Locksmith

Tactile incremental lockpicking noir for Playdate.

Locksmith started as a small speedrun experiment built around the Playdate crank. I kept developing the idea until it grew into a noir game with three modes, progression, tools, and a flea-market economy.

You are Silas Crane, known in the back rooms and wet alleys as Locksmith. You do not ask what is inside the box. You open it, take the coin, and disappear.

Turn the Playdate crank to raise the pick. Feel for the pin. Set it with A. Miss, and the mechanism slips away from you.

Modes

Adventure
Silas Crane's first serious job: a staged gallery theft, a curtain mechanism, a safe dial, and a clock lock.

Endless
Gaslight Bazaar: buy locked lots, crack them, earn coin, craft tools, upgrade your kit, and chase better jobs.

Speedrun
A focused challenge mode for clean, fast lockpicking.

Features

• Playdate crank-as-pick control
• Pin tumbler lockpicking with randomized targets
• Safe dial and clock-lock puzzles
• Adventure onboarding and noir story beats
• Endless flea-market progression with upgrades, craft parts, and stats
• 1-bit monochrome Playdate presentation
• Sound effects for ticks, catches, misses, and wins

Current state

Locksmith is in active development. The current playable build is available here for $5. I’m preparing the game for a future Playdate Catalog submission, redrawing parts of its 1-bit artwork by hand, and improving readability based on feedback from Playdate players. If you share feedback, please mention your build version.