Sokoban
Sokoban, created in 1981, is a puzzle game where players push boxes to storage locations on a grid. It has various adaptations and is known for its computational complexity.
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Sokoban is a puzzle video game created by Hiroyuki Imabayashi in 1981, where players push boxes in a warehouse to designated storage locations. The game features a grid layout with walls and boxes, and players can only push boxes into empty squares, not pull them. The objective is to move all boxes to their respective storage spots, requiring careful planning to avoid creating unsolvable scenarios. Initially released in Japan in 1982, Sokoban became popular, selling over 400,000 copies before its U.S. release in 1988. The game has been adapted for various platforms, including home computers, consoles, and mobile devices. Sokoban has also been the subject of scientific research, revealing its computational complexity, as solving its puzzles is NP-hard and PSPACE-complete. Various game variants have emerged, introducing different mechanics, such as multiple pushers or alternative objectives. Notable releases include "Soko-Ban" for IBM PCs and "Sokoban Touch" for mobile devices. The game remains influential in both gaming and computational theory, serving as a testbed for planning techniques and automated solvers.
- Sokoban was created in 1981 and became commercially successful in Japan.
- The game involves pushing boxes to storage locations on a grid, requiring strategic planning.
- It has been adapted for numerous platforms, including mobile and consoles.
- Sokoban puzzles are computationally complex, classified as NP-hard and PSPACE-complete.
- Various game variants have been developed, expanding on the original mechanics.
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6 commentsIf you're interested in trying to make your own variations on Sokoban-like games, PuzzleScript[1] is tailor-made for the task, with a fascinating declarative approach to describing game rules.
A Sokoban-like game can also be an excellent way to familiarize yourself with a new game engine or graphics toolkit. My own project, Decker, includes a very short Sokoban to demonstrate how one might make turn-based tile-oriented games.[2]
[0] https://www.hempuli.com/baba/
https://www.archim.org.uk/eureka/archive/Eureka-54.pdf#page=...
It started as a game jam entry for Ludum Dare, but after the great feedback I decided it was simple enough to go for a full release.
- https//smitner.studio/hazardpay
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