Box Pusher — Push Crates onto Targets
Push every crate onto a target tile. You can only push, never pull. Arrow keys or buttons.
How to play
- Use arrow keys / WASD or the direction buttons to move the player.
- Walk into a crate to push it one tile in that direction.
- You can't pull crates or push one into a wall or another crate.
- Land every crate on a target tile to solve; 'Restart Level' resets it.
Move the smiley around the warehouse and push the crates (boxes) onto the highlighted target tiles. You can only push a crate, never pull it, and you can't push two crates at once or into a wall. Get all crates onto targets to win.
How it works
Box Pusher is a Sokoban-style puzzle. You control a character on a grid and must push every crate onto a designated target tile. The crucial limitation is that you can only push crates — you cannot pull them. This means careful planning is required because pushing a crate into a corner or against a wall in the wrong position makes the puzzle unsolvable without resetting.
Sokoban is PSPACE-complete, meaning some levels can be extraordinarily difficult. However, well-designed introductory levels are solvable with a few minutes of forward planning without needing to search thousands of move sequences.
Key principles: identify which target tile each crate will go to, plan a route for each crate that avoids corners and wall traps, and move your character into position to push each crate without accidentally displacing others. If a crate ends up in a dead-corner with no target, the level must be reset.
Box Pusher is an excellent exercise in multi-step planning and reversibility thinking — every push is permanent until reset, so anticipating consequences before moving is the core skill.
Worked example
Push two crates to two targets
- Look at the layout and assign each crate to the closest target that can be reached without a wall trap.
- Move your character to a position where pushing crate A will move it toward its target without blocking crate B.
- Push crate A one step at a time, repositioning your character between pushes as needed.
- Once crate A is on its target, reposition and push crate B to its target.
- If any crate gets stuck in a dead corner, use the reset button and retry with a different plan.
Both crates on their target tiles — level complete.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Pushing a crate into a corner that has no target tile — this permanently deadlocks that crate and forces a reset.
- Failing to plan the character's repositioning path between pushes, getting trapped on the wrong side of a crate.
- Pushing all crates toward their targets independently without considering how moving one blocks the path needed for another.
Key terms
- Crate
- A movable block that you push onto target tiles to solve the puzzle.
- Target tile
- A marked cell where a crate must rest to count as placed; usually shown as an X or highlighted square.
- Dead position
- A crate configuration (e.g., crate in a corner with no target) from which the puzzle cannot be solved without resetting.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I pull crates?
- No — you can only push. If a crate gets stuck in a corner against a wall, restart the level.
- How do I move?
- Use arrow keys or WASD on a keyboard, or tap the on-screen direction buttons on mobile.