How to pick locks in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Jul 10, 2023

In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, you will find many locked doors, including the basement exits, some gates, and doors leading to the outside are all locked at first. To unlock these doors and escape the Family complex, you must find a tool and complete the pick locking minigame. However, several factors play into finding the proper tool and picking a lock without getting caught by a member of the Family in the process. Here’s how to pick locks in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre quickly and quietly so you can escape the clutches of the Family.

Image: PC Invasion

Before picking a lock in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, you must find an Unlock Tool from the blue toolboxes scattered around the map. Unlock tools will have an icon that looks like a screwdriver once in your inventory. One trick I learned is that you can loot a blue toolbox multiple times. For instance, you can gather two unlock tools in your inventory, pick a lock, and loot the same blue toolbox again to get another unlock tool. An unlock tool is one of the essential items in the game because you must unlock many doors to escape the Family. You can never have too many unlock tools in your inventory because if you need one and don’t have one, that is a recipe for getting killed by the Family.

Image: PC Invasion

While looking at the lock, you’ll need to rotate the unlock tool with your mouse to find the sweet spot indicated when the unlock tool turns green. When the unlock tool turns green, you’ll want to apply some pressure with the E button to pick the lock.

Image: PC Invasion

You’ll want to watch the bar to the left when tapping or holding the E button. This bar measures the noise you are making and if the unlock tool is about to break. If the bar hits the top, you’ll see the circle with the broken unlock tool icon go red. This will cause your unlock tool to break, and the door will make enough noise to give away your location. You must pay close attention to your hold or tap pressure.

Image: PC Invasion

A lock is divided into three sections, and you’ll need to rotate the unlock tool with your mouse again to find the next sweet spot after completing each section. Remember, the unlock tool will turn green when you find the new sweet spot. The sweet spot also doesn’t have to be in the same section of the lock you are currently picking. Picking a lock takes time, but you don’t need to break through all at once fully. If a Family member is getting close, you can stop and hide. When you return, your progress on the lock will be as you left it unless a Family member unlocked or locked the door. Items don’t have a specific amount of charges or use, so if this happens, you can save your unlock tool for another door or can start the door over.

The Efficiency attribute will help you pick locks faster, while the Stealth attribute can help you stay quiet, and I found having an equal number of points in both the Proficiency and Stealth attributes is essential. This is because if you don’t have great Stealth, you can only so fast without making too much noise. Likewise, if you have a small number of points in the Efficiency attribute, you will be quiet, but picking a lock will take forever. For instance, I main Sonny and found that having 35 Proficiency and 34 Stealth at level 10 using only Attribute Points to increase, allowed me to quickly unlock any doors or gates while not making a sound, allowing me to escape without the Family ever noticing.

Author’s Note: I wrote this guide while playing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on my Lenovo gaming laptop.