Games Like Unblock Me: Sliding Block and Car Puzzles Online
Updated
Games like Unblock Me are sliding puzzles: pieces sit on a board, each one slides only along its own lane, and you clear a path so one special piece can leave. Unblock Me is a puzzle app by Kiragames that has been on the App Store since 2009. The games below are original titles by independent studios, with cars, a bear, a bird and a boat as the piece you free.
How Unblock Me plays
In Unblock Me you slide blocks around a wooden board until the red block can slide out. Its store listing states the goal plainly: slide the red block out.
The rule behind it is the one Wikipedia gives for the related Klotski puzzle: pieces may only slide horizontally and vertically, and are never lifted out. In games like it, a long block lying sideways goes left and right, and an upright one goes up and down.
That makes the puzzle a matter of order. Every blocker needs a free lane to move into, and sometimes you have to free one blocker before you can free the piece you want.
| What you do in Unblock Me | Games that ask the same |
|---|---|
| Slide pieces along their lanes | Brain Jam, Traffic Escapee, Traffic Jam Car Puzzle Game |
| Get one special piece out | Brain Jam, Traffic Escapee, Nest Quest, BearShift |
| Clear a path in the right order | Car Jam Escape, Bus Mania: Parking Puzzle, ChillPaths |
| Use as few moves as you can | Brain Jam, Traffic Escapee |
Sliding cars out of a jam
The nearest matches swap the wooden blocks for cars: slide the blockers aside and the red car drives out.
Brain Jam lets you drag a car along its lane with the mouse or a finger, and cars move only forward and back. You slide the cars out of the way and drive the red one out through the exit on the right. It has 120 hand-checked levels, a Hint button for when you are stuck and a Daily Puzzle that is the same for every player. Its description says there are no timers and no lives. The twist is a live counter of the calories your brain burns while you think, and solving a level in par moves earns a bonus.
Traffic Escapee starts with a red car stuck in traffic. You tap and drag a car to slide it along its lane, and steer the red car to the exit on the right. It has 124 hand-crafted levels across 12 worlds, three stars for perfect solutions and a new Daily Challenge every day.
Traffic Jam Car Puzzle Game describes gridlocked cars that each move in a fixed direction. You slide cars and trucks to make a free path and help the main car escape, and it lists the mouse as the control.
Car Move Game has you slide cars and clear the path through levels that get harder as you go. It lists the mouse too.
Freeing a bear, a bird or a boat
Not every piece is a car. In these, an animal or a boat waits behind the blockers.
Animal Klotski fills the board with animal-shaped blocks, and you slide them to help the pink rabbit escape. You click and drag to play.
Nest Quest asks you to slide blocks so a lost bird can reach its nest. It has over 40 handcrafted levels. On a phone you tap and drag blocks the way you want them to go, and on a computer you use the mouse.
BearShift boxes a bear in with blocks. You move them so the bear has a way to the open gate.
ChillPaths is set in an icy world: you slide frozen bars and clear the way for a little boat, moving the blocks in the right order.
Tap a piece to send it away
In these, you tap a piece and it goes off on its own. The planning is the same as in a sliding puzzle: which piece has a free path right now?
Car Jam Escape has you clear a crowded parking lot by moving cars in the right order. A car only moves forward, in the direction it faces, so you click or tap it after checking that its path is clear.
Bus Mania: Parking Puzzle has you tap buses to move them in the direction of their arrows, clear the parking area and match passengers with buses of the right color. On a computer you select a bus with the left mouse button.
Cow Jam Farm puzzle turns a farm into a traffic jam, with cows stuck in crowded paths, and you help every one of them escape. You click or tap to play.
More puzzles that send cars out of a lot are covered in parking games tips, and the other kinds of puzzle are in puzzle games online.
Tips for sliding puzzles
- Start at the exit. Ask which block stands in front of it, then which block stands in front of that one.
- Count the free squares along a lane before you drag. A piece can only go as far as the empty space allows.
- Move the blocker that opens the most room first. A slide that makes space for two other pieces beats one that makes space for a single piece.
- Use the hint when you are stuck. Brain Jam has a Hint button that shows the next good move.
- Replay a solved level for fewer moves. Brain Jam pays a bonus for par moves and Traffic Escapee gives three stars for perfect solutions.
Games like Unblock Me FAQ
Can I play games like Unblock Me online for free?
Yes. The games above play free in the browser, with no install and no registration. Unblock Me is a puzzle app, and these are original sliding puzzles by independent studios. More are in the puzzle games category.
What is a sliding block puzzle?
A puzzle where pieces can only slide in straight lines on a board and one piece has to reach an exit or a marked spot. The games here use cars, buses, animals and a boat in place of plain blocks.
How do you solve a sliding block puzzle?
Work backwards from the exit: find what blocks it, then what blocks that, and move the pieces in that order. The tips above add a few habits, such as counting free squares and replaying for fewer moves.
Can I play these without downloading an app?
Yes, they all run in the browser. Brain Jam says it works on a phone and a desktop, Nest Quest lists tap and drag for mobile, and Car Jam Escape takes a click or a tap. The site works in the browser of a phone, a tablet and a computer.
Start at the exit, work backwards, and a jam comes apart one slide at a time.
