History Main / LockpickingMinigame

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': Each dungeon except the last one leads to a boss room that can only be accessed by opening a door with a uniquely-shaped lock. The "key" that opens is a relics or figure that has to be positioned into the lock in a specific way, and the player has to move it accordingly with the Wiimote (Wii version), Joycon (Switch version when played with motion controls), or right stick (Switch version when played with buttons).

* In ''Guise of the Wolf'', pickable locks have four tumblers, and four buttons that cause certain tumblers to turn 90 degrees. The goal is to press the buttons in the right order so that the gaps in the tumblers are all aligned to one side.
* The same mechanics as in ''Skyrim'' are also used in ''VideoGame/DyingLight''. It's more annoying, though, because you can't see whether zombies are near you while you pick.

* ''{{VideoGame/Anachronox}}'': Main character's specialty skill is lockpicking. In-game locks are essentially [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combination_lock combination locks]] with several "rotating discs", the right numbers from 0 to 9 needing to be guessed in sequence in a minigame fashion. An indicator shows size of tried-number-vs-right-number offset, upon a wrong guess. Going over time limit equals failure to pick the lock, and complex locks have the time limit so short it would be impossible to put even a known combination in. Getting the master lockpick skill (via a missable side-quest) adds a button, which can be clicked to reset any limiting timer as many times as needed, making any lockpick possible.

* The lockpicking mechanics from ''Skyrim'' were first introduced in the earlier Creator/{{Bethesda}} game ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' and reused in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''. It's worth noting that failing an auto-attempt in either of these games will break the lock ''permanently'' and won't let you try to pick it again (unless you have a certain perk). But that's nothing a little SaveScumming can't fix. This same style persists in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', though like the ''Elder Scrolls'' games, it does not lock you out permanently if you fail to pick the lock.
* ''VideoGame/TheOuterWorlds'' (made by the same developers as the above-mentioned ''Alpha Protocol'' and ''New Vegas'') [[AvertedTrope averts]] this entirely. All the player has to do is hold down the action button if they have the necessary resources (such as a certain number of lockpicks and a certain skill level in Lockpicking) to do so.

* In ''VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows'', tumblers are represented by three to six rings (depending on the lock complexity) that appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen when picking a lock. Each ring has an opening on it that is invisible at first and has to be located with the mouse-controlled pick based on subtle clues (like sounds made by the lock). Once the opening on the outermost ring is found, its tumbler is set, and Garret moves on to the next one; setting all tumblers opens the lock.
** The ''VideoGame/{{Thief 2014}}'' reboot uses a similar minigame to ''Deadly Shadows'', with a slight variation in that unlocking a certain focus skill allows the player to see the insides of the lock mechanism when they use it.
** The first two ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' games had a less complicated version where the player used one of two different lock-picks --square or triangle shaped-- with more complicated locks having an unknown combination of the two, while simpler locks only used one or the other. This arguably heightened tense situations more than later minigames for a few reasons: a player could only hear yet not see the tumblers, the time it took to pick a lock varied (as set in the level editor) with no way for a player to know the duration beforehand, and that old video-game standby: some locks required a key (but a player wouldn't know that until after trying both picks).
* In ''VideoGame/SplinterCell1'', you are shown the innards of the lock you're picking, with a varying number of pins, which you have to set one by one by figuring out which WASD button triggers each one and [[ButtonMashing pressing it repeatedly]] until it sets. The mechanic remained for most of the rest of the [[VideoGame/SplinterCell series]], but ''[[VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory Chaos Theory]]'' allows Sam to simply break locks with his knife at the cost of discretion.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* The protagonist of ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'' has one of these to open Amanda’s bedroom door. If the player doesn’t give up, the protagonist sees Amanda pleasuring herself.

[[folder:Web Games]]
* ''The Last Stand: Union City''. You can use your Intellect and Security skill to help you open storage devices and find items. The game involves adjusting tumblers to open the lock.
[[/folder]]

* [[StealthPun Present]] in ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}''. Certain lockers can be picked, retrieving ammo or cosmetic items, and producing a new place to [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential shove classmates into.]] The lockers all have combination locks, so the minigame involves rotating the analog stick in a direction until you hear a click, doing the same in the opposite direction, and then doing the same in the first direction again.

* ''VideoGame/PostMortem'' includes a lockpicking minigame as a frustratingly hard puzzle, where you have to bring not one but ''five'' lockpicks into the correct (randomly generated) positions around the keyhole, based on how much they wiggle when you pull the doorknob. Thankfully, you only ever get one set of lockpicks and in both locations where it can be used, it is technically optional.

* In the first ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' game, a gadget called Trespasser is used to open special kind of locks. The following games have similar gadgets ([[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Electrolyzer, Infiltrator]], [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal Hacker]]...), though they are used to (de)activate all kinds of technology, making them rather all-around [[HackingMinigame hacking tools]]. In all the games, the resulting MiniGame is different. The Trespasser puzzle, for example, has the player rotate a group of rings with laser-beam generators, that need to be positioned so that each beam connects to a receptor on the outside of the rings.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}} VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant'' (1992): To pick a lock, you had to hit a button at just the right moment as the tumblers roll.

* ''{{VideoGame/Anachronox}}'': Main character's specialty skill is lockpicking. In-game locks are essentially [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combination_lock combination locks]] with several "rotating discs", the right numbers from 0 to 9 needing to be guessed in sequence in a minigame fashion. An indicator shows size of tried-number-vs-right-number offset, upon a wrong guess. Going over time limit equals failure to pick the lock, and complex locks have the time limit so short it would be impossible to put even a known combination in. Getting the master lockpick skill (via a missable side-quest) adds a button, which can be clicked to reset any limiting timer as many times as needed, making any lockpick possible.

* ''VideoGame/TwoWorlds'' has a lock-picking game where you have to lock your pick into consecutive rotating cylinders within a time limit. LevelScaling makes it a luck-based proposition fairly quickly even with maximum ranks in lockpicking.
* ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'' has a simple minigame where you have to bounce cylinder pins into place sequentially. This applies to any sort of lock.
* In ''VideoGame/RavenswordShadowlands'', there's a ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''-like lockpicking minigame where you have to turn your lockpick in the lock just right in order to open it.

* In the original ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'', you are shown the innards of the lock you're picking, with a varying number of pins, which you have to set one by one by figuring out which WASD button triggers each one and [[ButtonMashing pressing it repeatedly]] until it sets. The mechanic remained for most of the rest of the series, but ''Chaos Theory'' allows Sam to simply break locks with his knife at the cost of discretion.

* ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'' introduced safe-cracking to the ''Franchise/SlyCooper'' games. This is done via a MiniGame, in which the player must rotate the safe's lock dial with the joystick. Once the controller starts to vibrate, the player must change the direction of rotation, and keep doing this untill the safe opens up.

* ''VideoGame/BeyondCastleWolfenstein'' (1984) contained the UrExample of this trope: when confronted by locked doors or safes, you had to try out the numeric keys (0-9) until you heard a tumbler click, then repeat twice for the other two tumblers to open the door.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}} VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant'' (1992) may have contained the UrExample: to pick a lock, you had to hit a button at just the right moment as the tumblers roll.

* In ''VideoGame/RavenswordShadowlands'', there's a [[TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim-like]] lockpicking minigame where you have to turn your lockpick in the lock just right in order to open it.