writings | sokobanlikes

SokobanLikes: Mechanical Variations
Drew Davidson

Well Played: For the Love of Games. Ed. Drew Davidson. Pittsburgh, PA: Play Story Press, 2024.

Image 1: Sokoban (1982). Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sokoban-1982_20240412

When thinking about a game that has meant a lot to me, I was going back and forth between considering a large game that impacted me when I first played it (Zork, Myst), or looking at a smaller game I found myself playing across the years (Words with Friends, Cut the Rope). Nintendo has a lot of games that sit in the middle between these two poles, with some fantastic games that they keep re-releasing on each new console, and I keep buying them (almost any Super Mario game). Considering smaller games and daily puzzle games (Puzzmo, various Crosswords) led me to focus even more granularly on gameplay mechanics themselves and how they are borrowed, evolved, and combined to produce new and engaging gameplay experiences. With that in mind, a foundational gameplay mechanic I'd like to discuss is one (started?) in Sokoban, a 2D puzzle game first released in 1982 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokoban).

Image 2: Sokoban Online (2011). Retrieved from: https://www.sokobanonline.com/

While I don't think I played the original Sokoban at the time, I have played dozens upon dozens of games with puzzle mechanics inspired by Sokoban. Soko-ban, "warehouse keeper," is set in a warehouse represented by a grid of squares with floor sections, wall sections, boxes, and storage locations. As a player, you move your character around the warehouse one grid at a time and push (but not pull) all the boxes around the floorplan and onto storage loca- tions. The puzzling element comes from the overall layout of the warehouse, the placement of boxes and storage locations, and the fact that you can only push the boxes, not pull them. So you have to figure out how to make your way around the spaces without getting yourself trapped by too many boxes piled up in your way, blocking movement, or finding yourself unable to get the final box to the last storage location. From this simple premise, sequels to the original game were released, and you can still play it online with daily puzzle versions made by the community.

Image 3: Sokoban (1984). Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/msdos_Soko-Ban_1984

Since then, millions of puzzles inspired by Sokoban have been created. In the same way that games inspired by the foundational mechanics of the game Rogue are called roguelikes (For more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike), I'm going to call games inspired by Sokoban, sokobanlikes. For the rest of this essay, I will explore a handful of the sokobanlike variants to show the exciting and diverse range of creative gameplay experiences. These are all examples I've played enough to feel comfortable discussing, and they're just a drop in the ocean of what is out there (see the sokobanlikes section below for more).

Image 4: Quell (2010). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/344480/Quell/

I've played all the Quell games. Quell (2010) is a 2D game released on the iPhone, followed by three sequels; Quell: Reflect (2011), Quell: Memento (2013), and Quell: Zen (2016). The foundational sokoban mechanics are there from the start, but the overall aesthetic is more meditative and peaceful. You're now moving a raindrop around to touch golden balls. A wrinkle in your movement is now when you move in a direction; you automatically move across the grid until the wall or another object stops you. As you play, more puzzle elements (such as blocks, gates, spikes, switches, and more) are added to the mix to provide a gently scaffolded difficulty curve as you play through the puzzles.

Image 5: Sokobond (2013). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/290260/Sokobond/

Around the same time, I also played Sokobond (2013), a 2D game that adds a little educational content as you control various atoms. Getting an atom close to another causes them to bond, forming an elemental compound. These compounds also make for larger shapes that you then have to contend with navigating through the puzzles.

Image 6: Pudding Monsters (2012). Retrieved from: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pudding-monsters/id569185650

Pudding Monsters (2012) is an isometric 2D game where you also change shapes depending on how you make your way through the puzzle but with no overt educational content. Here, you play as monsters made of pudding, and when you touch another, your shape grows to combine the two monsters together. And like the other sokobanlikes, new puzzle elements are added as you play through puzzles.

Image 7: Passage (2007). Retreived from: https://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/

Thinking of sokobanlikes in which your player character changes size, causing you to adjust how you move through space, reminded me of Jason Rohrer's 2D game Passage (2007). While it may be a bit of a stretch to think of Passage as a sokobanlike, it is a game where you have to move your character through the maze of your life, and if you get married, you now have to move both characters through the space together. It's an evocative experience of how we make our way through our lives.

Image 8: SokoChess (2022, top). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1960400/SokoChess/
SokoSolitaire (2023, bottom). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2318680/SokoSolitaire/

Other games stretch sokoban mechanics by combining them with mechanics from classic games, like solitaire and chess, to make for unique but familiar, sokobanlike variations. In SokoChess (2022), you move your chess pieces around a 2D board, but the opposing chess pieces can capture your pieces, so you have to consider this as you move through the puzzles. Similarly, in SokoSolitaire (2023), you move through the 2D puzzles while having to stack cards solitaire-style in order to solve the puzzle.

Image 9: Yankai's Peak (2017). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/654910/YANKAIS_PEAK/

And some games have a different number of sides in the polygon grid tiles. Yankai's Peak (2017) mixes up the 2D grid, going from squares to triangles. This change opens up the puzzling in new ways explored across the levels.

Image 10: A Monster's Expedition (2020). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1052990/A_Monsters_Expedition/

For something completely different, A Monster's Expedition (2020) wraps a wondrous 2D isometric open world around the core mechanics. You play as the monster as you puzzle across and around islands and have to move logs to get around. Depending on whether you approach the log from the side or end, it changes how it moves (one or two spaces) or rolls until it hits an obstacle or into the water. You puzzle your way around as you explore hundreds of islands.

Image 11: Red's Kingdom (2018). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/541240/Reds_Kingdom/

Similarly, Red's Kingdom (2018) has a large 2D isometric storyworld, offbeat humor full of puns, and a hero's quest. You play as Red, a squirrel tasked with regaining the Golden Nut and saving the kingdom from the Mad King Mac. You make your way through the world and gain abilities, like a flying suit, that help you advance in new ways across the puzzles.

Image 12: Slayway Camp (2016). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/530390/Slayaway_Camp/

Taking humor in another direction, Slayaway Camp (2016) is a 2D isometric homage to 80's horror films. You play as Skullface, the killer in a movie scenario (e.g., Friday the 13th out in the woods), where you puzzle through the forest to slay the terrified campers. If you get too close to the campers, they will try to escape by moving away from you, so you must plan your puzzling accordingly. The game runs with this context, in which the packs of puzzles are represented as VHS tapes, and each "movie" has its own locale and challenges. You can also dial the "gorosity" of the killings up and down depending on your tastes for cartoony gore.

Image 13: Stephen's Sausage Roll (2016). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/353540/Stephens_Sausage_Roll/

Rolling with the theme of humor in games, in Stephen's Sausage Roll (2016), players need to roll sausage links onto the grill to cook them. This wacky premise is combined with some of the most fiendishly designed sokobanlike puzzles. This 2D isometric game was lauded for how difficult it is.

Image 14: Baba Is You (2019). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/Baba_Is_You/

Another game known for its difficult and tricky puzzles is Baba Is You (2019). In this 2D game, you move characters and objects in the puzzle. The twist is that you can also move word tiles and combine them to manipulate the rules to help you complete the puzzle. It's a heady meta-puzzling experience as you ponder the various ways to get through the puzzles.

Image 15: Patrick's Parabox (2022). Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/Patricks_Parabox/

For some inceptionlike (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception) mind-bending puzzles, in Patrick's Parabox (2022), the player not only pushes blocks around, but they can also push boxes into and out of each other to complete the puzzle. The 2D puzzles keep adding infinity and recursion dynamics into the mix to create a challenging difficulty curve.

Image 16: Push Fight (2008). Retrieved from: https://www.pushfightgame.com/

Believe it or not, there are some tabletop boardgame sokobanlikes. Push Fight (2008) is a 2-player game that might not seem directly inspired by Sokoban, but it does incorporate the idea of pushing pieces around a grid. The board has two sides with rails, and the goal is to push one of your opponent's pieces off the open sides of the board. There are some elegant rules involved with player turns and how you move in relation to open spaces and your opponent's pieces, how you can anchor your piece in place after a move, and how you must push one of your opponent's pieces every turn. It all comes together to make for a game full of strategy, as you have to think about the whole board when considering what to do.

This essay has been less of a deep dive into a game and more of a meditation on the impact and influence a game can have through its mechanics and the variants it inspires. It started with a warehouse keeper storing boxes and developed into raindrops, pudding, squirrels, sausages, and more. These sokobanlikes are great examples of how these various mechanical variations can start with similar foundational gameplay mechanics and then evolve, combine, and stretch them in surprising new directions. As you can see from the list below, countless more examples can be found. On the one hand, it wouldn't be unfair to say, "Oh, it's just another sokoban game." On the other, as the above shows, you can take something familiar and give it a twist, making for a well played experience across many, many games.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A huge thank you to everyone who answered my call for sokobanlikes, sharing specific games and tips for searching through various app and game store platforms. Below is a crazy long list that helps further underscore my point on sokobanlike variants. And this is far from exhaustive; while compiling it I came across several more examples. The list was only possible with everyone's input. The links below all worked when checked in October 2024.

REFERENCES

Inception. (2024, October). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception
Roguelike. (2024, October). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike
Sokoban. (2024, October). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokoban

SOKOBANLIKES

DIGITAL

BOARDGAMES

Dao (1999). Ajax Games. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/948/dao
Push Fight (2008). Brettco. https://www.pushfightgame.com/
Push the Box Master (n.d.). Veilxty. https://www.amazon.com/Veilxty-Puzzle-Challenge-Game-Intelligent/dp/B0D62ZKHQ4
Relics of Rajavihara (2021). Crazy Like a Box. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/308493/relics-rajavihara
Richochet Robots (1999). Hans im Gluck. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/51/ricochet-robots