Background

The Evolution Pull-The-Pin Trend

Matej Lancaric
๐Ÿš€ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—˜๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—น๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฃ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น-๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ-๐—ฃ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ: ๐—ช๐—ต๐˜† ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐Ÿ‘‡

Hero Wars popularized the “pull-the-pin” mechanic. The ads depicted engaging scenarios where players had to solve puzzles to guide heroes through treacherous traps, even though the core gameplay was more RPG-focused. This mechanic became synonymous with creative ads that blended curiosity, problem-solving, and a near-death experience, resulting in a ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—–๐—ฃ๐—œ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜๐—ต. Both Hero Wars & Evony. Playrix saw the same thing after implementing Pull The Pin in 2019. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€.

We could also see Hustle Castle (MY.GAMES) adopting it. Lily’s Garden (Tactile Games) added to pull the pin into the mix after the advertising “fiasco” in 2023. And, here we are with Angry Birds Dream Blast (Rovio Entertainment), ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—ฃ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป. See? You can actually do that. Taking notes, King?

Puzzle-solving elements showcased in ads had to be incorporated in the onboarding experience. This created a seamless connection between the ads & the actual game, addressing the criticism of “fake ads” ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ผ ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€ (Nexters ($GDEV)) ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—˜๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐˜‡๐˜‡๐—น๐—ฒ.

By implementing pull-the-pin mechanics and crafting emotionally charged creatives, these games made mobile gaming more accessible to casual audiences, offering a low barrier to entry while drawing players into more complex game loops. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜, ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ. This is why runner gates mechanic working so well.

The adoption & evolution of pull-the-pin have had overwhelmingly positive effects on the gaming industry. ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒโ€™๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐˜†:

๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—–๐—ฃ๐—œ๐˜€, ๐—›๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต: Pull-the-pin mechanics and creative ads like those used by Hero Wars and Evony lowered CPIs significantly, making mobile gaming accessible to a broader audience.

๐—–๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป: Multiple Games borrowed and iterated on successful mechanics, proving that inspiration fuels innovation. Popcore even created a hypercasual Pull The Pin game based on this mechanic!

The takeaway for UA managers & developers, borrow from successful mechanics, iterate boldly, and create experiences that captivate your audience. Whether itโ€™s a pull-the-pin puzzle or a gates mechanic, the secret lies in evoking the emotions that make players click, play, and stay.

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