In the icy Snowland how do I merge items and how do I get the little man or animal in the cage out..

You tap on the cage; it opens a merge game where you have some different categories to tap to bring out items to merge. You can keep playing to get items that will sell for more. When you reach a certain number, the animal is released. I have been playing this for awhile and have yet to reach the magic number that will release the animal, but I’m close. There are some items that appear to me to be impossible to reach and those grant you the big scores. You have to play the solitaire game to get 25 merges, or watch an ad for 50. You also get 99 overnight or I guess if you don’t play for several hours whether day or night. I enjoy the game, but it does get a bit frustrating at times.