Sokoban X

Arrow keys, WASD, swipe, or tap-to-walk all supported. Walk into a box to push it. Charged boxes interact with each other based on polarity. Unlimited undo available. Reach the goal state to clear.

Sokoban X is a digital Sokoban variant with one new twist: certain boxes have charge polarity and either repel each other or attract each other based on which kind. The Sokoban format is unchanged otherwise from the 1981 original. The polarity twist is the addition that earns the four stars.

What works is the polarity rule. Charged boxes of the same polarity repel each other by one cell when pushed adjacent. Opposite-polarity boxes attract each other and snap together into a single composite block. These rules interact with standard Sokoban pushing mechanics in ways that create new puzzles distinct from standard Sokoban, not just reskinned old ones.

One hundred-and-twenty levels across five tiers. The first tier is standard Sokoban warmup. The second tier introduces single-polarity charges. The third tier mixes positive and negative charges, the fourth tier adds locked cells that constrain pushing directions, and the fifth tier combines everything. The progression respects the player's developing intuition.

Tested over maybe ten Mumbai commute sessions plus weekend Bandra cafe sessions. Touch with tap-direction or swipe-to-push works fine. Mouse-click on adjacent cells also works. Keyboard arrow keys are the most precise input, and gamepad with d-pad is comfortable too. All inputs feel correct, which matters for a puzzle game where minor mis-inputs can spoil a long solution sequence.

Where the design works is the undo system. Unlimited undo is available at any time. This is essential for Sokoban-genre puzzles because the format depends on experimenting with push sequences. The undo button is appropriately accessible without being so prominent that it tempts brute-force play.

Where I would push back is the level-skip mechanic, which lets you bypass any level after twenty failed attempts. The threshold is fine but the skip-counter visibility might encourage players to give up on solvable puzzles. Hiding the counter until activation would be the better design.

Four stars. Strong Sokoban variant with a meaningful polarity twist and excellent undo handling. Recommended for puzzle players who enjoy careful planning under deterministic constraints.