Background
This ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on misleading gameplay in ads for mobile games, identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by the ASA.
See also related rulings published on 4 November 2026.
Ad description
Two paid-for Facebook ads for Farm Heroes Saga, a mobile game, seen on 28 April 2026.
a. The first ad showed a grid of clickable icons arranged at random. A cursor in the shape of a hand moved the icons by clicking on them. The top half of the screen showed two sections: one containing nails which held up a hatch, and another containing a cow with a saw positioned above it. When three matching icons were placed in a row, they disappeared, causing the nails on the left-hand side of the screen to fall slowly. On the right-hand side, the saw moved downwards through the wall towards the cow. The gameplay ended before the nails reached the bottom of the screen, and the saw reached the cow. The word “FAIL” then appeared on screen.
A disclaimer at the bottom of the ad alternated between “Not in-game footage” and “Not actual gameplay”. A caption stated “Take your gaming experience to the next level with FHS!”
b. The second ad opened with an animated sun rising while fruit and vegetables were picked. It then switched to a similar depiction of tile-matching gameplay to that seen in ad (a), but without the nails, cow or saw sections. The ad featured the same disclaimer and caption as ad (a).
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the ads misleadingly gave the impression that they showed, or were representative of, the gameplay in Farm Heroes Saga.
Response
King.com Ltd said Farm Heroes Saga was a match-three puzzle game in which players moved and matched three or more identical fruit and vegetable icons, known as “Cropsies”, to remove or collect them from the board and complete level objectives. They said that, although the game included different objectives, obstacles and themes, its main gameplay mechanic was matching Cropsies on a grid. They said both ads showed that core match-three mechanic.
In relation to ad (a), they said the hand-shaped cursor, grid-based layout and disappearing matched icons reflected the game’s main gameplay. They acknowledged that the falling nails, hatch, cow and saw did not appear in Farm Heroes Saga, but said those elements were intended as fictional, creative additions to convey pace and urgency, rather than to depict a separate game mode or level.
King.com said the disclaimer, which alternated between “Not in-game footage” and “Not actual gameplay”, was intended to make clear that the ad was a creative representation rather than direct gameplay footage. They considered that consumers would understand the match-three mechanic as the main gameplay shown, and the cow, saw and falling nails sequence as additional visual elements. They therefore considered that the disclaimer qualified, rather than contradicted, the overall impression of the ad.
In relation to ad (b), King.com said the opening sequence showing the sun rising and a hand picking Cropsies was an introductory animation linked to the game’s farming theme. They said consumers were unlikely to understand that sequence as interactive gameplay because it did not include a cursor, game board, level objective or other indication of playable content.
King.com said the ad then moved to grid-based matching involving Cropsies, which reflected the game’s core gameplay mechanic. They said the same disclaimer appeared in ad (b) to clarify that the ad was not a direct recording of gameplay and that the opening sequence was promotional material rather than playable content. They considered that the disclaimer qualified, rather than contradicted, the overall impression of the ad.
Overall, King.com did not consider the ads were misleading. They said both ads prominently showed the match-three mechanic that formed the central gameplay experience of Farm Heroes Saga. They said the elements that did not appear in the game were secondary to that main gameplay. They considered that consumers would understand the difference between those fictional or introductory elements and the gameplay being shown, particularly in light of the disclaimers, and would not be misled.
Assessment
Upheld in relation to ad (a) only
Ad (a) featured a grid-based puzzle in which a hand-shaped cursor appeared to interact with icons on the screen. When three matching icons were placed in a row, they disappeared and caused other elements of the scene to change. Nails supporting a hatch fell towards the bottom of the screen, while a saw moved towards a cow. The sequence ended before either action was completed and the word “FAIL” appeared on screen. We considered the hand-shaped cursor, the interaction with the grid, and the way matching icons directly affected the other elements of the scene presented the content as gameplay rather than merely thematic or cinematic material.
We therefore considered that ad (a) presented Farm Heroes Saga as a match-three puzzle game in which matching icons was directly linked to the completion or failure of wider objectives involving the falling nails, hatch, cow and saw. Those elements were integrated into the same sequence as the match-three mechanic and formed a prominent part of the challenge shown. In that context, we considered consumers would understand the ad to show gameplay available in Farm Heroes Saga.
We understood that Farm Heroes Saga was a match-three puzzle game in which players moved and matched three or more identical fruit and vegetable icons, known as “Cropsies”, to remove or collect them from the board and complete level objectives. Although the game included different objectives, obstacles and themes, its main gameplay mechanic was matching Cropsies on a grid. We acknowledged that the match-three mechanic shown in ad (a) reflected the gameplay available in Farm Heroes Saga. However, the falling nails, hatch, cow and saw did not appear in the game, and matching Cropsies did not form part of a gameplay scenario involving those elements in the way shown in the ad.
We considered those additional elements were not incidental visual details. They created the objective and jeopardy around which the match-three sequence was presented, and therefore formed part of the overall playing experience depicted in the ad. Those elements therefore presented the genuine match-three mechanic as part of a wider gameplay scenario that was not available in the game. In that context, we considered consumers were likely to understand the falling nails, hatch, cow and saw as part of the gameplay available in Farm Heroes Saga, rather than as merely decorative or fictional additions. Because those elements were not available in the game, we considered consumers would be misled about the kind of gameplay they could expect.
We also considered the qualification, which alternated between “Not in-game footage” and “Not actual gameplay”. Although that wording indicated that the ad was not a direct recording of gameplay, we considered consumers were nevertheless likely to understand the falling nails, hatch, cow and saw as part of the gameplay scenario being advertised. We therefore considered the qualification was unlikely to alter that understanding and was likely to contradict, rather than clarify, how consumers would understand the game.
We therefore concluded that ad (a) misleadingly gave consumers the understanding that the gameplay shown, including the wider scenario involving the falling nails, hatch, cow and saw, was available in Farm Heroes Saga.
Ad (b) opened with an animated sequence showing the sun rising while fruit and vegetables were picked. Unlike the gameplay-style content in ad (a), the opening sequence did not feature a hand-shaped cursor interacting with a game board, a level objective or other features indicating that consumers were being shown playable content. We considered consumers were therefore likely to understand that sequence as thematic or promotional material associated with the game’s farming theme, rather than as representative of gameplay. We considered the alternating text “Not in-game footage” and “Not actual gameplay” further supported that understanding.
The ad then moved to grid-based match-three gameplay involving Cropsies. We understood that reflected the central gameplay mechanic of Farm Heroes Saga and did not feature any other gameplay which was not in the game. We therefore considered consumers would distinguish the introductory animation from the gameplay shown subsequently and would understand the latter as representative of the gameplay available in the game.
For those reasons, we concluded that ad (b) was not misleading.
Ad (a) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 3.9 (Qualification) and 3.11 (Exaggeration). We investigated ad (b) under those rules, but did not find it in breach.
Action
Ad (a) must not appear again in its current form. We told King.com Ltd to ensure that their ads did not misleadingly give the impression that they showed, or were representative of, gameplay in Farm Heroes Saga.
