Sokoban | |
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![]() Sokoban official fan kit banner | |
Genre(s) | Puzzle |
Developer(s) | Thinking Rabbit ASCII Unbalance |
Publisher(s) | Thinking Rabbit ASCII Unbalance |
Creator(s) | Hiroyuki Imabayashi |
Platform(s) |
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First release | Sokoban 1982 |
Latest release | The Sokoban 2021 |
Sokoban [a] is a series of puzzle video games in which the player pushes boxes around in a warehouse, trying to get them to storage locations. Hiroyuki Imabayashi created the first Sokoban game in 1981 as a personal project. It was the basis for the first commercial release, published in Japan in 1982 by his company Thinking Rabbit for the NEC PC-8801 computer. Ports and new titles were released for various platforms over the years. Sokoban became popular in Japan and internationally, and the series has remained active, with the most recent title released in 2021. Sokoban has inspired unofficial versions, thousands of custom puzzles, similar games, and artificial intelligence research.
The warehouse is composed of walls and pathways. Pathways are connected floor squares. A floor square may be empty, occupied by the player, or occupied by a box. A number of floor squares, equal to the number of boxes, are marked as storage locations. The objective of the puzzle is to push all boxes onto storage locations. [1]
The player can move one square at a time, either horizontally or vertically, onto empty floor squares. [2] Boxes and walls block the player's movement, but the player can walk up to a box and push it to an empty square directly beyond it. If a box is pushed against a wall or another box, it does not move. Boxes cannot be pulled. [3]
Playing Sokoban requires thinking several steps ahead and visualizing all possible outcomes. [4] Players should think carefully and thoroughly before pushing a box to prevent it getting trapped against a wall or other boxes. [5] A bad move can cause a deadlock, a situation from which the puzzle cannot be solved, regardless of subsequent moves. [6]
Common deadlocks are: [7]
In 1981, Hiroyuki Imabayashi created the first Sokoban game as a personal project for the NEC PC-8001 computer. The game used text-based graphics and featured five challenging levels designed by him. For the core mechanic, he was inspired by one part of the gameplay of Hudson Soft's 1980 action game, Aldebaran #1, for the MZ-80K, [8] where the player pushed luggage to act as a wall to prevent radiation. Imabayashi conceptualized that in the warehouse, the boxes had to be organized, but they themselves also became obstacles in the process. He enjoyed playing the game with friends at his home. During this time, his wife's family had owned a disc record store that had a small computer corner. By chance, a salesman saw the game and suggested that it would sell. Imabayashi ported the game to the more advanced NEC PC-8801 computer from the store's corner, enhancing the graphics and expanding the levels to 20. In 1982, he founded his company, Thinking Rabbit, based in Takarazuka, Japan, and in December released this PC-8801 version as the first commercial Sokoban game. [9] [10] [11] [12]
In subsequent years, ports and new titles for various home computers and video game consoles were released, developed by Thinking Rabbit or other companies under license. [13] [14]
In 1988, Spectrum HoloByte published Sokoban in the U.S. for the IBM PC, Commodore 64, and Apple II as Soko-Ban, [15] licensed by ASCII. [16]
In 1990, FCI released Boxxle for the Game Boy in both North America and Europe, [17] followed by Boxxle II in 1992. [18]
Between 1996 and 2000, several Sokoban games were released for Windows and PlayStation in Japan. [19] [20] [21]
In 2001, the Japanese software company Falcon acquired the copyright to the official Sokoban games and the trademarks for Sokoban and Thinking Rabbit. [22] Since then, Falcon has continued to develop and license official Sokoban games.
Between 2004 and 2007, several Sokoban titles for Japanese mobile phones were distributed through i-mode by Square Enix and Dwango. [23] [24]
Since its debut in 1982, Sokoban has been released on various platforms, primarily in Japan but also in other regions. Most titles are independent without a continuous narrative, though a few are direct sequels to a specific earlier release—for example, Sokoban 2 (1984) follows Sokoban (1982), and Sokoban Revenge (1991) is a sequel to Sokoban Perfect (1989). The following table lists a selection of official Sokoban titles. [25]
Region | Year | Title | Platform | Developer | Publisher |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Japan | 1982-1983 | Sokoban (倉庫番) | NEC PC-8801 NEC PC-6001mkII Sharp MZ-2000 Sharp X1 | Thinking Rabbit | Thinking Rabbit |
1983 | Sokoban Extra Edition (倉庫番[番外編]) [26] | NEC PC-8801 | PC Magazine | ||
1984 | Sokoban 2 (倉庫番2) [27] | NEC PC-8801 NEC PC-8001mkII Fujitsu FM-7 Sharp X1 | Thinking Rabbit | ||
1986 | Namida no Sokoban Special (涙の倉庫番スペシャル) | Famicom Disk System | ASCII | ASCII | |
1989 | Sokoban Perfect (倉庫番Perfect) | NEC PC-9801 Sharp X68000 Sharp X1 MSX2 | Thinking Rabbit | Thinking Rabbit | |
1991 | Sokoban Revenge (倉庫番Revenge) | NEC PC-9801 | Thinking Rabbit | Thinking Rabbit | |
1993 | Super Sokoban (Super倉庫番) | Super Famicom | Thinking Rabbit | Pack-In-Video | |
1999 | Power Sokoban (Power倉庫番) | Super Famicom | Nintendo | Nintendo | |
2018 | Sokoban Smart (倉庫番スマート) | Windows | Falcon | Thinking Rabbit | |
North America | 1988 | Soko-Ban | IBM PC Commodore64 Apple II | ASCII | Spectrum HoloByte |
TRS-80 Color Computer 2 | Spectral Associates | Tandy Corporation | |||
1990 | Boxxle | Game Boy | Atelier Double | FCI | |
1990 | Shove It! The Warehouse Game | Sega Genesis | NCS | DreamWorks | |
1990 | Boxyboy | TurboGrafx-16 | Media Rings | NEC | |
1992 | Boxxle II | Game Boy | Atelier Double | FCI | |
Worldwide | 2016 | Sokoban Touch | Android iOS | Falcon | Thinking Rabbit |
2021 | The Sokoban | Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 | Unbalance | Unbalance |
In an October 1983 review, Pasocom Game Ranking Book scored Sokoban (1982) 94 out of 100 points. [28] A December 1983 issue of MICOMGAMES described the game as highly addictive, noting that "once you start playing, it's hard to stop" (translated from Japanese). [29] By June 1984, the developer reported that the game had sold 22,000 copies in Japan, [30] and by March 1985, it had reached 30,000 copies. [31]
Spectrum Holobyte reported that Sokoban was a hit in Japan, selling over 400,000 copies there before the 1988 release of the title Soko-Ban in the United States. [32]
In 1988, Soko-Ban received a positive review for its IBM PC and Commodore 64 versions from Computer Gaming World , which described the game as simple yet mentally challenging and noted its addictive nature. [33] In Dragon magazine, reviewers rated the IBM PC version 4½ out of 5 stars. [34] In Computer Entertainer newsletter, the Apple II version was recommended and received 3½ out of 4 stars for graphics and the same rating for gameplay and entertainment. [35]
In 1990 issues of Game Player's magazine, Tom R. Halfhill reviewed several console Sokoban games. He reviewed Shove It!, noting it was a challenging game that required players to carefully plan their moves and that its unhurried pace was a refreshing respite from frenzied action games, although all 160 puzzles were essentially the same. [36] He reviewed Boxxle, stating that it also required careful planning or plenty of trial and error (usually both), and that its gameplay could become repetitive because the only variations in the 108 screens were the number and arrangement of crates and the shape of the rooms. [37] He reviewed Boxyboy, highlighting its logical, untimed puzzles and describing it as a welcome change from typical action games. He noted that it was "virtually identical" to Shove It! and Boxxle. [38]
The name Sokoban is a registered trademark for video game titles. However, the core mechanic—pushing boxes to storage locations on a grid—is not protected by copyright or patent. This has allowed the widespread creation of numerous unofficial versions. [39] Some feature only custom levels, while others include level designs that may be subject to copyright. As a result, the term Sokoban has become informally genericized and is commonly used to refer to any game with these mechanics, regardless of origin. [40]
An active fan community has produced thousands of custom puzzles, [41] and software tools, including puzzle editors, solvers, [42] and solution optimizers. [43]
Sokoban is considered the originator of a puzzle game subgenre featuring box-pushing mechanics, commonly referred to as "Sokoban-like" games. [44] [45]
In Picoban, the goal is to reach a green stone, often blocked by one or more doors that require collecting keys or placing boxes on all storage locations. [46] In Beanstalk, the objective is to push four items—a shovel, a bean seed, fertilizer, and a watering can—onto a target square in a fixed order. [47] In Pukoban, the character can pull boxes in addition to pushing them. [48] In Sokoboxes Duo, two pushers must collaborate to solve the puzzle. [49]
Hexoban uses a hexagonal grid instead of a square grid, allowing movements in six directions instead of four. [50] In Multiban, the puzzle contains more than one pusher. [51]
In Sokoban Limit the puzzles must be solved within a very strict number of moves. [52]
Some Sokoban programs also offer a "reverse mode" in which players play a puzzle backward. Starting with all boxes on storage locations, they pull the boxes to return to the initial puzzle state. [53]
Sokoban has been studied using the theory of computational complexity. The computational problem of solving Sokoban puzzles was first shown to be NP-hard. [54] [55] Further work proved it is also PSPACE-complete. [56] [57]
Solving non-trivial Sokoban puzzles is difficult for computers because of the high branching factor (many legal pushes at each turn) and the large search depth (many pushes needed to reach a solution). [58] [59] Even small puzzles can require lengthy solutions. [60]
The Sokoban game provides a challenging testbed for developing and evaluating planning techniques. [61] The first documented automated solver, Rolling Stone, was developed at the University of Alberta. It employed a conventional search algorithm enhanced with domain-specific techniques such as deadlock detection. [62] [63] A later solver, Festival, introduced the FESS search algorithm and became the first automatic system to solve all 90 puzzles in the widely used XSokoban test suite. [64] [65] Despite these advances, even the most sophisticated solvers cannot solve many highly complex puzzles that humans can solve with time and effort, using their ability to plan ahead, recognize patterns, and reason about long-term consequences. [66] [67] [68]
人間はたてよこ 4 方向の動きのみ可能で[Humans can move only in the four directions—up, down, left, and right]
考えずにスイスイ荷物を動 かすと, 最後は必ず行き詰まる。 倉庫番で最 も重要なのは、最初の一手、この一手を実行 する前に、先の先まで読み切ることが大切。[If you move boxes around without thinking ahead, you will inevitably end up at a dead end. In Sokoban, the most critical move is the very first one — before making it, you must think several moves ahead and visualize all possible outcomes.]
倉庫はすべて迷路的な作りになっているから、充分に考えてから荷物の整理にかかるのがカシコイ遊びかた。通路がせまいため、安易に動かすと荷物と壁とのハサミ打ち、なんてことになりかねない。[The warehouse is built like a maze, so it's smart to think carefully before pushing any boxes. The passages are narrow, and careless moves could leave a box trapped against the wall or other boxes.]
a bad move can lead in Sokoban to a deadlock, a situation in which the solution game state is not reachable anymore.
「倉庫番」が生まれたのは1981年の桜の花びらが舞う春でした。 [...] とにかく荷物を押すというキャラクターの動きが以前から気になっていた私は、簡単なBasic言語でパズルとして組み上げたのでした。構想として、片づけるべき荷物が片づけの邪魔をするというものにしたかったのです。プログラムは割とホイホイと完成しましたが、問題となるべき面の作成には苦労しました。 [...] やがて、いくつかの面を完成させた私は、知人や友人を家に招いてトライさせては楽しんでいました。ああでない、こうでないと、友人、知人が悩む姿を見ながら、ほくそ笑んでいたのです。 [...] それがひょんなことから、当時、操業を始めたばかりのソフトウエア流通会社の営業マンの目に止まることになったのです。 [...] 「倉庫番」を見たその営業マンが一言。売れるから作れ、と。 [...] 早速、製品作りの準備を始めたのでした。そして1982年、シンキングラビットという会社を作り「倉庫番」を発売しました。[Sokoban was born in the spring of 1981 [in Japan], when cherry blossoms danced through the air. [...] I had long been fascinated by the simple action of a character pushing luggage-blocks, so I built that movement into a puzzle using BASIC. My idea was that the very boxes meant to be cleared away would also get in the way of tidying. The program itself came together fairly quickly, but designing levels that provided a real challenge proved difficult. [...] Eventually, after finishing several levels, I invited friends and acquaintances over to my home to try them, secretly grinning as I watched them struggle—'not this way, maybe that way.' [...] By chance, the game then caught the eye of a salesman from a newly established software distribution company. [...] After seeing Sokoban, he said just one thing: 'This will sell. Make it.' [...] I immediately began preparing it as a product. And so in 1982, I founded a company called Thinking Rabbit and released Sokoban.]
そのPC-8001で作ったゲームの中にシンキングラビットの第1作であり、 現在もヒット中の "倉庫番" の原型がある。内容はほぼ同じだが、○×□のキャラクタ表示で画数は5面。友人知人を家に集めては、内輪で楽しんでいたものだ。ゲームセンスの卓抜さは、3年前すでに目立っていたのである。 「近くにある妻の実家のレコード店に、パソコンコーナーを設けるという話が もちあがりまして、直接僕はタッチし てなかったんですが、そのとき "倉庫番" を見て、これは売れる! と助言してくれた人がいたんです」 パソコンコーナーに入ったPC-8801を利用して、デザインを決めグラフィックスをきれいにして、20面まで制作。[Among the games developed for the PC-8001 was the prototype of Sokoban, the first title by Thinking Rabbit and a game that is still popular today. The core design was nearly identical to the commercial release, but used text characters (○, ×, and □) for display and had only five levels. He often invited friends and acquaintances to his home and they enjoyed the game together. His exceptional game design skills had been evident since at least three years earlier. "Around that time, plans came up to add a computer section to a nearby record store owned by my wife's family. Though I wasn't directly involved, someone who saw Sokoban at the time insisted, 'This will sell!'" Using the more advanced PC-8801 from the store's computer corner, he enhanced the graphics, polished the design, and expanded the game to 20 levels.]
Sokoban was inspired other video game. It's a Hudson game. It was an action game in which luggage was moved as a wall to prevent radiation. I made that movement into a puzzle. [...] I found the following video about Hudson's "ALDEBARAN".
The original puzzle game by Thinking Rabbit and any follow-ups with an official license.
そして1982年、シンキングラビットという会社を作り「倉庫番」を発売しました。その後30年以上にも渡り、ライセンス契約も含め多くのハードウエアで「倉庫番」を移植することができました。[And so in 1982, I founded a company called Thinking Rabbit and released Sokoban. Over the following 30 years, I watched as Sokoban was ported to numerous hardware platforms, including through licensing agreements.]
Spectrum Holobyte published the game under the name Soko-Ban for American personal computers in 1988, which was the same year it brought Tetris to the same platform.
Licensed from ASCII Corporation.
"倉庫番", "sokoban", the rabbit mark and "THINKING RABBIT" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Falcon co.,ltd. in Japan and other countries. [...] COPYRIGHT©2001 FALCON CO.,LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
今回はこのゲームを開発した THINKING RABBIT さんにお願いして, 市販品とは別に10の倉庫をつくってもらいましたので[This time, we asked THINKING RABBIT, the developer of this game, to build 10 warehouses separately from commercial release]
パズルソフトのベストセラー倉庫番の新たな50面と迷路エディタがついた倉庫番 2 。[Sokoban 2, the sequel to the bestselling puzzle game Sokoban, includes 50 new levels and a maze editor.]
一度やりだしたらなかなかやめられない。[Once you start playing, it's hard to stop.]
la web está llena de múltiples clones de Sokoban[the web is full of multiple Sokoban clones]
the term "Sokoban" has become genericized
There is a very large number of levels of the puzzle freely available on the Internet. These available levels span wide range of difficulty.
There are over 100 publications with "Sokoban" or "倉庫番" in the title, ranging from artificial intelligence solvers and optimizers, to level generation
the term "Sokoban" [...] is synonymous with the genre of box-pushing puzzle games
Picoban is a sokoban-style puzzle game [...] the red orbs need to be moved onto buttons and that keys need to be collected before you can make it to the green teleport stone.
种豆游戏(Beanstalk)是 Braingle.com 网站开发的一个在线小游戏[...]。种豆游戏是在一个由一些墙体围成的二维的格子迷宫中,控制游戏中的一个人上下左右移动,并且推动游戏中的四种物品:铲子、种子、化肥、浇水壶,在迷宫中标记 X 的目标格子中完成种豆。标记 X的格子和空地一样,人可以自由通过。要完成种豆,须做四步,即按顺序把铲子、种子、化肥、浇水壶依次推到目标格子。和经典的推箱子一样,人一次只能推动一个物品。[Beanstalk is an online minigame developed by Braingle.com [...]. It is played in a two-dimensional grid maze enclosed by walls, where the player controls a person who moves up, down, left, and right. The goal is to push four items—a shovel, a bean seed, fertilizer, and a watering can—onto a single target square marked by an X. The target square marked by an X is like a normal floor: the player can move over it freely. The items must be pushed in order: first the shovel, then the seed, then fertilizer, and finally the watering can. Like the classic Sokoban game, the player can only push one item at a time.]
Pukoban is a game on an integer grid [...] The agent can push or pull a box one cell horizontally or vertically if the destination cell is free and he has enough space to do so.
I'm creating some new levels with two wharehousemen. Above, I illustrate a level where, to be solved, a penguin and a bear have to play alternately in cooperation. It's inspired of the Sokoban game of course
Using hexagons, instead of squares as in standard Sokoban, offers a new realm of possibilities.
the idea of the well known Sokoban game is extended to mazes that contain (often also require) more than one pusher.
This Sokoban game has a very strict moves limit
reverse mode play starting at end position (pull instead of push)
There exist small instances that can be quickly solved by computer (using a trivial brute force algorithm) but take humans hours to solve. At the same time, there are also instances of the puzzle, which humans can solve but which are beyond capabilities of [...] artificial intelligence solvers.