Seriously. I can’t get my head around how a mobile game developer has gotten ahold of one of Hollywood’s biggest golden boys, Pedro Pascal, for another one of their weird ads. What kind of bag is Merge Mansion working with here to get Pascal signed on?
So there I was, scrolling as I always do. I love to scroll on my phone, and I especially love scrolling when I am charging my phone, as I lay on my tummy and swing my feet in the air. Is there any experience more human than this? Yes. The answer is yes. But alas, I was doing it anyway.
It was then that I came upon an ad for a mobile game. Said mobile game is one I’ve played before for a solid 20 minutes, and to me, it resides in a sea brimming with games just like it with the only thing setting it apart from the others being its truly bonkers and high-budget ad campaigns: Merge Mansion.
Merge Mansion is a story-driven (?) merge-puzzle game that requires you to renovate, restore, and upgrade a dilapidated mansion. The mansion was once owned by your grandmother, Ursula Boulton, who seemingly has something nefarious, murderous, and downright evil that she’s hiding if the countless advertising campaigns are anything to go by.
The most recent ad campaign, according to GamesHub, is meant to tie into a new update for Merge Mansion and even a real-life event that will apparently see Pascal involved in some capacity. As for these new ads, they see The Last of Us and The Mandalorian star playing the role of Detective Tim, who is trying to get to the bottom of what Grandma’s up to. She’s just too freakin’ mysterious!
This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a big name in a Merge Mansion ad. Kathy Bates, who is literally an Oscar-winning actor, was in a series of ads for the mobile game playing the mysterious grandma herself. She gave a fittingly ominous performance, but was it more ominous than her presence in a mobile game in the first place? Who knows.
All this aside, surely these ads are costing them a fucktonne, right? There’s a part of me that genuinely can’t make sense of how Merge Mansion is managing to get these actors into their goofy little ads, but then I really think about it. I take a moment to think about just how much money people pour into mobile games, and just how much these games are designed to wring people’s bank accounts dry.
Is this what all the mobile gamers’ money is going towards? Maybe. Is it well spent? I mean, kinda yes? Pedro Pascal plays the role of Detective Tim fairly straight, almost taking it too seriously to the point where it wraps back around and seems like he’s taking the piss. Is it hilarious? Yeah. Will I play Merge Mansion again because of him? No, probably not. Sorry, Pedro.
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