Lock

Lock is a one-tap reflex game. A needle sweeps round the dial of a padlock, and a gold dot sits somewhere on the track. Tap the moment the needle crosses the dot and it pops, the needle turns round, and a new dot appears ahead. Pop the number shown on the lock's face and the shackle springs open. Tap on empty track, or let the needle slide past the dot, and the lock jams. Every lock needs a few more pops than the last, and the needle keeps getting faster.

How to play Lock

1. Wait for the needle to start moving round the dial.
2. Tap anywhere the moment the needle is over the gold dot.
3. Each pop reverses the needle and places a new dot. The number in the middle counts down.
4. Reach zero to unlock the padlock. Tap on empty track, or let the needle pass the dot, and the run ends.

Tips to get a high score

• Watch the dot, not the needle. Your eyes should be waiting where the tap has to happen.
• The needle reverses after every pop, so expect it to come back the other way.
• Tapping dead centre on the dot scores a PERFECT. Perfects in a row climb in pitch.
• Later locks have dots that slide along the track. Some drift towards you and some run away.
• Gold coin dots pay a coin when you pop them.

How each lock gets harder

Your score is the number of locks you open, not the number of pops. The first lock needs 4 pops, most locks after that need one more than the last, and from lock 13 on every lock needs 13.

The needle speeds up in two ways. Each new lock is faster than the last until about lock 13, where a full lap takes about 1.3 seconds instead of 3. After that every lock adds a bit more. Within a lock, the needle also gets slightly faster with each pop, so the last few dots are the quickest.

Moving dots begin at lock 5. Each lock after that makes them more likely, up to nearly half of all dots from lock 10. They slide at a fifth to two-fifths of the needle's speed, either towards it or away, and a dot that runs too far ahead turns round and comes back.

Your timing window

A tap counts if the needle is within about 10 degrees of the dot's centre, either side. On lock 1 that's a window of about a sixth of a second. By lock 13 it's well under a tenth. PERFECT means within about 2.5 degrees.

A new dot always appears far enough ahead to give you at least a third of a second to spot it, and it can be most of a lap away. Use that moment to find the dot, then watch the gap between dot and needle close.

PERFECT streaks and the coins from gold dots don't add to your score; coins go towards hats. A pop at the edge of the window counts the same as a perfect one, so aim for the middle and don't chase style.

Mistakes that jam the lock

A nervous double tap. The needle reverses the moment you pop, and the next dot is never close enough to pop straight away, so a second tap always jams.

Rushing the next lock. When a lock opens there's a short celebration and the needle rests before the next one starts. Taps during that pause are ignored, so there's no need to hurry. Each new lock also picks a random starting direction, so watch which way the needle moves before you commit.

Misreading drifting dots. A dot sliding towards the needle arrives sooner than it looks, and one sliding away arrives later, sometimes much later if it has to turn back. Time the tap to the meeting point, not to where the dot was when you first saw it.

Daily levels and ghost races

Today's Lock level is the same for everyone, and you race the ghosts of other players' runs. How daily levels and challenges work.

FAQ

Add Lock to your site

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<iframe src="https://tapamine.com/embed/lock/" title="Lock: free one-tap game" width="360" height="640" style="border:0;border-radius:16px;max-width:100%" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; web-share" loading="lazy"></iframe>

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