In this oversaturated climate, I’m never gonna be mad at a developer’s unique attempt to get people to play their game—within reason of course—and this is one of those times. The developers at Collision Games are offering $5,000 USD toward the divorce (or wedding!) of the first person who can beat their love lock-picking game, Love Locks.
The rules are simple. Register your email and SteamID; then, when the game launches on December 3rd, be the fastest to unlock 100,000 love locks that have been plastered across a bridge in Paris, making this perfect for speedrunners looking to make a…quick buck. Players will have all kinds of tools at their disposal including bolt cutters and a drone they can use to go magnet-fishing for keys in the River Seine. The competition ends on December 10th, giving players roughly seven days to chew through all 100,000 of the game’s love locks.
Once the competition period ends, the devs will announce the winner, and they’ll have two years to send Collision Games a bill for an eligible wedding or divorce expense like buying a pretty dress or hiring an expensive lawyer (no, really). If the winner is already happily married or divorced, they can nominate a family member or friend to receive the prize. There are specific age and country-of-origin eligibility requirements for entry so check out the full list of rules and requirements here.
I never really got love locks as a concept. You and your sweetheart want to demonstrate the durability of your love by defacing public property with an easily circumventable pad lock? An action that is widely considered to be a public nuisance, if not ecologically harmful? Makes sense then for someone to make a game about getting rid of all those eyesores, love be damned.
