How to play Sokoban
Sokoban is the warehouse puzzle: you are the keeper, the floor is cluttered with crates, and every crate has to end up on one of the marked spots. You can push a crate, but never pull one — so a single careless shove into a corner can make a level impossible.
There are 24 original levels here, from a two-push warm-up to rooms that need real planning. Clear a level to unlock the next one.
Rules
- Walk up, down, left or right. Walking into a crate pushes it one square, as long as the square behind it is empty floor.
- You can push only one crate at a time, and you can never pull. A crate pushed into a corner, or flat against a wall with no goal along it, is stuck for good.
- The level is clear when every crate stands on a goal. Crates on goals turn solid ink, so you can see at a glance what is left.
- Beside the board you can see the fewest moves each level can be solved in, worked out by an exhaustive solver. Clearing a level scores 1,000, minus 5 for every move over that number, and never less than 500.
- Your run score is the sum of your best result on every level, so replaying a level can only raise it. It is saved each time you clear a level.
Controls
- Arrows / WASD
- Walk, and push the crate in front of you
- Click / tap a floor square
- Walk there by the shortest route (it never pushes anything)
- Tap a crate next to you
- Push it one square
- Swipe
- One step in the swipe’s direction; phones also get an on-screen pad
- U / Z / Ctrl+Z
- Undo — as many moves as you like (a tapped walk undoes in one go)
- R twice
- Restart the level
- Enter / Space
- Next level after a clear
Tips
- Before pushing, ask where the crate can go next. Corners are traps unless they are goals.
- Fill the goals furthest from the door first, or the crates you deliver early will block the ones that come later.
- Leave yourself a way back round: if pushing a crate seals you into a pocket, the move is usually wrong.
- Undo is free and costs nothing on the scoreboard — only the moves in your final solution count.
Sokoban strategy
Every step counts
The target beside the board is the fewest moves, not the fewest pushes, and walking counts as moves. A clean solution keeps the keeper close to the work. Before each push, ask where you will be standing afterwards and how far you must walk to reach the next crate. Pushing one crate several squares in a straight line is cheap, because you never leave its side. Switching between crates repeatedly is where most extra moves go.
Recognise dead positions early
Corners without goals are the obvious trap, but there are others. Two crates side by side against a wall, with no goals there, can never be pulled apart. A two-by-two block filled with any mix of crates and walls freezes every crate in it, which is fatal unless each of those crates is on a goal. A crate on a wall can only slide along that wall, so it needs a goal somewhere on that stretch. When you see one of these, undo at once; continuing only wastes time.
Plan the delivery order
Look at the goals as a group before moving. If a goal sits in a dead end, the crate for it must go in first, and every later crate has to reach its goal without passing through the squares the earlier ones now block. Sometimes the right first move is to park a crate in an open square out of the way, then fetch it once the path behind it is clear. Parking costs moves, so do it once, not twice.
Replaying for a better score
A clear is worth 1,000 minus 5 for each move over the fewest possible, with a floor of 500. That floor arrives at 100 extra moves, so on long levels a messy first clear may score the minimum. Your run keeps only your best result per level, and undo is free, so replaying is pure upside. Tapping a floor square always walks the shortest route, which is a safe way to cut wasted steps between pushes.
About Sokoban
Sokoban — Japanese for “warehouse keeper” — was created by Hiroyuki Imabayashi and released by Thinking Rabbit in Japan in 1982. Its rules fit in two sentences, which is exactly why it became one of the most cloned puzzle games in history, and a favourite test problem for computer-science researchers: solving it in general is known to be PSPACE-complete.
The levels here are our own. Each warehouse was drawn by hand, the crates for the harder rooms were placed with the help of a search for the trickiest starting positions, and every level was checked by a solver that also counts the fewest moves it needs — the target you are scored against.
Questions
Are these the original Sokoban levels?
No. All 24 levels were designed for this site, and each one has been verified as solvable by a computer solver that also finds the shortest solution.
How is the score calculated?
Each cleared level is worth 1,000 points, minus 5 for every move beyond the fewest possible, and never less than 500. Your run score adds up your best result on each level, so it only ever goes up.
Does undo cost points?
No. Only the moves left in your final solution count, so undo as much as you like.
Is my progress saved?
Yes, in this browser: the levels you have cleared, your best moves on each, and the level you are in the middle of.