Happy Life GamesPull The Pin Guide: How Gold, Water, Lava, Bombs and Monsters Interact
Pull The Pin is a puzzle about cause and effect. A tower of glass chambers sits above a treasure chest, and each chamber is held shut by a golden pin. Pull a pin and everything inside drops down a chute into the next closed chamber, or all the way into the chest. Gold, water, lava, bombs, gems, monsters and sometimes a little hero all react when they land together, and one bad combination ends the level.
There's no timing or aiming involved. The whole puzzle is the order of the pins, which makes it a great fit for players who like to think a level through before touching anything.
How to play
Tap a golden pin to slide it out. The chamber above it empties, and its contents fall through the chute below. If the next chamber down is still closed, they land in it and stay there. If that chamber's own pin has already been pulled, they fall straight through it and continue down until they reach a closed chamber or the chest.
The counter under the chest shows how much gold you have collected, such as 2/5, plus a second counter when a level has gems. To win, every coin and gem (and the hero, when there is one) must end up in the chest, and the chest must contain no living monster and no hot lava.
These are the reactions that happen whenever items land in the same place:
| Combination | Result |
|---|---|
| Water + lava | The lava cools into harmless stone ("COOLED!") and the water turns to steam. |
| Lava + monster | The monster is defeated ("MONSTER DOWN!"). |
| Bomb + monster or lava | The bomb explodes ("BOOM!") and defeats any monster. Gold survives the blast. |
| Bomb blast + hero or gem | Level lost. |
| Lava + gold, gem or hero | Level lost. The treasure melts or the hero is burned. |
| Monster + gold or gem | Level lost. The monster grabs the treasure. |
| Monster + hero | Level lost. The monster eats the hero. |
The level also ends early if a pull leaves you in a position where winning is no longer possible, for example "Lava is blocking the chest!" or "The monster guards the chest!". There is no undo in this game, so it pays to think first. Hint makes the pin that starts a winning order glow, and Skip moves on to the next level.
Beginner strategy
The first twelve levels introduce one idea at a time, with a short caption at the top: keep gold away from lava, water cools lava, bomb the monster first, lava defeats monsters too, get the hero to the treasure, and gems burn in lava. Read each caption, because it describes the trick that level is built around.
A reliable routine for any level:
- Find the dangers. Note every chamber with lava, a monster or a bomb, and check whether a monster is already sitting in the chest.
- Trace each chute. For every pin, follow where its contents would land if you pulled it right now. Remember that open chambers act like empty pipes.
- Neutralize first. Cool the lava with water, or drop lava or a bomb onto the monster, before any treasure moves.
- Release the treasure last. Once its path is safe, pull the pins above the gold and the hero.
Advanced techniques
Distrust the obvious pin
From level 3 onward the levels are chosen so that the most tempting first pull, the pin directly under the hero or under the biggest pile of gold, is the wrong one. If a pin looks like the answer at a glance, ask what that treasure would land on, and what will land on top of it later.
Use closed chambers as mixing bowls
A closed chamber with lava in it is a place where you can deliberately pour water to make stone, or drop a monster to destroy it. Do the dangerous mixing up in the tower, where it can't hurt the chest, and only then send the now-harmless contents down.
Think about what is already below
Items pile up. If you send gold into a chamber and then later pull a pin above that chamber that releases lava, the lava lands on the gold. Before every pull, check both the landing spot and anything that might land on top of it afterward.
A monster in the chest needs a weapon
Some levels start with a monster guarding the chest. Gold can't go in until it is gone, so you'll need to drop lava or a bomb straight into the chest. If you use lava, the chest now holds hot lava, so water has to follow to cool it before any gold arrives.
Bombs are picky
A bomb only goes off when it meets lava or a monster. Dropped onto gold alone it simply sits there, and the gold survives even the blast. But it will destroy gems and the hero, so keep those out of any chamber where a bomb is about to explode.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting that open chambers pass items through. After you pull a pin, that chamber no longer catches anything. Items from above fall right through it.
- Sending lava to the chest without water. Lava in the chest blocks the win and burns any gold that arrives later.
- Freeing the hero too early. The hero should travel last, once every monster and every pool of lava on their route is dealt with.
- Pulling to "see what happens". With no undo, an experiment costs you the level. Trace the chutes in your head first.
What changes in later levels
Early towers have one to three chambers. After the teaching levels, most towers use four chambers, growing to five on many levels past 30. Branches get more complicated too, with two chambers on the same row draining into one below. Every tenth level is a bigger challenge with five or six chambers and every element mixed together, while the levels right after it are smaller. Later stages also cycle through themed combinations, such as gems with lava and bombs, or the hero with monsters and water.
FAQ
Can I undo a pin?
No. Once a pin is out, it stays out. If a level goes wrong you'll see the reason, and you can try it again from the start.
Does the bomb hurt gold?
No. Gold survives an explosion. Gems and the hero do not.
Why did I lose when nothing touched the gold?
The game ends a level as soon as winning becomes impossible, for example when lava or a monster has reached the chest with nothing left to neutralize it.
Is there always more than one solution?
Usually not. Levels are picked to have only a few winning pin orders, which is why the order needs real thought.