How to play Pull the Pin: The Real Fake Ad
You have seen the ads: a hero in a tower, a row of pins, gold and lava waiting to fall. The game they advertised was rarely the one you downloaded. The Real Fake Ad is that pull the pin puzzle, actually playable in your browser, with ten levels, no install and no app store.
How it works
Click or tap a pin to pull it. Whatever it was holding falls and flows down the level. Reach the goal, either a pile of gold or the treasure chest, to clear the level. Order matters: pull the right pin first and the level solves itself, pull the wrong one and the hero gets burned, crushed or eaten.
What the materials do
- Water puts out lava. The two meet and turn into rock you can walk on.
- Lava burns goblins, and the hero too.
- Gold has to reach the hero to count.
- Boulders and rockslides crush whatever is below them.
Tips
- The pin the level wants you to pull is often a trap. If one is labelled "PULL ME", think twice.
- Deal with the danger before you open the hero’s door. Kill the goblin or cool the lava first, then let him walk.
- Some levels need you to wait for a material to settle before pulling the next pin.
- Each level shows a hint when it starts. Level 1’s is “Water first. Lava is a liar.”
Level by level
Stuck on one level? Here is the idea behind each, without giving away every move.
- 1. The Classic Bait. Ignore the pin begging to be pulled. Water goes onto the lava first, then the gold can fall safely.
- 2. Feed the Goblin. The goblin has to be dealt with before the door to the chest opens.
- 3. Walk the Obsidian. The hero cannot cross yet. Make a rock floor out of water and lava, then send him.
- 4. The Greedy Goblin. Two rooms, one danger. Make sure it lands in the goblin’s room, not the knight’s.
- 5. The Royal Flush. Water, then fire, then patience. The last pin is a decoy.
- 6. The Bowling Alley. Roll the boulder before you unlock the door.
- 7. The Toxic Chamber. Lava for the goblin, water to cool what is left, then the gold.
- 8. The Switchback Chute. Pour the lava, cool it with water, and only then walk across.
- 9. The Avalanche Bunker. Start the rockslide while the hero is safe inside the vault.
- 10. The Grand Treasury. Cool the pit, drop stone on the guardian, and claim the crown.
Why make the game from the ad?
For years, ads for some mobile games showed pull the pin puzzles that were rare or missing in the game you actually installed. Players noticed, and advertising regulators, including the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, have ruled some of these ads misleading (here is why those ads exist). The puzzles themselves looked fun, though. So we built the game the ads promised: every level here is a real, solvable pin puzzle, and that is the whole game.
FAQ
- Is this the game from the ads?
- It is the kind of game those ads showed, built for real. There is nothing to download.
- Is it affiliated with a mobile game?
- No. The Real Fake Ad is an original GoofPark game and is not connected to any app or publisher.
- How many levels are there?
- Ten, from The Classic Bait to The Grand Treasury.
- Can I play pull the pin on my phone?
- Yes. It runs in any mobile browser: tap a pin to pull it.
- I am stuck. What now?
- Read the level hint, and try pulling the pin that looks safest last instead of first.
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