If you are searching for Breakout EDU, you are probably planning a classroom breakout: a group, a set of clues, and a box, physical or digital, that opens when the codes are right. Lock Challenge is the digital lock part of that game. It builds the locks, checks the answers and shows the reveal; you bring the story, the clues and, if you like, the boxes.
We do not restate Breakout EDU's kits, game library, subscriptions or prices here. We cannot keep them accurate, and a stale table would mislead you. Use the right-hand column as a checklist on their own site.
| Criterion | Lock Challenge | What to check on Breakout EDU |
|---|---|---|
| Lock formats | 15, all free, including a real GPS position check, a generated sudoku and a Wordle | How many mechanics, and whether any of them verify a physical location |
| Where the answer is checked | On the server, after the player submits. Discrete answers are stored as bcrypt hashes, so nothing in the page gives them away, and the reveal is not sent to the browser before a solve | Whether the answer, or the next page, can be reached from the page source or by clicking around instead of solving |
| Limiting guesses | Attempts are rate limited per IP on every plan. On Pro you can also cap attempts per lock, cap the number of players, or close the lock after its first solve | Whether brute-forcing a code is slowed down or limited at all, and who sets the limit |
| Nearly right answers | Free: your own wrong-answer line, a second line for an answer that was nearly right (one digit or one letter off, or a word you listed as close), and a hint that shows itself after a set number of wrong tries | Whether a wrong answer can say something different from a nearly right one |
| Timer | Pro: a clock kept by the server, one play per device, one clock across every step of a trail. Reloading the page does not reset it | Whether a countdown is enforced or only displayed, and what a page reload does to it |
| Leaderboard | Pro: competition mode, where teams add their names to a ranking when they finish | Whether results can be ranked, and whether that ranking is built from verified solves |
| Access control | Pro: an access password typed before the challenge starts (stored as a bcrypt hash), and opening and closing dates | Whether only the people you invited can start, and whether it can open and close on a schedule |
| Who played, and how | Free accounts see sessions, solves and attempts. Pro adds each player's result, attempts and hints used, names and emails when you ask for them, a live board on the day and a CSV export | Whether you can see who finished, when and in how many tries, and take that list away |
| Player accounts | Never required | Whether players are asked to register or install anything |
| Free tier metering | Players and attempts are unlimited; the free tier is bounded by what you build (3 basic locks, single or multi-step, of up to 3 steps each), and a basic lock never expires | Whether the free tier counts players, attempts, experiences or days |
| Paid options | Two ways to pay: the Event Pass, paid once for one event, at $7.90 for 15 days or $9.90 for 30 days, or Pro at $14.90 per month, cancellable at any time | Whether pricing is per event, per seat, per month, or one time |
| Languages | English, French, Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese, player interface included, in the language the creator picks | Whether the player interface is translated, not just the marketing site |
Print one QR code per prop and stick it where a padlock would have gone. The group scans, works with the clues in front of them, and the lock resets itself for the next class: there are no combinations to reset by hand and no padlock to lose.
3 basic locks of up to 3 steps each, every lock format, every reveal, unlimited players and attempts, and no expiry. Students never create an account. Personal and educational, non-commercial use.
All 15 lock formats are free: numeric, directional, touch pattern, written answer, colour sequence, musical sequence, switches, a 4x4 grid, a map pin, a real GPS position, a generated sudoku and a Wordle among them. Each step gets its own brief, hint and wrong-answer message, and a near-miss line for an answer that was nearly right.
On Pro ($14.90 per month), ask for first and last names at the reveal and see each group's result, attempts and hints used, with a server timer, a leaderboard and a CSV for your gradebook.
If you want physical hardware (a box, hasps, real padlocks) or a large library of ready-made, curriculum-aligned breakout games written by educators, Lock Challenge is not that. It offers a set of free school templates and the tools to build your own, not a published curriculum or a kit in the post. Teacher accounts with shared class workspaces are not available yet either.
