Sokoban
Also known as a warehouse puzzle, crate pusher, box mover or storehouse puzzle.
You are in a warehouse. Walk around and shove boxes until every one sits on a target. You can only push — never pull — so a box shoved into a corner is stuck there for good, and the order you move things in is the whole puzzle. Every board here comes with the fewest pushes it can possibly be done in, worked out in advance by a solver that searches by push count. Finishing is one thing. Matching that number is the real game.
Daily Puzzle
Settings
Arrow keys, swipe, or tap a square beside you. Walking into a box pushes it.
How to play Sokoban — the rules
- Goal: get every box onto a target square. Targets are the circles on the floor.
- Walk with the arrow keys, by swiping, or by tapping a square next to you. Walking into a box pushes it one square.
- You can only push, never pull, and only one box at a time. A box with a wall or another box behind it will not move.
- A box shoved into a corner can never be moved again. We tint those red as a warning — but a box can get stuck in other ways too, so the warning is not a promise.
- Only pushes are counted against the target number; walking around is free. Undo as much as you like.
Keyboard: arrow keys or WASD to move, U or Backspace to undo.
What the badge means: these boards are built in advance, and before any of them ships, a solver that shares no code with the board builder is handed nothing but the board. It searches by number of pushes, so the first solution it reaches is by definition the shortest one possible. A board is only included if that solver actually solved it — and the number you see above the grid is the solver’s answer, not the builder’s. Every board in the collection is re-checked before release.
Strategy and tips
How to Play Sokoban: seven techniques, and how to spot a deadlock
Frequently asked questions
What is the box push puzzle?
A warehouse puzzle where you shove boxes onto target squares. You can only push, so you have to think about which side of a box you need to stand on before you get there. It is also known as a crate pusher or warehouse puzzle.
What does the "fewest pushes" number mean?
It is the smallest number of pushes the board can possibly be finished in. It is not an estimate and not the builder’s own solution — it comes from a solver that explores by push count, so the first solution it finds is the shortest one that exists. Finishing in more pushes still counts as solved; matching the number is the challenge.
Can I get stuck?
Yes, and that is part of it. Push a box into a corner and it is there forever. We tint corner-stuck boxes red, but that only catches the obvious case — boxes can also be stranded along a wall or jammed against each other. Rather than claim to detect every dead end, we flag the one we can be sure about and leave undo one tap away.
Are the boards generated while I play?
No, they are built ahead of time. Making a board that needs a decent number of pushes takes many attempts, and proving the minimum takes a full search — far more than is reasonable to make you wait for. So we do it in advance and ship a collection of boards that have already passed.
Is the daily board the same for everyone?
Yes. Each day picks one board from the collection using a public seed, so every player worldwide gets the same one. It changes at midnight in your local time.