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Questions, answered clearly.

Everything creators and players need to know before building a virtual lock.

What is a virtual lock?
A virtual lock is an interactive web challenge that protects hidden content. The creator chooses a lock, defines the correct answer and adds content to reveal. Players open a link or QR code, solve the challenge and unlock the content in their browser.
Do players need an account or an app?
No. Players open the shared link on a phone, tablet or computer and solve the lock directly in their browser. Only the creator needs an account, and only to save and publish.
Can I build one without signing up?
Yes. You can pick a lock, set the answer, add the reveal and test it as a player, all without an account. Until you sign up, your draft is kept in this browser. Signing up saves it to your account, and you only pay when you publish.
What can I hide behind a lock?
Anything: text with bold, italics, sizes, links and lists, the next clue in a chain, a link or a download, an action button, an image, audio, a YouTube video, sanitised HTML and several items in one reveal. Around it, you style the lock itself with a theme, a filmed object that opens on video with sound when the lock gives way, a celebration, a typeface, or your own two pictures.
Can I customise how the lock looks, with my own design and logo?
Yes. You design the lock down to the last detail: 51 themes that set the page, the keypad, the ink and the accent together, 55 filmed objects (a treasure chest, a safe, a vault door, a gift box, a ring case) that fidget while the lock holds and open on video, with sound, when it gives way, with the reward appearing inside, or your own two pictures (closed and open), 37 typefaces and 6 text sizes, 36 celebrations with sound (confetti, fireworks, hearts), and your logo as a signature, a pattern, an engraved plate or a watermark, with no Lock Challenge branding. The reveal itself can be a designed HTML page with cards, letters, tickets and stamps. Every option can be tried on the live preview before you publish.
Is a lock limited by how many people play?
No. Unlimited players, and unlimited attempts unless you set a limit yourself. A published lock works for as many players as you send to it, and nobody pays to play.
Can I try everything before publishing?
Yes. All 15 lock formats, every design option and every reveal can be built and previewed, on a phone, a tablet or a computer, in a "Try it as a player" mode identical to what your players get. You can build and preview a lock before paying anything. See current plans and features on the pricing page.
How is the correct answer protected?
Typed and tapped answers are stored as bcrypt hashes and checked on the server. A number with a margin, a GPS position, a map pin or a Wordle word stays on the server as well, and a separate encrypted copy lets only you see your answer in the editor. So the correct answer is not sent to the player's browser with the page, and attempts are rate limited per IP address. The one exception is a melody to repeat, which players have to be able to hear.
Will my reveal show up in search results?
No. Player pages are noindex by default, which keeps a personal photo, an announcement or a client document out of search engines.
Can a lock be a melody?
Yes. The musical lock can ask players to repeat a melody on an on-screen piano, or to name the song after listening to it. Pick one of 30 built-in melodies across three levels, or compose your own. Only the notes and their order count: the rhythm is not marked, and the same note played an octave higher or lower is accepted, unless you choose to make the octave count.
Can I send the link to a list of people and see who played?
Yes. Paste addresses or import a CSV, and each person receives their own link by email, up to 200 at once. You then see who opened it, who played and who finished. A CSV of emails, first and last names can be saved as a named list, such as a class or a team, for the next invitation, and each invitation greets the person by first name.
Can I limit how many people win a reward?
Yes. Set a maximum number of winners: everyone can still play, and once the rewards are gone, later players see a sold-out message you can write yourself. You choose whether the remaining count is shown, and you can still give the lock an opening and a closing date.
How much does Lock Challenge cost?
Players never pay and need no account. You can build and preview a lock before paying anything. See current plans and features on the pricing page.
What happens to my published locks later?
They stay online and playable exactly as you published them, with their look, their filmed opening and their reveal, while your access (week, month or year) is active. When it ends, they stop opening for players, but nothing is deleted and the links do not change: they all reopen at once as soon as you take a week, a month or a year again.
Can I use Lock Challenge with my class, and can a school pay for it?
Yes. Pupils never create an account: they open the link or scan the QR code and play. Any card works at checkout, a school card included, every payment is emailed a receipt, and the invoices are downloaded from the billing page. Purchase orders are not accepted yet.
Which languages are supported?
The whole site, the dashboard and the player interface exist in English, French, Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese. An experience plays in the language of the site version you built it in, so a lock made from the French site shows players a French interface. There is no language switch on the player page.