Games Like Sokoban: Box-Pushing Puzzles to Play Online
Updated
Games like Sokoban are grid puzzles where you push boxes onto marked spots, and a box can only be pushed, never pulled. Sokoban was created in 1981 by Hiroyuki Imabayashi, according to Wikipedia. The games below are original titles by independent studios, from plain crate pushers to puzzles where a toad, a frog or a worm does the pushing.
How Sokoban plays
You play the warehouse keeper, which is what the Japanese name means. The board is a grid of squares with walls, boxes and storage spots. You walk one square at a time in four directions, and walking into a box pushes it one square, as long as the square behind it is empty. You win when every box sits on a storage spot.
The rule that bites is the one about pulling. Wikipedia names the main danger a deadlock: a box or the player becomes trapped for good and the puzzle can no longer be solved. A box pushed into a corner is the plainest case, because it can never move again.
| What you do in Sokoban | Games that ask the same |
|---|---|
| Push boxes onto marked spots | Pusha Pusha, Jigsaw: Pusha Pusha, Push It 3D |
| Push, never pull | Dead End Depot |
| Walk with the arrow keys or WASD | Jigsaw: Pusha Pusha, Worm Path, Dead End Depot |
| Avoid a move that gets a box stuck | Pusha Pusha, Block Push Game, Worm Path, Dead End Depot |
Games that push boxes onto marked spots
Pusha Pusha is the plainest match: you push boxes into the target area to pass the level, and its description warns that one wrong move can lose the game. It plays with the keyboard.
Jigsaw: Pusha Pusha has you walk and push crates with the arrow keys or W, A, S, D. Your goal is to place each crate onto an altar.
Push It 3D shows the boxes in a 3D view. You push them to the specified positions to reach the next level, over several levels, and you play with the mouse or a tap.
Dead End Depot is the one that spells out the rule: push, but never pull. It is a warehouse puzzle where every parcel has to be delivered to the gate with the matching color and symbol, and moving the wrong parcel first can block the entire warehouse. It has 60 handcrafted stages, parcels of several sizes, conveyors, one-way floors, teleporters and fragile tiles. You move with the arrow keys or WASD, swipe on the board or use on-screen arrows. R restarts, Z undoes a move and Esc pauses.
Block Push Game asks you to move and push blocks into the correct positions. Its description says it starts easy and grows more complex, and warns that one wrong move can block your path. Its instructions mention the mouse.
Push Block says to use your finger to push all the blocks to their destination and to watch for obstacles on the road.
Push puzzles with a character and a twist
Sokoban's hero is a plain warehouse keeper. Here the pushing is done by animals and a robot.
Pharaoh Puzzle has you move a toad with the mouse to push stones into their marked positions. The toad can also use its tongue to get further, and it has to stay out of the black holes.
Tank Push sends a brave frog across a battlefield. You push tanks into the correct positions, open gates, avoid traps and get past enemy defenses to escape.
Worm Path guides a worm through mazes to the exit. You move across tiles, push blocks, avoid obstacles and plan every step so that you do not get stuck. You play with A, S, D, W or the arrow buttons.
The Space Mover bends the rule: a robot uses magnetic power to move boxes and places each target block in the correct position. On a computer WASD moves, Space jumps and E interacts, and on mobile you use the on-screen buttons.
More puzzles of every kind are in the puzzle games category and the brain games collection, and brain games online sorts them by the kind of thinking they ask for.
Tips for push puzzles
- Look before you push. Ask where the box can still go afterwards. A box in a corner can never leave it.
- Leave room to walk. You need a free square behind a box to push it, so a box tight against a wall may be out of reach from the side you need.
- Plan from the targets backwards. Work out which box has the hardest spot to reach and how it gets there first. Dead End Depot warns that moving the wrong parcel first can block the whole warehouse.
- Undo instead of restarting when a game offers it. Dead End Depot lists Z to undo a move and R to restart the level.
- Remember the one-box rule. In Sokoban you can only push one box at a time, so two boxes in a row in your push direction stop you. Check whether the game you open keeps that rule.
Games like Sokoban FAQ
What are puzzle games like Sokoban?
Puzzles on a grid where you push boxes, stones or other pieces onto marked spots and plan so that nothing gets stuck. The games above use crates, stones, tanks, blocks and parcels, and the puzzles often come with a small cast: a toad, a frog, a worm or a robot.
How do you play Sokoban?
You walk one square at a time and push a box by walking into it. Boxes cannot be pulled, and you push one at a time. The puzzle is solved when every box is on a storage spot, and the section on how it plays above covers the main danger, a box stuck for good.
Can I play Sokoban-style games online for free?
Yes. The games above play free in the browser, with no install and no registration. Sokoban is the original name, and these are original push puzzles by independent studios.
Can I play these on a phone?
Some of them. Push It 3D lists a tap, Push Block lists a finger, Dead End Depot takes a swipe on the board and The Space Mover has on-screen buttons. Pusha Pusha lists the keyboard, so read each game's controls first. The site works in the browser of a phone, a tablet and a computer. For the keys most games use, see keyboard controls for browser games.
Look before you push, watch the corners, and every box finds its spot.
