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Move your character with arrow keys or WASD. Walking into a box pushes it one cell in that direction, provided the cell beyond the box is empty. You cannot push two boxes simultaneously, and you cannot pull boxes at all. Target squares are marked on the floor. Push every box onto a target to complete the level. Most implementations offer an undo function, which is essential since mistakes can make levels unrecoverable without restarting.
The most important skill in Sokoban is spotting deadlocks before they happen. A box pushed into any corner that is not a target is permanently stuck. More subtle are deadlocks involving multiple boxes that block each other against walls. Before pushing a box into a tight space, trace all possible future positions it could reach. If no path leads to a target, do not make the push. Developing this foresight dramatically reduces the need to restart.
Sokoban was created by Hiroyuki Imabayashi and released in Japan in 1982. The name translates roughly to warehouse keeper, reflecting its premise of a worker organizing crates. The game became widely known in the West through shareware distributions in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its design principles, particularly the tension between freedom of movement and irreversibility, influenced countless subsequent puzzle games. Fan-created level packs number in the millions and span every difficulty level imaginable.
The most frequent error is pushing a box toward a target before clearing the path the box itself will need later. Because you can only push and never pull, a box shoved against a wall mid-level often blocks the very lane another box must travel through. Beginners also tend to solve targets in the order they notice them rather than the order the layout allows; the closest target is not always the one to fill first. Another trap is moving your character into a dead-end alley, then realizing the only box you need is now behind you with no room to reposition. Before committing, ask which boxes must reach which targets, then work out which pushes are reversible by re-approaching from another side. When in doubt, leave a box on open floor rather than parking it where a wall removes a future push direction.
Sokoban levels scale not by adding speed but by adding boxes and tightening corridors. Early levels usually have one or two boxes with multiple approach lanes, so almost any order works. Mid-tier levels introduce shared corridors where the order of pushes becomes the entire puzzle. Expert sets, such as the well-known Grigr and XSokoban collections, can require dozens of boxes and hundreds of moves with a single correct solution. To improve, practice solving small levels backward in your head: picture each box already on its target, then imagine the last push that placed it, and trace which open square you would have pushed from. This reverse reasoning quickly reveals which targets are reachable from only one direction and must therefore be planned first.
No. The warehouse keeper can only push, never pull, which is the rule that makes Sokoban hard. If a box reaches a corner that is not a target, it is permanently stuck. Use the undo or restart option to recover rather than trying to free it.
Curated level packs are tested to be solvable, but a single wrong push can move a position into an unsolvable state mid-play. The level stays winnable only as long as you avoid permanent deadlocks. Once a box is corner-locked off-target, restart or undo is your only path forward.
Completing the level requires every box on a target, and step count does not block a win. Many versions, however, track your move and push totals so you can chase a tighter solution. Competitive Sokoban scoring rewards the fewest pushes, not the fastest time.
A box against a wall can only slide along that wall, never away from it. Before pushing one to a wall, confirm its target lies somewhere along that same wall line. If the target is off the wall, keep the box on open floor where you retain all four push directions.
Fill targets that can be reached from only one direction first, since those pushes are the most constrained. Save targets in open areas, which you can approach from several sides, for last. Solving the flexible targets early often blocks the corridors the constrained boxes still need.