Unicorn and mermaid games: one fairy-tale theme, ten kinds of play
Unicorn games are not one genre. The same horned horse can be a coloring page in one game, a baby that needs feeding in another and the biggest tile on a 2048 board in a third. Mermaid games work the same way. So we grouped the ten games below by what your child actually feels like doing right now: coloring, looking after something, making something, dressing up or solving a puzzle. We checked each game page: all ten open in the browser, all are single-player and all play with a finger on a phone.
Why these ten games
A fairy-tale character is one of the easiest ways to get a young child interested in a game. The catch is that most games built around the same character are near copies of each other: one figure, one palette. We made variety the rule instead. The list has two coloring books, two care games, two craft and kitchen games, one dress-up game and three puzzle or skill games. A kid who loves unicorns but is bored of coloring can stay with the theme and still try something new.
Our second filter was pressure. The first seven games have no timer, no lives and no wrong answers; you just move from one step to the next. The last three have a goal and a way to fail. Read the list from top to bottom and you go from calm to brain-teasing.
For kids who want to color
Unicorn Coloring Book Glitter
Dozens of pages full of manes, horns, rainbows, hearts and stars. Next to the normal colors you get sparkly glitter paints. There is a zoom button for small details, and on a phone you can pinch with two fingers. The tip on the game page is a good one: paint the mane in rainbow order and save the glitter for the horn and the stars. Unicorn Coloring Book Glitter is simple enough for a preschooler to open and play alone.
Mermaid Coloring Book Glitter
Here you color hair, tails and seashells. The difference from the unicorn book is the brushes: besides flat paint there are glitter and pattern brushes, and you can add a second coat once an area is filled. An eraser fixes mistakes. One warning: if you jump back to the gallery before finishing a picture, your work may reset, so finish and save first.
Want more pages to color? Our coloring games guide covers the other options, from spray painting to color by number.
For kids who like to take care of something
Hatch Your Unicorn Idol
Click a colorful egg a few times and it cracks open to reveal a baby unicorn. You wash it, feed it and then pick hair, clothes and accessories. As the babies add up they form a little band, and once the group is complete they dance together on stage. There is no level to fail. Because care and dress-up are mixed together, it also suits kids who enjoy baby care games.
Magical Unicorn Grooming World
This one starts in the stable: first you clear away trash and straw. Then you wash the unicorn with a hose, soap and brush, pull off the old horseshoes and fit new ones. Last come mane color, horn decoration, saddle and wings. Magical Unicorn Grooming World moves in a fixed order, which makes it a nice way to show a small child what comes first: the next step stays locked until the soap is rinsed off.
For kids who want to make something
Unicorn Slime Maker
The recipe sits at the top of the screen, and in the shop you only pick what it lists, because extras ruin the mix. In the kitchen you stir in circles, add color and glitter, and finally stretch and squish the finished slime. Unicorn Slime Maker is a relaxed pick for kids who want to see every step of slime making without the sticky table afterwards.
Unicorn Chef Mermaid Cake
You start in a workshop with a mixer, an oven, a piping bag and an ice cream machine, plus flour, eggs, milk and sugar. Pour the batter into a pan, bake it, let it cool, cut it into layers and cover it in blue and purple frosting. Sprinkles, chocolate and fruit go on top before the serving screen opens. Do not frost a hot cake; the game wants you to cool it first. For more baking, see our cake games page.
For kids who love dress-up
Mermaid Style Dress Up
There is a party in the ocean kingdom and the invited mermaids have nothing to wear. First you shop for tails, tops and accessories on a budget, then you dress each character from the wardrobe. The arrow keys switch between characters. With two phases, shopping and styling happen in one game. The tip on the Mermaid Style Dress Up page: if the tail is very colorful, keep the top plain. For the whole genre, our fashion and dress-up guide goes much deeper.
For kids who want a puzzle or a bit of aiming
Unicorn Merge
This is 2048 with a unicorn theme. You slide the board in four directions; two matching pieces that touch merge into the next level, and the unicorn sits at the top of the chain. A new piece appears after every move, and the game ends when the board is full with nothing left to merge. On a computer you use the arrow keys or drag with the mouse, on a phone you swipe. Keeping your biggest piece in one corner helps a lot; our 2048 and merge tactics article explains why.
Brick Breaker Unicorn
You aim from the bottom of the screen and launch balls upward. Each block shows a number, every hit takes one off, and at zero the block breaks. After each round the blocks drop one row; if they reach the bottom, the game is over. Angled shots beat straight ones, since the ball bounces off the walls and hits several blocks. Brick Breaker Unicorn asks for the most hand-eye coordination on this list.
Pull Mermaid Out
In Pull Mermaid Out a mermaid is stuck in a sunken city. Each pin opens a pipe, and your job is to send water into her chamber while steering the dangers somewhere else. Pull in the wrong order and the level resets. The best habit: pull one pin, then stop and watch where everything flows. Our pin puzzle tips cover the general logic of these games.
Which one to start with
If your child is little and cannot read yet, start with the unicorn coloring book; one tap fills an area, so the result shows up right away. If they like looking after things, try the unicorn hatching game next, and if they enjoy following steps, the slime or the mermaid cake. For a school-age child, keep the theme and switch the genre: the merge puzzle asks for planning, brick breaking for judging angles and the pin puzzle for thinking in the right order.
Looking only for the crowns-and-ball-gowns side of the fairy tale? See our princess games picks. For a broader list heavy on salons, nails and baking, there is our games for girls article.
Frequently asked questions
Do these games work on a phone?
Yes. All ten play on phones and tablets with touch controls. In the merge puzzle you swipe, and in brick breaking you aim with your finger and lift it to shoot.
Can two kids play together?
No, every game here is single-player. With the coloring and dress-up games, siblings can still take turns choosing a page and admire each other's results.
Which ones can you lose?
Only the last three. The merge puzzle ends when the board fills up, brick breaking ends when the blocks reach the bottom, and in the pin puzzle a wrong order restarts the level. The other seven have no fail state and no score pressure.