I am struggling to find which one they are because they all look so similar

In the event itself, there should be numbers with each item.
I find it helps to merge them into their numbered spots (i.e. 1s go in the top left, 2s in the top middle, 3s in the top right, 4s in the middle left, 5s, in the true centre, etc.), which is what I did to keep track before they added the numbers.

On the prize page (unless you're on mobile), you can hover your mouse over the companion and they should pop up larger with their numbers.

I’m going to agree with everyone else here saying that it’s hard to differentiate between the different characters to merge… I have 20/20 eyesight and I am having to zoom in to see them in detail.

Speaking as something with cataracts, they really do blend in when your sight isn't the best. In my case, it's that my eyes are sensitive to too many bright colours in one place, especially red/orange. It's why I am going to mostly play through mobile, as my eyes just cannot handle the background alongside the merge images.

@mods Not sure if this has been reported or not, but this forum is having display issues on mobile. The bottom of the main post isn't showing properly (it just has an unfinished href link), and all the comments are in bold font.

Not my favorite event, but I like the prizes a lot

Also not a fan of the colour choices made for this event. The figures are tonal and hard to tell apart in the small images and the numbers do not have enough contrast. Not visually accessible for me, I can only imagine how those with vision concerns must be finding it.

It's a bit rough when the major prize is just a horrible looking companion. I wouldn't mind so much if we could sell or trade the things, but they are just cluttering up my store.

I quite like the merge events. I think the hellish menagerie pets are cute but I don't think I will be trying very hard to collect them all. I love that you can choose your prizes, so I will be stocking up on Hera's Packs.

Wow, having read through this forum though, the consensus seems to be that this event really is 'hellish'

I do think that unless you have problems with vision, it's a bit dramatic to say that you need to zoom right in/can barely make things out etc. The companions are of the same colour scheme but are distinctly different shapes so it's not that difficult if you have good vision. Plus, the numbers are pretty clear.

I can understand how accessibility may be an issue for some players especially who may have impaired vision though. It's unfortunate that it's just the style of the pet that they all look alike (although looking through other collections such as the Alebrijes and the Pinata pets must have been problematic too if this is the case) but I think it's a nice feature that you can check what merge level you are on. As for the prize page, yes they are quite small but you can always hover over the image to enlarge it and see it's level.

Enough people have mentioned accessibility issues where I think Howrse should definitely consider ways in which this could be improved next time for those who have some impairment to their vision. Other than that, I think it's a nice event and the companions on offer have nice artwork and good bonuses. I do agree with some players that there are elements of the companions within the collection which are disjointed (colour schemes, eyes etc) but they're still cool. I don't think this event is as difficult to play as some players seem to think.

Thanks for reading my wall. I don't usually comment on events.

Howrse could just have them be different colors - still flaming, but each to be with own coloured flames. They would have been more distinguishable. I have no problem with my vision and it's not an issue for me to tell them apart, but I can well understand the people that do have such problems.

Always love these events but I do agree with the others. The characters being all the same color is quite hard to differentiate between them. I wish they had there own different colors and uniqueness. It’s also going to take me a while to get the prizes I want (I’m not using passes) but I am ready for the challenge. There’s a lot of great prizes this time around

As someone on the verge of being blind, the design choices really make it difficult to progress. Granted, the creatures are nicely designed individually, I like how they look when I'm on the page of the companion item and able to look at their separate designs. But on the event page itself, differentiating between them is near impossible - they blend with each other, they blend into the background. It also doesn't help that the numbers next to them are honestly pretty small and also difficult for people with eye problems to see.

I agree with what PrimeHellix said - the companions could all still be on fire, just with differently colored flames. It would make it easier to differentiate between them, as well as make them stand out on the background.

I really hope that the design team notices this backlash and adapts the companions. Again, they're well designed on their own, in my opinion, but it all just blends together into one orange mass whenever I'm on the event page. That's a call for a redesign if I've ever seen one.

These comments are making me shake my head because multiple people raised the accessibility concern in the test forum and nothing was done to address it. Style comments? Fine, they can ignore those I guess. Mechanic issues, prize issues? Okay, staff do what they do. Accessibility concerns? Come on. They shouldn’t ignore those kind of comments.

Honestly as someone who has perfect eye sight I still have to concentrate on what icon I'm looking. It's no easy to merge them fast paced

They either had to make them less detailed and more uniquely shaped or differently colored

I’m trying to figure out how many days to get harmony pack this game would give me a headache back in 2019/2020 when I started playing and had better eyesight. I realized I needed glasses then to see the fine details.

I'm pretty sure I say this every time this event comes around but I also agree about it being hard to distinguish what you have

I'm not complaining its just the truth

I sent a request in the Contact Us section to ask if they're going to take action to change the designs of the creatures. Hopefully it brings their attention to this issue.

I hope so I tried to test this event but it’s summer no school. I thought it was my eyes at first. I want harmony packs until the end than might get red dwarf fragments or smaller prizes . I might get a few eventually probably not any or snake.

Something else I noticed during this event is that there's no need to confirm a merge but I remember that in previous events you could see your prize before you confirm the merge.

I don't know when it's changed but to me it seems like a sneaky way to increase the likelihood that you make a mistake and end up needing to spend passes to get enough of each companion to merge. Especially if you accidentally merge a level 9 for example.

The merge event is usually a favorite of mine but I have to say the companions are not very alluring so I will concentrate on getting a Harmony Pack..

Also I agree with the fact their icons are hard to distinguish.. and not surprised it was brought up in preprod and ignored.. that is par for the course in this game sorry to say..

It still lets you confirm gift merges, but it's never asked for confirmation when merging the same creatures to evolve them. That has always been the case for this event

first merge event in a long time that i'm not going for the top prize. sorry how are companions a top prize. going for the TC first. sitting with a 3,4,6, and 7 on my board

one thing my OCD brain has done on these promos in the past and on this one and this might help others when you are trying to figure out what is on your board later. there are 9 squares and 8 different companions to merge. when you finish merging what you can put what's left in it's # squared. like my #7 is in square 7.

Thanks Legacy Ann. I misremembered and thought it was supposed to confirm for each merge. I’m glad to know that for gifts you still need to confirm because I was worried about accidentally losing the high level companions on my board.

This!!! I remember I commented on how hard it was to differentiate between the tiles, I don't even recall the Howrse team replying to it. I still get confused, and I have no problem with my vision except astigmatism. If it hadn't been for the "confirm" button, I would've merged tiles that I had no intention to merge

I don't mind the style/color when the meringues are used as pets, but in the event I just feel overwhelmed, especially since EVERYTHING on the page is orange. I know there are numbers, but I don't want to have to rely on tiny numbers when we have had events where it's been easy to differentiate between the tiles.