How to solve all lock types in Atomic Heart

Atomic Heart throws you into many claustrophobic environments where you’ll need to use your skills in combat and problem solving in order to advance. Scattered around the game’s world and throughout each main lab are locks that open up shortcuts or new areas with resources to gather. This guide explains how to solve every lock type, so you don’t get stuck looking at a lock that won’t open.

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All lock solutions in Atomic Heart

Here, we’ve broken down every lock in Atomic Heart by name with images to help you identify them. If you’re stuck on one, search through each lock until you find what you need and the solution along with it.

How to solve rotating color locks

To solve these rotating color locks, you must spin the central dial and move the colored dots within them until they line up with the lights around the lock. These can be quite tricky, especially later on in the game’s story. However, they’re all possible if you slow down and take the time to line the dots up one after the other. We found that starting with the closest color allowed us to look at the other dots and figure out how to move them so they lined up with the lights easiest.

How to solve code locks

To solve these locks, look for a solution somewhere in the local area. Code locks are rare, but there are a few you’ll need to solve over the course of the game. They look like a large circle with lots of buttons on it. You can’t solve these locks without finding the solution somewhere else in the game. For example, the first one you encounter has a solution only the station master knew. To solve it, you need to find his body by speaking to one of the nearby dead bodies and following what it says. The solution is on a piece of paper near the station master’s body.

How to solve clicking locks

To solve clicking locks, you need to tap the X/A button when the red light turns on beneath an extended fuse to turn them all green. These are the most common locks in the game, and they’re relatively simple to solve as long as you get the timing right. It’s so easy to accidentally click just as the red light moves to one of the fuses you’ve already inserted, causing it to extend again. The key with these locks is to be patient and get the timing right as the red light speeds up and changes direction while moving around the lock. If you fail to solve the lock in the allotted time, you can exit and retry as many times as you need.

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How to pick door locks

To pick standard door locks, you need to interact with them, use the left joystick to rotate the lock, and the right joystick to move where your glove tendrils are placed. It works exactly the same as lockpicking in Skyrim or Fallout 76. Think of the glove tendrils as the lockpick, and move the lock accordingly until it rotates all the way to the right.

How to open key disc locks

Key disc locks require a key disc to be opened. There’s no other way around them, so you must search the environment for the key disc and then use it when you interact with the lock. The lock will open automatically as long as the key disc is in your inventory. If it’s not, you’ll just stare at it hopelessly.