Sokoban-likes

[majik989s]

I've been on a big Sokoban kick recently. I think Stephen's Sausage Roll got me back into the genre and now I'm searching far and wide for other great games like it. Currently I'm still plugging away at SSR and I recently rediscovered Kwirk on the gameboy. Those and snakebird are pretty much my go to these days but I'm always looking for more.

Any recommendations? They don't have to be block (or sausage) pushers

[Mischief Maker]

Lasertank is a massive freeware puzzle game with lots of sobokan-like levels.

Also, barely related, but you might want to check out the Deadly Rooms of Death series.

[majik989s]

I'll definitely have to download lasertank, it looks fantastic! DROD is something I've looked into in the past. I watch Alex Diener's videos on YouTube and he's gone through a bunch of the maps of DROD. It occasionally looks impenetrable but when I have time it's on my list.

[Kino]

Lup Salad. Be warned, though; there's a real devious streak hidden beneath all that saccharine.

You can't go wrong with any version, but I'd recommend the handheld ports as they have the most content.

[Mero]

+1 for Lup Salad

[Necronopticous]

Chip's Challenge! So many good memories with that ridiculous game.

[MommysBestGames]

Dice XY is a "falling sokoban-like", kinda like Lup Salad.
Not much character, but fun puzzles.

[BrianC]

Eggerland/Adventures of Lolo series - Not strictly block pushing, but a nice puzzle based series with some tricky puzzles
Boulderdash - More digging and collecting, but there is some rock pushing and many areas are very tricky

Chip's Challenge! So many good memories with that ridiculous game.

I just picked that up for Steam and Crystal Mines II for the Lynx, which probably also fits this topic with the puzzle based levels. I also like what I played of the first game. Color Dreams is known for some bad games, but both Crystal Mines games seem to be very good.

Edit: Doh. Ironically, despite getting a Lynx recently, I bought the Steam version of Chips Challenge which was dirt cheap along with the sequel. I do plan to get the Lynx version, though.

[Necronopticous]

Hey, there's also NetHack!

http://www.pcgamer.com/nethack-from-aaa ... ream-pies/

[neontropics]

This is a bit of a shameless plug but I made a small Chip's Challenge inspired puzzle game for Ludum Dare game jam back in April which turned out pretty well I think: https://neontropics.itch.io/cactus-ray- ... re-jam-web

[LordHypnos]

Old topic, but I've been looking into Sokoban-likes recently, and I figured I should add links to two free Sokoban-likes I came across to this thread for posterity.

Lab Cat (Pico-8) has block pushing, but also adds a few other mechanics, most notably portals. Not a long game, and might not be very difficult for people who have played a lot of this type of game, but it does have some built-in support for speedrunning. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Sokoban Dragon is a GB/GBC hombrew game. The puzzles are taken from David W. Skinner's Microban puzzles. I haven't made it very far into this yet.

Sokoban Dragon uses a separate button to push the blocks, which was weird at first (or at least very homebrew-feeling), but I kind of like it, because it makes it harder to accidentally push a block further than you meant to. The other homebrew-feeling part is that it has no menus. There's a sign on screen that you can interact with to save your progress, and the crystal on the first screen can be used to resume a save. Took me a second to figure out how that worked.

EDIT: For some reason this thread is in Off Topic, it should probably be moved to Other Gaming

[xEbb1993x]

Smart Games Challenge 1 has the Warehouse minigame. Segagaga also has a minigame where Taro, after temporarily losing his job at Sega, has to stack a series of Dreamcast boxes in a warehouse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNygow4 ... xfortyfive

[Randorama]

I am connecting the single-screen games thread to this thread just to be sure that the two threads have a connection of some sort. Trivial question, perhaps: are there any arcade Soko-ban-like games?

[1KMS]

Trivial question, perhaps: are there any arcade Soko-ban-like games?

Are you referring to arcade Soukoban games, or games like it? I know Namco made an arcade version. I'm not sure how far a game can veer from Soukoban and still be considered Soukoban-like. Games like Pengo and Solomon no Kagi 2, for example. Would the ability to checkmate yourself be an essential factor? If so, you could include stuff like Lode Runner and Moai-kun.

[LordHypnos]

are there any arcade Soko-ban-like games?

I would also be interested to know of any of these that exist

Are you referring to arcade Soukoban games, or games like it? I know Namco made an arcade version. I'm not sure how far a game can veer from Soukoban and still be considered Soukoban-like. Games like Pengo and Solomon no Kagi 2, for example. Would the ability to checkmate yourself be an essential factor? If so, you could include stuff like Lode Runner and Moai-kun.

The Namco game is Souko Ban Deluxe (1990). I probably wouldn't include Pengo, I think that's a bit too different in objective, though it is difficult for me to think of a way to define "sokoban-like" that includes Chip's Challenge (or at least the more puzzle-oriented stages. Probably not the maze one or Blobnet), which I do think is close enough. Being able to checkmate yourself would definitely be a requirement, IMO. I guess I will have to look into Lode Runner and Moai-kun, as I am not familiar with those.

[BrianC]

What about Meikyuu Jima/Kickle Cubicle? Definitely has a block pushing puzzle element to it. I don't think you can checkmate yourself in that one, though.

[Randorama]

1KMS:

I didn't know about the Namco title, thanks.

I am not sure how close to Sokouban would be titles like Pengo or Solomon no Kagi 2, honestly, but I guess that if there is some pushing of blocks, they may have something in common. Certainly, mentioning here and in the single-screeners thread can be useful: wink:

[Vanguard]

Void Stranger is a super cool Sokoban-like full of twists and secrets, by the Zero Ranger devs.

I've always been a fan of Little Magic, a Sokoban-like on the Super Famicom and Game Boy Color. The GBC version has better graphics but a worse FOV the SFC version. The GBC version has some extra tough puzzles outside of the main game that aren't present in the SFC version too.

[BrianC]

I've always been a fan of Little Magic, a Sokoban-like on the Super Famicom and Game Boy Color. The GBC version has better graphics but a worse FOV the SFC version. The GBC version has some extra tough puzzles outside of the main game that aren't present in the SFC version too.

Not to be confused with the FC Little Magic from Data East, which is a completely different game.

Another game I thought of is Pitman/Catrap. Puzzle game where you try to clear all the monsters (or collect all the diamonds) to complete the level. 2D side view but definitely has block pushing and the ability to checkmate yourself. Kwirk (Puzzle Boy) had a sequel named Amazing Tater (Puzzle Boy 2), which is one of the rarer US GB titles. There are also FDS and PCE Puzzle Boy games (not sure how many puzzles are shared), as well as a Puzzle Boy mini game in SMT III.

[LordHypnos]

Little Magic

I am now sold on this one, as well (playing the GBC version). At first I was a bit skeptical of the bubble mechanic, but it's quite ingenious now that I have somewhat of a handle on it.

So far have only tried the easiest course, and my brain is melting trying to figure out how to chain bubbles to get the heart to move any further in stage 16 without walking on the cracked tile too soon:


Other interesting differences from Sokoban:

• The screen goes beyond the viewport, though you can pan it at any time when paused, and it pans the screen for you at the start of the level
• Some additional mechanics that affect movement, like ice tiles, tiles that destroy your "box" (in this case, a heart) when you push it into them (you can't die on these though), water tiles that the "box" or the bubbles can move onto but you can't, cracked tiles that you can only walk over once. There might be more introduced later on.
• Lives and continues. These are a bit weird, because you start with like 5 or 6 lives rather than the more normal 3. There's no score for continuing to reset, and no limit to continues. The game also automatically saves your progress, including lives

[Vanguard]

I am now sold on this one, as well (playing the GBC version). At first I was a bit skeptical of the bubble mechanic, but it's quite ingenious now that I have somewhat of a handle on it.

So far have only tried the easiest course, and my brain is melting trying to figure out how to chain bubbles to get the heart to move any further in stage 16 without walking on the cracked tile too soon:

You know you can push your bubbles the same way you can push the heart right?

Spoiler

It's just a matter of setting up a bubble chain reaction from where you're standing.

Spoiler

From your screenshot, push a small bubble to move the heart one square back. Then make a big bubble and push it away. Then make a new bubble and overinflate it to pop it immediately to push the big bubble farther. Then push a small bubble next to the original bubble. If you do it right the last bubble will pop before the first one, which will move next to the heart and then push it into the goal.