PADLOCK

About PADLOCK

PADLOCK is a code-breaking puzzle in the tradition of Mastermind, played on numbers. Each day there is a hidden combination, the same for every player, and you enter guesses of four digits (or five in the bigger version) until you open the lock.

There are two ways to play. In basic PADLOCK the digits in your guess change colour to show whether each is in the right place, in the combination but elsewhere, or not in it at all, and you have five goes. In advanced PADLOCK the digits stay plain: a small block of squares beside each guess lights up to tell you how many digits are right and how many are in the wrong place, without saying which, and you get up to ten goes. Both come in four-digit and five-digit sizes.

Each daily puzzle is numbered, and a countdown shows when the next one arrives: at your local midnight by default, or at midnight UTC if you change the setting. PADLOCK was the first game by its maker, followed by the word version Alphalock and the two-board DUOLOCK. It suits players who like pure deduction with no vocabulary needed.

How to play PADLOCK

1. Choose basic or advanced PADLOCK, in four or five digits.
2. Enter a combination as your guess.
3. Read the feedback: coloured digits in basic, a block of counts beside the guess in advanced.
4. Use the clues to rule digits in or out and work out their positions.
5. Open the lock within your goes and share your result.

Tips

• Use your first guesses to test as many different digits as possible.
• In advanced mode, change one or two digits at a time so you can tell which change moved the count.
• Remember that digits can repeat in a combination.

Questions