Original title: Diandian Interactive's New Merge Game Turns Its User-Acquisition Ads Into a Revenge Short Drama
Author: Enjoy Going Global
Source: Enjoy Going Global Developer Service Platform
Cover image source | pexels
Catching her betrayal, trapped in a fire. When the bandages come off, the purple-haired heroine reappears: I'm back. In 28 seconds, the opening of a revenge short drama has played out.
This is the user-acquisition ad for Diandian Interactive's "Just Desserts: Revenge & Merge." If you only watched this video, it would be hard to imagine that it is selling a merge-2 game about merging desserts and rebuilding a shop.
From betrayal and fire to a triumphant return, the revenge ad compresses all the twists into a few dozen seconds
In September, "Just Desserts" had already ranked 13th in in-app purchase revenue within the merge-2 category. After "Tasty Travels," another new merge-2 title from Diandian Interactive is beginning to emerge.
The counterattack hasn't even begun, but the ad stops first
The most gripping shot is the moment the heroine returns. The more frustrating her earlier grievances, the more anticipation her comeback creates. Just as viewers think "she deserves to get even," the ad cuts off right before the actual revenge.
The betrayal and the fire quickly explain why she wants revenge, while the transformed heroine leaves a new mystery: what is she planning to do? Within a few dozen seconds, viewers have already taken sides—who to root for, who to resent—and then want to see an outcome.
Another ad, nearly a minute long, starts with an ex begging to reconcile with a ring, then flashes back to the heroine's past days of being neglected. The same person, with completely different attitudes before and after, adds a touch of irony to that ring.
The other ad opens with an ex seeking reconciliation, leaving the character dynamic as the hook
Both creatives revolve around a broken relationship, but choose different openings. One starts from the heroine's ordeal; the other first shows the ex's regret. The hook shifts accordingly, from "how will she get revenge" to "will she ever look back." The same kind of personal grudge, told from a different point in time, can produce another compelling opening.
After finishing one order, why do you want to merge a few more times
The game has a reward system called Rave Reviews that strings together a number of orders.
When orders with the corresponding marker are completed, the reward progress increases. Fill up one round, and players receive a batch of items drawn from the existing order merge chains. The system opens early, giving players an immediate goal on top of delivering orders.
Order settlement on the left, and the Rave Reviews reward screen on the right
Coins can be saved up, but items that land on the board can be used directly to keep merging. What used to require slowly merging from low-tier materials may now be only a few steps away. The plan of "stop after this order" gains a little more uncertainty.
This reward is tied to the progress players have already invested. By granting items along the existing merge chains, the half-finished pieces on the board get a chance to continue, and the next order feels less far away. When one order ends, another has already begun, giving "merge a few more times" a concrete reason.
Similar designs are already common in the merge-2 genre. "Just Desserts" follows the mature order gameplay, connecting completion, rewards, and continued merging. The story can pause at a chapter, while there is still something almost done waiting on the board.
Dessert orders and shop restoration form the game's two daily goals
The shop is restored, but the old story is not over yet
The heroine Ella is a pastry chef. After the family shop was destroyed by fire, she returned to her hometown to rebuild the business while investigating the fire. Whether her ex Edward is helping her or somehow connected to the arson is one of the mysteries the story leaves open.
Every time a section is restored, new story clues appear. Scorched photos and damaged ledgers connect shop renovation with the investigation. The coins players spend buy a more presentable shop, and also new understanding of that fire.
The shop's transformation is intuitive, while the character relationships keep generating questions. When a section is restored, players already feel a sense of completion, yet the story still leaves something unexplained. This gives the rebuilding progress staged rewards and leaves room for later chapters.
The story of "Just Desserts" updates every Friday. Running parallel to the main story are limited-time merging, decoration, and card album events, and recent versions have also added exploration activities and cooperative challenges.
Beyond the main story, the game keeps rolling out limited-time events
The separate boards give the familiar merging operation a new set of items and goals. The main shop is a progress track that keeps extending, while limited-time events have their own deadlines. The reason to do a few more orders today may be to push the main story, or to grab a reward before the event ends.
This way, the game doesn't have to stake all its freshness on plot twists. Events can slot in between chapters, and even before the main story is finished, players can get a satisfying hit from short-term goals. The suspense left by the revenge can unfold slowly.
After "Tasty Travels," Diandian Interactive keeps doubling down on merge-2
Diandian Interactive continues to launch new merge-2 titles, with an already successful product as a reference point.
"Tasty Travels" global revenue surpassed $46 million in August, setting a new high, and even entered the top 10 of the US iOS mobile game bestseller charts that month. Diandian Interactive continued to rank second in the global revenue ranking of Chinese mobile game publishers. Alongside "Whiteout Survival" and "Kingshot," this food-travel-themed game has already built considerable scale.
In the August 2026 revenue ranking of Chinese mobile game publishers, Diandian Interactive ranked second
The content of "Tasty Travels" keeps expanding. Beyond seasonal card albums and dual-track passes, two-player cooperation and multiplayer racing bring other players into the goals: an order can advance your own business, and also participate in collaboration or competition within events. The independent merge boards continue to add new items and stage tasks.
"Just Desserts" likewise rolls out limited-time boards, card albums, and cooperative challenges early on. Looking at both products, Diandian Interactive's commitment to merge-2 now extends to continuously updated event content, with a fairly complete daily loop already visible in the early versions of its new titles.
With these mature mechanics in place, the theme takes on the job of making a new game memorable. "Tasty Travels" unfolds around food travel; "Just Desserts" uses a burned-down dessert shop to hold an old flame, secrets, and revenge. Players accustomed to merge-2 don't have to relearn the core rules, yet still find another story worth following.
The attempt of "Just Desserts" adds another theme to Diandian Interactive's merge-2 business. The ad delivers the heroine to the moment of preparing her counterattack, while in the game, rebuilding the business and investigating the old story continue in parallel. The dessert shop still opens every day, but what players keep thinking about may already be who should pay for that fire.
