Push all boxes onto the targets
Sokoban (meaning "warehouse keeper" in Japanese) is a classic transport puzzle game created by Hiroyuki Imabayashi in 1981. The player pushes boxes around a warehouse, trying to place them on designated storage locations. With simple rules but deep strategy, Sokoban has become one of the most studied puzzles in computer science and artificial intelligence.
You control a warehouse worker who can move up, down, left, or right on a grid. When you walk into a box, you push it one space in that direction. You can only push one box at a time — if two boxes are adjacent, you cannot push through them. Boxes cannot be pulled, only pushed. The goal is to push every box onto a target marker. Plan carefully, because one wrong push can make the puzzle unsolvable. Use the undo button to backtrack and try different approaches.
Start by identifying which box goes to which target. Work backwards from the goal state — figure out where each box needs to end up, then plan the path to push it there. Avoid pushing boxes into corners or against walls where they become stuck. Use the undo button freely to experiment with different approaches.
The key trick is to think in reverse. Before pushing a box, ask yourself: can I still reach every position I need to after this push? Avoid creating deadlocks — situations where a box is stuck and can never reach a target. Common deadlocks include boxes in corners and boxes lined up against walls with no target on that wall.
Sokoban is proven to be NP-hard, meaning the difficulty grows exponentially with puzzle size. Each push is irreversible (you cannot pull boxes), so one wrong move can make the puzzle unsolvable. The challenge comes from the combinatorial explosion of possible states and the need to plan many moves ahead.
Last Updated March 2026