softlock

noun

Etymology

From soft + lock.

  1. inherited from *lūkaną
  2. inherited from *lūkan
  3. inherited from lūcan
  4. inherited from locken
  5. derived from *lewg-
  6. inherited from *luką
  7. inherited from *lok
  8. inherited from loc
  9. inherited from lok
  10. compounded as softlock — “soft + lock

Definitions

  1. A situation where a game remains apparently playable, but further progress is impossible,…

    A situation where a game remains apparently playable, but further progress is impossible, typically due to a design flaw or glitch.

    • I defeated the boss, but got hit at the exact same time; now I'm stuck in a softlock and can't exit the level.
    • Fixed a softlock where Concentration in the interrogation room wouldn’t turn off and wouldn’t let you start the interrogation.
  2. To be in or cause a softlock

    To be in or cause a softlock; to remain playable but unable to progress.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for softlock. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA