Flippity Virtual Breakout is free and made from a Google Sheets template: you write clues, hints and answers in a sheet, publish it and share the link. Lock Challenge is an online lock builder with 15 lock formats, answers checked on the server and a link and a QR code for every lock; building and previewing are free, and publishing needs the paid plan. Pick Flippity if you already work in Google Sheets and want a free breakout of typed answers; pick Lock Challenge for real lock pads, answers kept off the page and results for each player.
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The Flippity facts on this page are what flippity.net says itself, on its home page, its Virtual Breakout instructions and its FAQ, read on 1 November 2026. Check them there before you choose. Lock Challenge makes this page and is described only from its own code.
| Criterion | Lock Challenge | Flippity (flippity.net, 1 Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Where you build | In Lock Challenge's own builder, in the browser; build and test before signing up | In a copy of a Google Sheets template, published to the web |
| Lock formats | 15, including numeric, directional, pattern, colours, musical, a real GPS check, a sudoku and a Wordle | A typed answer for each clue; lock styles are not listed on its instructions page |
| Hints | One per step, which can show itself after a set number of wrong tries | Optional, one per clue |
| Accepted answers | One valid answer per written-answer lock, capitals and accents ignored by default, and a separate line for an answer that was nearly right | Several answers separated by "|", "*" wildcards, case sensitive or not |
| Student access | A link or a QR code, with no account and no app | A Flippity.net link, with no student accounts or logins |
| Where the answer is checked | On the server, never in the page (written answers, codes and patterns as bcrypt hashes), at most 30 attempts per minute per IP; the melody-to-repeat lock excepted | Not stated; the answers sit in a sheet published to the web, which its FAQ says anyone with the URL can read |
| Sharing | A short link and a QR code for every lock, and a printable PDF with every step's QR code | A Flippity.net link to share with anyone |
| Results | Each player's result, attempts and hints used, names when you ask for them, and a CSV export | No remote view of students' work; emailed results are no longer available |
| Look and media | Themes, 55 filmed objects that open on video with sound, your own photos and celebrations | Images by URL, YouTube videos, links, Google Docs, EquatIO and Desmos inside clues |
| Price | Building and previewing are free; publishing needs the paid plan (see pricing) | Free to use, some features supported by ads, no premium accounts |
| Player languages | English, French, Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese | Not stated on those pages |
Choose Flippity when you already plan in Google Sheets and want a breakout that costs nothing: it is free to use, with some features supported by ads, students need no account, and one clue can accept several answers or a wildcard, which a Lock Challenge written answer does not. Its clues can also hold YouTube videos, Google Docs, EquatIO equations and Desmos graphs, which suits a maths or science lesson.
Only what flippity.net states itself. Anything not stated there, such as a list of lock styles or where answers are checked, is left out rather than guessed.
Sources: www.flippity.net, www.flippity.net/v2/VirtualBreakout.htm, www.flippity.net/FAQ.htm
15 formats: numeric, number, directional, touch pattern, written answer, username and password, colours, musical, switches, ordered switches, a 4x4 grid, a real GPS position, a generated sudoku and a Wordle. Several steps chain into one lock, each with its own brief, hint and wrong-answer message.
Answers are checked on the server, never in the page, and the reward is sent only after the right answer. The hint and step titles are in the page, and the repeat-a-melody musical lock sends its notes to the browser, because players have to hear them.
Ask players for their names at the reveal and see each result, attempts and hints used, with a server timer, a leaderboard and a CSV export.
Build in the browser, test before signing up, and share a short link or a QR code. A lock can wear a theme and open as one of 55 filmed objects, with sound, the reward inside.
Lock Challenge is the wrong choice if the activity must cost nothing at all, if your lessons already live in Google Sheets, or if one clue must accept several different answers or a wildcard: publishing needs the paid plan, and a written-answer lock takes one answer, capitals and accents aside.
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Every format, with a playable demo, is on the page of lock types.
Ready-made locks for a class are in the classroom templates.
