External Links


lock-key.blb
Requires a Glulx interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
win-lock.zip
Contains lock-key.blb
The archive includes the game, an old Windows interpreter for it, and a batch file to run the game.
Requires a Glulx interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links. (Compressed with ZIP. Free Unzip tools are available for most systems at www.info-zip.org.)
lock.hnt
solution
Java version
Defaults - All Systems Application
Walkthrough
by David Welbourn

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Lock & Key

by Adam Cadre profile

Fantasy
2002

Web Site

Game Details

Off-Site Reviews

IF-Review
Death Becomes You
After a while, the requirement to match the PC's knowledge with the player's can begin to feel like a bit of a cage, and the most common contortions an IF game goes through to live inside it (such as amnesia) have long since lost their appeal. Even the freshest ones can still feel a bit tired and gimmicky unless done exactly right. The accretive PC is one key to this cage -- it's wonderfully refreshing to play a character who's really good at something, and even better to become good at it yourself. Of all the jail-breaks that happen in Lock & Key, this one is the most satisfying.
See the full review

IF-Review
Hand & Glove
The ways in which Boldo, the adventurer, keeps escaping your little traps (and the way in which the guards unwittingly aid him through their stupidity) range from amusing to hilarious, and are still funny the fifth time; they also change in subtle (or not-so-subtle) ways if you're making progress. Adam uses countless dei-ex-machina to aid the adventurer in his escape, but they're sufficiently ridiculous to make you forgive him.
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Play This Thing!
While the constraints and challenges are theoretically similar to the ones you'll find in traditional tower defense games, the feel is entirely different. Each kind of trap can be placed only once, and the sequence matters. There's a graphical component to the interface, so that you have some visual feedback when laying out the dungeon, but most of the interaction is through text commands, because Lock & Key is primarily a text adventure in form. And much of the game's entertainment value comes not from figuring out where to place traps -- though that makes a solid and rewarding puzzle -- but from the characters and their reactions.
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SPAG
Lock and Key works well, in short -- it's not revolutionary, and those who profess themselves unable to solve puzzles may find themselves stumped -- but as a puzzle and as another line in Adam's list of achievements, it's worth experiencing. (Duncan Stevens)
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SPAG

Making the perfect dungeon is difficult, and one is clearly intended to play the game many times and learn from one's mistakes. Playing through the game is lots of fun at first, but gets a bit tedious after a while. There are many hints that you are on the right track, but I think there could have been more of them, or they could have been clearer, otherwise you just have to guess what to do. (Øyvind Thorsby)
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Page Update History

  v.10: 30-Jul-2021 23:12 - Lance Campbell (Current Version) - Edit Page - Normal View
Changed download links
v.9: 30-Jun-2020 08:11 - Zape
Changed external review links
v.8: 17-Feb-2013 08:45 - Edward Lacey
Changed external review links
v.7: 10-Aug-2010 13:32 - Dave Chapeskie
Changed download links
v.6: 18-Dec-2009 16:10 - Rob Maule
Changed download links
v.5: 05-Apr-2008 11:43 - Emily Short
Changed external review links
v.4: 04-Apr-2008 18:39 - Paul O'Brian
Changed external review links
v.3: 28-Feb-2008 09:40 - Eriorg
Changed author
v.2: 24-Feb-2008 20:55 - Adam Cadre
Changed cover art, Web site URL
v.1: 16-Oct-2007 01:48 - IFDB
Created page