalgic animation style (very mid-2000s off-brand animated movie vibes) and the promise of an old lady with a lifetime of secrets that makes you want to know more."

Vollbracht, who works at a social media marketing agency (he hasn't done any marketing for Merge Mansion), pointed out that adding lore to the game is a good strategy. While plenty of people — like him, Bacungan, and Blanchard — may never play, the ads are still effective in driving awareness of the app. "Their digital footprint is extending much further outside the initial game-player audience," he said.

That digital footprint is what pulled in Riley McGold, a 25-year-old from Victoria, Australia who started playing ages ago. They've enjoyed the marketing much more than the gameplay — but they're still playing.

"The fact that the ads themselves tell more of a story than the actual game adds a layer of unhinged," McGold told Mashable. "Like the fact that they’re now using live-action murder mystery ads to advertise a matching game makes them so much more iconic. It's almost like the ads themselves are written by someone's kid and they’re brainstorming twists and then they’re just like 'OK yes to all the above.'"

Pete Treigan, a 27-year-old from Durham, North Carolina, told Mashable that he's "always getting sucked in by [mobile] game ads and downloading them, only to delete them a few days later." That's precisely what he did with Merge Mansion.

"It’s the convoluted nature of everything and the drama," he said. He likes that there are so many "unanswered questions" left from the ads. "I'm genuinely curious: What’s grandma hiding?"

But you won't actually find out what Grandma Ursula is hiding by playing the game — every time it seems like she might tell you what's really going on, she has to go take a bath or something. Nobody dies. There's no mention of a missing fiancé. There are no arrests. The game is simply a matching game, like Bejeweled but with low-key narrative stakes.

This isn't a trend led completely by Merge Mansion — ads for mobile games have gotten further and further detached from reality over the past few years. Think about Lily's Garden, or those horny mobile games like Choices, Whispers, Chapters, or Episode.

"The ads for other games of this type are also just as whack and crazy as Merge Mansion, but the latter has a more intriguing storyline which makes me more interested in knowing more about the lore of the game," Bacungan said. They're intrigued by the story the ads have told and want to know more, especially when it comes to what Ursula is up to. "I sometimes even watch YouTube videos about its lore and theories about the grandma in particular."

In that sense, Metacore has managed to set its game apart by making smart use of the Hollywood system. Other ad campaigns have created stories that aren't backed up by lore in the actual game, but they haven't been nearly as effective at incorporating star power. No matter how you cross it, these ads are different.

The Game Theorists, a popular YouTube channel, made a video essay titled Game Theory: The Disturbing Lore of Merge Mansion that's drawn 6.4 million views. Following the video, Metacore Games released more than a dozen new ads and a ton of social posts adding to that lore.

Amanda Golka, a content creator in Los Angeles, California who is known for her commentary and review videos on Swell Entertainment, says Merge Mansion is separating itself from other mobile game ads by "leaning into" the insanity of it all.

She sees the disconnect between the story-driven ads and the story-lite gameplay, not to mention presence of a Hollywood great like Bates, as key drivers of the mystery that Merge Mansion's ad-loving fans have found to be so captivating.

"I don't think you hired Kathy, excuse my language, motherfucking Bates for an ad campaign unless you want people to see it and talk about it [rather] than just swiping past it on TikTok," she said. "So I think that they definitely see the value in being a meme of sorts or having people speculate about their ads."

Modern marketers have their reasons for dishing out massive amounts of money for celebrity endorsements. One 2019 study found that "there is a direct relationship between the use of celebrities in advertisements and improvement in company profits." What does that say about us as consumers? We'll try almost anything once — as long as Kathy Bates tells us to.

The advertising-driven machine the internet has become is shaping not only how we spend our money, but also how we spend our time. Merge Mansion's success — in terms of internet mindshare, if not profits directly — depends just as much on attention-grabbing marketing as it does on sticky gameplay.

WTF is going on with the Merge Mansion ads with Kathy Bates (2)

Christianna Silva

Senior Culture Reporter

Christianna Silva is a Senior Culture Reporter at Mashable. They write about tech and digital culture, with a focus on Facebook and Instagram. Before joining Mashable, they worked as an editor at NPR and MTV News, a reporter at Teen Vogue and VICE News, and as a stablehand at a mini-horse farm. You can follow them on Twitter @christianna_j.

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WTF is going on with the Merge Mansion ads with Kathy Bates (2024)

FAQs

Is Merge Mansion anything like the ads? ›

Instead, Merge Mansion is just a Candy Crush-style match-three puzzle game about cleaning a house — well, a mansion to be specific. Despite the ads making the game look like it could be a Cluedo-esque murder adventure, Merge Mansion just has you cleaning up yards and garages virtually.

Is that Kathy Bates in the Merge Mansion commercial? ›

"Also, they even got the Kathy Bates (one of the OG horror queens) to play the grandma in their live-action ads, which is just crazy to me," Bacungan added. For her part, Bates said she and Ursula "fit like a pair of beloved old garden gloves." "What a crazy grandma.

What is the deal with Merge Mansion? ›

Parents need to know that Merge Mansion is a puzzle game for iOS and Android devices. To help players get the necessary garden tools and other items they need to complete the app's home renovation-based tasks, they need to match, or rather merge, identical items on a game board, which converts them into other items.

Is Kathy Bates in the Merge Mansion story? ›

Grandma Ursula from Merge Mansion is raking up a mystery with the Oscar-winning Kathy Bates portraying her in the debut brand films from the puzzle game. The hit mobile puzzle game that has people buzzing about the characters behind the screen launched globally earlier this year and has close to 20 million downloads.

What is the grandma hiding in Merge Mansion? ›

Are you here because you want to find out what Grandma Ursula is hiding? I'm sorry to inform you that she is not hiding anything at all, even a little bit. And this is the WK team typing, not Grandma Ursula, who is innocent. She is a wonderful, innocent little grandma.

Who is the granddaughter in the Merge Mansion commercial? ›

Game developer Metacore Games OY worked with Wieden+Kennedy Portland to bring the grandmother and granddaughter from mobile puzzle game Merge Mansion to life. Grandma Ursula has a checkered past, and her granddaughter Maddie, played by Grace Rex, is determined to get to the bottom of it.

What is the highest level in Merge Mansion? ›

Currently the maximum level is Level 50 it is not possible to increase your level higher than this. The level cap will be increased in future game updates. Reading the tips and guides page is recommended for beginners. Please be aware that any Areas that are unlocked after Level 50 are currently not available.

How can I play Merge Mansion without spending money? ›

  1. Concentrate On Doing Tasks. Try to prioritize crafting the items needed to complete the available tasks. ...
  2. Grab A Free Piggy Bank Every Morning. The only way to get more Diamonds in Merge Mansion is by breaking Piggy Banks. ...
  3. Expand Your Inventory. ...
  4. Only Sell Lower-Tier Items That Are Easy To Produce.
23 Oct 2022

Do you ever enter mansion in Merge Mansion? ›

You'll naturally unlock the House in Merge Mansions at level 14. If you've made enough progress through the Garage section of the game, at least.

How do you get unlimited energy in Merge Mansion? ›

When you get the Unlimited Energy Booster on the Event Board, just tap on it to activate it. No energy will be consumed for the duration of the Booster's activation period. If you use two Unlimited Energy Boosters at the same time, their times will be added together.

Can I get rid of the makeup in Merge Mansion? ›

Makeup Tools are a Reward Item from the Lindsay's New York Story Event. They drop Lindsay from Level 4 onward allowing you to create the Car Hood Ornament. After creating Car Hood Ornament, the Makeup Tools are no longer required and can be sold to save space.

How do I get rid of Merge Mansion? ›

How can I reset my game? (Google Play)
  1. Go to the Settings of your device.
  2. Press on Apps ( there you will find all the apps on your device including Merge Mansion).
  3. Go and click on the Merge Mansion app.
  4. Press on "Storage". A window should pop-up and you will see the option to Clear Data/Clear Cache.

Why are merge games addictive? ›

The main reason why they are so addicting is because there is always something happening in the game. And most examples reward you even when you're not playing through the offline earnings. … A major theme in these games would be progression.

Where does the paint come from in Merge Mansion? ›

The Toolbox is your friend! Although it's worth remembering Paint is quite rare. It can also be found in the Flash Sale sometimes.

Why are there so many merge games? ›

Accessible features, adaptive gameplay elements, and appealing visuals are just some of the reasons why Merge players keep coming back for more. Throw the apparent similarities with Match3 games into the mix, and it's no surprise the genre is thriving. But what's behind the recent spike in popularity for Merge games?

Who are the actors in the Merge Mansion commercial? ›

Live-Action Merge Mansion Ads Starring Kathy Bates.

Who is the villain in Merge Mansion? ›

Ursula | Merge Mansion Wiki | Fandom.

How do you get free gems in Merge Gardens? ›

You can get Gems by tapping the Mysterious Vein or the Gorgeous Vein (Stages of the Ore Veins) or buying at the Shop.

How do you get mosaic in Merge Mansion? ›

You get Merge Mansion shrapnel when (after six hours) you break a vase (I). This also causes a pouch part to fall out. Alternatively, you get Merge Mansion shrapnel by breaking a ship in a bottle. After this, you can merge the shrapnel to make mosaic (I).

How long does it take to get 100 energy in Merge Mansion? ›

The Maximum Energy one can have via Energy Recovery is 100. 1 Energy will recover every 2 Minutes, this means it takes 3 hours and 20 minutes to completely fill the Energy Bar again.

Can you double boosters in Merge Mansion? ›

The smallest booster lasts for 2hrs but they can be merged into bigger boosters that last longer. The boosters are single use.

Does the Golden Tree do anything in Merge Mansion? ›

Gameplay Tips

This is not currently used for any tasks, but it is easy to get started on this item if you just collect the seedbags left over from getting the Flowers. It sometimes shows up in events. Sometimes called Money Tree.

How many times can you tap piggy bank Merge Mansion? ›

Piggy Bank (I) 14 times before you merge them. Be sure to count the drops and not your doubletaps, because sometimes one doubletap can make two items drop simultaneously.

How long are the timers in Merge Mansion? ›

Hourglass has 1 hour of time limit by default, but they can be merged indefinitely combining their total time.

Does Merge Mansion stop at level 40? ›

Here is their reply: I'm Pietro, thank you for playing and reaching out to us! Congratulations for reaching such a high level! At the moment, level 40 is the maximum level in-game.

What happens at the end of an event in Merge Mansion? ›

At the end of the event, the event garage is no longer accessible. If you repeat the event, you will lose all your progress in the previous round and start over. However you can keep replaying to get higher level reward items until you finish the task that activated it.

Does the moth disappear in Merge Mansion? ›

If not popped, they vanish after 60 seconds.

Can you time skip in Merge Mansion? ›

Time Skip Booster can be activated to skip Recharge Times in the Garage.

Are the butterflies important in Merge Mansion? ›

Butterflies, and moths (from lamps) are only needed after you've completed the Casey & Skatie event, so don't save them right now.

Are there any games like Merge Mansion? ›

Merge Matters

This game seems a lot like a direct copycat of Merge Mansion; the art style and categories of items are extremely similar.

Why would you use the scissors in Merge Mansion? ›

Scissors are used to split an item into 2 of the previous level items in the merge chain. They start with 3 charges, and merging two scissors will combine the number of splits left. These are a reward item from the Spring Holiday Event and the Terrace Triumphs event.

Do I need to keep the makeup brushes in Merge Mansion? ›

After creating Car Hood Ornament, the Makeup Tools are no longer required and can be sold to save space. However if you keep a couple of high level items, it's useful for farming coins and XP as higher-level Makeup Tools spawn higher-level items.

What does toothpaste come out of in Merge Mansion? ›

Toothpaste is obtained from the Broom Cabinet - the same source that gives you Towels. The Drop Rate for this is about 1 Toothpaste to 8 Towels.

What does the piggy bank do in Merge Mansion? ›

To get money and diamonds, you go to the Store and collect a Piggy Bank every day. You can either spend the level 1 piggy bank every day OR if you save up 4 piggy banks, you can merge them together which gives you a Gold Piggy Bank. I highly suggest this, as it gives you much more diamonds and coins.

Are merge games good for your brain? ›

And playing mentally challenging games, including doing crossword puzzles, may have similar benefits, studies suggest. Now a new study has found that combining the two — exercise and games, or what some call “exergames” — may provide an added boost for the brain.

Which game is most addicted? ›

In our list of the most addictive games, we're also showing you which needs you're fulfilling in them.
...
9 Most Addicting Games in the World
  • List of Most Addicting Games.
  • Fortnite.
  • League of Legends.
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)
  • World of Warcraft.
  • Minecraft.
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
  • Clash of Clans.

Who owns Merge Dragons? ›

Merge Dragons! is brought to you by Gram Games, the studio behind the top hit titles 1010!, Merged! and Six!

What comes from the snowman in Merge Mansion? ›

You get twigs from melted snowman. (You get snowman from merging the snowflakes from the snow globes). If you merge the twigs you get a tree. At level 4 a tree will drop pinecones that you can merge to get ornaments.

What does the orange flower give you in Merge Mansion? ›

The Orange Flower seeds come from the Large Seed Bags - these can be made from the sacks already in the merging area. By the way, Orange Flowers can attract butterflies - so if you can, we recommend leaving a flower in the area to stock up on the flying friends for a while.

Why do people wait until the last minute to merge? ›

The theory is called the zipper method. One lane then the other lane merge as teeth in a zipper. This is great if everyone does it but can turn into a disaster when people don't leave room and rush to get ahead. It allows merging at higher speeds until someone doesn't follow the pattern.

Should you always squash and merge? ›

Squash merges, as it's proponents argue, are more valuable than merge commits because entire new features or bug fixes can be compressed into a single commit and therefore easier to code review and read at some point in the future.

Is there a storyline in Merge Mansion? ›

Merge Mansion's meta layer is focused on uncovering the truth behind the secrets held by the main character's grandmother. Although Maddie is the main character of the game, Merge Mansion's storylines both in the game and in the ads are centered around the grandma and all the shocking secrets she's hiding.

Is Merge Mansion addictive? ›

The promise of an engaging, weird mystery might be what drew me to Merge Mansion, but the familiar addictiveness of a merge-style mobile game is what keeps me playing. And frankly, it's a little embarrassing.

Who is in the Merge Mansion commercials? ›

Live-Action Merge Mansion Ads Starring Kathy Bates.

What does a moth come from in Merge Mansion? ›

Moths and Butterflies are automatically spawned from Lamps and Orange Flowers without the use of Energy.

Who owns Mergedragons? ›

Merge Dragons! is brought to you by Gram Games, the studio behind the top hit titles 1010!, Merged! and Six!

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