The Scores

In Gringo Warrior, each stage of the course is worth 20 points on "easy" 60 points on "medium" and 100 points on "hard." Time leftover at the end of a contestant's five-minute attempt is converted to bonus points.

The "lowest" score possible in this game is 40, for someone who failed to get out of cuffs but managed to open both "easy" doors, taking a full five minutes to do so. It is possible, at least in theory, to have a score of zero if you spend all five minutes without opening a single lock. (Such a result would not be an escape and therefore you wouldn't be officially ranked in the results, however.)

Similarly theoretical is any "maximum" score, given that there is no telling how quickly a person could open all the locks and escape. If someone were to get past all the locks on their hardest level in zero seconds, that would be a perfect score of 1000. Nothing close to that has ever (or will ever) been seen, of course. (Although someone did escape in just 37 seconds on the "easy" locks when we ran the game in Hawaii!)

For a long time, the highest score that had ever been achieved during basic competition was, believe it or not, from a 12-year-old girl named Ella who pulled off a 678 at LayerOne 2008 (where there wasn't even a final "car" stage to attempt). At DEFCON 16, when the top contenders in the basic competition (where the maximum score seen was 593) participated in a special finalists' round, the scores pushed up in the 700s. The top winner that year was schuyler who narrowly beat dosman with a final score of 721. The game changes a little bit over time (sometimes there is no guard, sometimes there is no "disguise" outfit, etc) but we keep seeing higher scores and more impressive lockpicking everywhere we go... and that is simply fantastic!

- bronze star... "easy"      - silver star... "medium"      - gold star... "hard"
(other score designations are possible on rare occasions. half points are sometimes awarded for people who pick a lock but do it the wrong way, and going above and beyond in some unique manner sometimes merits bonus points in one category or in the course as a whole)

 

ShmooCon 6
2010-02-06
Washington, DC

name

cuffs

cell

guard

cabinet

door

ninja

car

points

time

bonus

score

video

Rogue Clown

520

1:33

207

727

Gerry

420

3:15

105

525

Merlin

280

2:02

178

458

Infonaut

280

3:24

78

376

 

unofficial runs...

name

cuffs

cell

guard

cabinet

door

ninja

car

points

time

bonus

score

video

Rogue Clown

480

1:51

189

669

Gerry

360

2:18

162

522

Dr. Tran

260

2:37

143

403

Merlin

240

2:36

144

384

Infonaut

320

4:20

40

360

 

ekoparty
2009-09-18
Buenos Aires, Argentina

name	cuffs	cell	cabinet	door	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
bruno #3						240	0:66	234	474
pedro #2						120	0:42	258	378
matias #2						160	1:25	215	375
damian #2						120	1:02	238	358
luciano #2 *						240	3:54	66	356
gustavo						120	2:04	176	296
juan						80	1:42	198	278
ernesto						80	1:45	195	275
manuel						80	1:51	189	269
tomas						180	3:37	83	263
mariano						200	4:04	56	256
matias						80	2:20	160	240
federico #2						120	3:30	90	240
juanpablo						200	5:00		200
veronica						80	3:15	105	185
alejandro						120	5:00		120
as each player is only ranked by their best attempt, these other runs are unofficial...
pedro						120	1:13	227	347
bruno #2						220	3:40	80	300
luciano #3 *						240	4:56	4	294
luciano #4 *						240	5:00		290
bruno						120	3:00	120	240
damian						80	3:01	119	199
federico #1						100	4:00	60	160
luciano *						60	5:00		110
* Luciano had 50 bonus points on each of his runs for using homemade tools on all of his attempts in Gringo Warrior... amazing!

 

DEFCON 17
2009-08-01
Las Vegas, NV

name	cuffs	cell	guard	cabinet	door	ninja	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
valanx								620	3:16	104	724
Schuyler								540	2:36	144	684
Nuclear Steve								560	4:02	58	618
Tim B.								520	3:42	78	598
Rudy A.								500	4:20	40	540
Doug Farre								420	3:10	110	530
whitechappel								380	3:05	115	495
Nick L.								400	3:48	72	472
rogueclown								400	4:05	55	455
Sean K.*								340	4:24	36	426
I_Hate_Freedom								400	4:55	5	405
Dave K.								360	4:43	17	377
Sereyna								280	3:24	96	376
Vina F.								270	3:08	112	372
Marce**								260	3:56	64	359
Mike								320	4:57	3	323
Jason R.								200	2:58	122	322
Adam S.								180	2:47	133	313
Jgor								280	4:59	1	281
Matt A.								260	4:42	18	278
Warelock***								160	4:59	1	211
Tom L.								200	4:58	2	202
Dave R.								170	5:00	0	170
John H.								100	3:53	67	167
Phunkedelik								100	4:56	4	104
* Sean K. garnered 50 bonus points for using both his rakes together, slightly separated, as double-sided wafer jigglers on the car. a great bit of improv work! ** Marce was awarded 25 extra points by the crowd for the well-acted and humorous role he assumed during his run *** Warelock surely deserved his 50 bonus points, awarded for starting the game with his picks hidden (or seemingly hidden due to slight of hand) up his nose!

finalists' round...

name

cuffs

cell

guard

cabinet

door

ninja

car

points

time

bonus

score

video

Nuclear Steve

600

2:53

127

727

valanx

620

3:16

104

724

Schuyler

540

2:36

144

684

Tim B.

520

3:42

78

598

Rudy A.

500

4:20

40

540

 

LayerOne
2009-06-11
Anaheim, CA

name	cuffs	cell	guard	cabinet	door	ninja	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
CP								320	1:52	188	508
bongo								180	1:18	222	402
strom								200	1:59	181	381
merlin								180	2:40	140	320
merlin (again)								280	4:30	30	310
james								180	4:57	3	103

 

NotACon 6
2009-04-17
Cleveland, OH

name	cuffs	cell	guard	cabinet	door	ninja	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
Bruce								340	2:39	159	481
Seoci								300	3:49	229	371
Tony								180	1:56	116	364
INT-80								160	2:49	169	291
Mick								220	3:54	234	286
Schyuler*								540	4:01	241	599
* Schulyer's run was incredible, but unofficial since he is a TOOOL member and was on staff here at this conference. The link is here, however, so that you can view the video and enjoy his skills. Heh, there were actually quite a few interesting "unofficial" runs of Gringo Warrior at NotACon 6. Poke around YouTube to see if you can find them. Be advised, many of them are NSFW.

 

TRISC
2009-03-24
Austin, TX

name

cuffs

cell

guard

cabinet

door

ninja

car

points

time

bonus

score

video

Dietch*

450

4:54

6

456

Steve

140

1:42

198

338

* Dietch picked the hard cell door successfully, but in the wrong direction... garnering him half points for that stage.

 

CanSecWest
2009-03-18
Vancouver, BC

name	cuffs	cell	guard	cabinet	door	ninja	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
Sean*								420	2:54	126	596
Chris**								360	3:00	120	530
Alvin								380	3:29	91	471
Barkley								260	1:37	203	463
Martin								380	4:15	45	425
Mark								260	2:40	140	400
Andy								260	3:10	110	370
John								160	2:.30	150	310
Jesse								300	4:56	4	304
Sean M.								100	3:29	91	191
* Sean earned 50 bonus points for re-locking the guard back into the cell... that includes picking the lock shut once he had placed the guard inside.   ** Chris earned 50 bonus points for placing the guard back into his cell and covering him with some of his own clothes, ostensibly so that upon later inspection it would appear that the prisoner had not escaped.

 

ShmooCon 5
2009-02-08
Washington, DC

name	cuffs	cell	guard	cabinet	door	ninja	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
infonaut								420	4:27	33	453
rogueclown								390	4:50	10	400
Justin*								260	2:39	131	391
Gerry								300	3:53	67	367
sereyna								300	4:10	50	350
Chaim								270	4:04	56	326
Q								220	4:20	40	260
c4bl3fl4m3								160	4:47	13	173
Mr. Beer								100	5:00		100
* in addition to his 81 points of time bonus, Justin was awarded 50 badass points for running the course with NO proper tools... he started with nothing but a binder clip in his hands and got out of cuffs (behind his back) and escaped completely using tools he could fabricate using only those thin bits of metal.

 

DEFCON 16
2008-08-09
Las Vegas, NV

name	cuffs	cell	guard	cabinet	door	ninja	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
dosman								500	3:27	93	593
wsbpress								440	2:51	69	509
valanx								460	4:12	48	508
Schuyler								460	4:27	33	493
jgor								380	3:18	102	482
lagshot								400	4:51	9	409
Drew								360	4:15	45	405
sirus								280	3:00	120	400
Tom								300	3:42	78	378
Phil								320	4:28	32	352
Chris								280	5:00		280
Kevin								200	3:45	75	275
Larry								120	2:59	121	241

finalists' round...

name

cuffs

cell

guard

cabinet

door

ninja

car

points

time

bonus

score

video

Schuyler

580

2:39

141

721

dosman

540

2:12

168

708

valanx

460

3:00

120

580

wsbpress

460

3:07

113

573

jgor

180

4:47

13

193

 

ShakaCon II
2008-06-10
Honolulu, HI

name	cuffs	cell	guard	cabinet	door	ninja	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
Chris								380	3:53	67	447
Randall								340	3:31	89	429
Austin								140	:37	263	403
Jason*								280	5:00		280
Darren								180	3:23	97	277
Robin								180	3:35	85	265
Jeremy								220	4:18	42	262
Morgan								260	5:00		260
Jake								240	5:00		240
Darryl								200	4:42	18	218
Matt								180	5:00		180
* jason was awarded a multiplier of 6 as opposed to 5 on taking out the guard, since he was the first person to ever fully secure this assailant with a half-hog-tie type method using the cuffs that he had removed in the first stage. photos here and here.

 

LayerOne
2008-05-18
Pasadena, CA
there was no "car" stage in this incarnation of Gringo Warrior

name	cuffs	cell	guard	cabinet	door	ninja	points	time	bonus	score	video
Ella							480	1:42	198	678
CP*							420	2:00	180	600
datagram							440	3:15	105	545
sid							480	4:20	40	520
lagshot							260	4:30	30	290
merlin**							280	4:57	3	283
* CP was awarded a multiplier of 7 on stage one for escaping from two sets of handcuffs simultaneously... both of which were super-hard hinged cuffs. also, the cuffs were on quite tightly and the keyways were facing each other. ** merlin was awarded a multiplier of 6 on the guard since he not only threw his captor back into the cell, but also sodomized him with a lockpick. this actually damaged our inflatable dummy, but we felt the gesture was close enough to a late-night Cinemax plot line that it deserved a little extra credit. see video of merlin's run for more.

 

TRISC
2008-04-23
San Antonio, TX

name	cuffs	cell	guard	cabinet	door	ninja	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
Dallas								540	2:59	121	661
Jerrod								420	3:55	65	485
Dietch								340	4:25	35	375
simple nomad								240	3:22	98	338
Sam								240	3:30	90	330
Tim								140	2:30	150	290

 

ToorCon Beta
2008-04-20
Seattle, WA

name	cuffs	cell	guard	cabinet	door	ninja	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
aSmig								500	3:53	67	567
riverside								240	2:54	126	366
sirius								240	3:35	85	325
Ryan								280	4:51	9	289
tenbris								120	2:17	163	283
kaizoku								100	2:53	127	227

 

NotACon 5
2008-04-04
Cleveland, OH
we did not have a working "guard" for most of NotACon due to air leaks, and thus we opted to use the dummy as a room decoration for the Lockpick Village.

name	cuffs	cell	cabinet	door	ninja	car	points	time	bonus	score	video
Dave							320	1:21	219	539
Babak							400	3:22	98	498
dosman							300	3:01	119	419
Bruce*							240	3:52	68	308
mtch							200	3:16	104	304
Ben							100	2:02	178	278
corwin							220	4:35	25	245
Kelly							120	3:14	106	226
seoci							120	3:24	96	216
valanx**							100	4:55	105	205
shrike							80	4:50	10	90
grymstone							60	4:52	8	68
* bruce made more than one run through the Gringo course, as many friends of mine do when there is free time and no one else participating. only one attempt is given "official" status, however. the score seen here does not match the video that was captured that day, but i still included the footage since it is enjoyable to watch. ** valanx was given an extra 100 bonus points for running the entire course blindfolded if you can believe it. think we're making that up? just watch the video.

 

ShmooCon 4
2008-02-15
Washington, DC
this is the very first appearance of Gringo Warrior. while fundamentally the same concept, the game was very different back then. the course design was very basic, there were no multiple "levels" at each stage, and a pair of "exits" were possible from the fictitious jail. point values and multipliers worked differently, too. i present the summary and scores here mostly as a way to commemorate all those who participated in that very first run and as a way to link to the videos that we shot way back when.

name	cuffs	cell	guard	drawer	gun	door	ninja	points	time	bonus	score	video
Rob								180	1:36	204.0	384.0
renderman								180	1:43	131.3	311.3
Gerry								160	2:07	115.3	275.3
David								150	1:53	124.7	274.7
calypso*								125	5:00	125.0	250.0
Joe								155	2:41	92.7	247.7
sugardaddy								160	2:59	80.7	240.7
c4bl3fl4m3								160	3:15	70.0	230.0
Ryan								120	3:11	72.7	192.7
Mr. E								160	4:32	18.7	178.7
LosT								95	3:11	72.7	167.7
Jamie								105	3:37	55.3	160.3
Lisa								40	3:39	54.0	94.0
Duncan								50	5:00		50.0
* calypso opted to not only attempt wearing the US Marshal service box on her handcuffs, she also secured it with a very large padlock. when this proved to be totally un-removable, she ran the entire course in this agonizing prisoner restraint system. we chose to give her an additional 125 points (in effect, doubling her score) for her efforts and also because she is really, really cute. don't think it unfair, however, since staff members' runs through the game are unofficial anyway.  =)