Merge Cooking® vs Truck Star

How do Merge Cooking® and Truck Star compare on difficulty, ad pressure, in-app-purchase pressure and what real reviewers say? A side-by-side look, grounded in App Store data.

	Merge Cooking®	Truck Star
Genre	Simulation	Simulation
Price	Free	Free
Difficulty	easy	easy
Ad intensity	low	high
In-app-purchase pressure	high	medium
Typical session	short	short
Rating	4.7 / 5	4.7 / 5
Ratings count	50,067	133,770
Reviews say	What players like Addictive merging mechanics World tour with diverse cuisines and themes Relaxing, mindless gameplay Common complaints Energy system caps at 100 with 2min regeneration per point, blocking play after 15-20 mins Heavy monetization and pay-to-win progression after early game Generous initial rewards/energy diminish significantly at higher levels	What players like Truck customization and building mechanics are enjoyable High store rating from a large player base (131k+ ratings) Fun casual puzzle gameplay for some players Common complaints Severely misleading advertising shows truck simulator/driving, actual game is Match-3 puzzle Core gameplay doesn't match what ads depict - no actual truck driving Bait-and-switch tactics: deceptive preview images and playable ads

Merge Cooking® — Merge ingredients and cook global cuisines while renovating themed restaurants across world destinations. (rated easy difficulty, low ad pressure) Truck Star — A deceptive Match-3 puzzle game disguised as a truck simulator with truck customization elements. (rated easy difficulty, high ad pressure)

Data: Apple App Store, as of 2026-09-17. Last updated 2026-09-17.