Personally, I think that Merit shouldn't be given that way. Just what's the point? Will someone's post quality improve by playing that game? I think that just gives spammers the possibility to rank up and there is a bright example in front of us how someone used that moment wisely but failed.
Everything can be abused if not run or moderated properly. There should be some rules that mitigate the possibility of abuse.
When I started my game, I thought it would be something fun for the beginners. An activity everyone could participate in, guess a few terms, and earn merits if done correctly. I wasn't wrong. You need some knowledge to guess crypto-related words, but there are, of course, ways to cheat. Especially now. Personally, I see no problem in organizing such events. It's those who abuse it by selling merits or meriting their own alts that destroy everything.