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Soko-Ban

aka: Soko-Ban: A Strategy Maze Game, Sokoban
Moby ID: 1715
PC-88 Specs

Description official descriptions

Soko-Ban is a classic puzzle game, the basis of numerous clones in the later years. It is set in a warehouse. On each level, the player must push crates (from square to square) to get them onto designated spots; once each crate is on a marked spot, the level is complete. Crates can only be pushed one at a time (so two crates next to each other cannot be pushed together), and cannot be pulled--so it's possible to get a crate stuck in a corner, where it cannot be retrieved! By the last levels, you must plan 40 steps in advance.

Spellings

  • 倉庫番 - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (MSX version)

15 People

No. 12
No. 13, 27
No. 14, 55, 57
No. 31, 56
  • Shinji Yamada (Kurashiki-shi [くらしきし やまだ しんじ])
No. 34
No. 35
No. 36
No. 39, 40, 42
  • Yoshiki Kondō (Satakyūshū-shi [きたきゅうしゅうし こんどう よしき])
No. 44
  • Akira Yoshima (Ibaraki-shi [いばらぎし (sic) よしま あきら])
Thinking Rabbit
ASCII

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 83% (based on 7 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 50 ratings with 2 reviews)

The Good Old Classic

The Good
Sokoban is the first game I ever played on a PC and I still like the concept of it. The strange thing about it is a very simple concept. Only thing you must do is to push the crates over the marks. But the fact that this can be so difficult, turns the game to be very addictive. At least for me. Too bad I don't own the original one anymore, just the windows-version.

There are 50 levels to play and when you finished them all, you still got the option to create your own levels to 100 in total.

The Bad
When you look at this game in this time-period everything is out-dated. The graphics, the sound. But if you now it is a game from the early 80's, you must know that these things are very well-done.

The Bottom Line
If you like puzzles and never played a sokoban-clone, then you must play sokoban. But for the modern times I recommend the windows-version, so you don't get any troubles running it.

DOS · by Buuks (197) · 2001

Brilliant puzzle concept

The Good
Easy to pick up and understand. Despite being the first in the series, the game design is already quite polished.

The Bad
Controls are slow and delayed due to low graphic capability power of the PC-88. Later stages introduce fake walls which are not fun.

The Bottom Line
It holds up better than most games from the era because it's a solid concept that does not need much improvement

PC-88 · by Stokkolm (3) · 2024

Discussion

Subject By Date
How to use the level editor? Nowhere Girl (8680) May 15, 2022

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Sokoban appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

NEC version

The first edition of Soko-Ban was programmed in BASIC on the NEC PC-8801 computer. It had twenty levels, of which the latter ten had false walls which had to be passed through in order to solve the mazes. This feature was not retained in later ports.

Sharp X1 version

The X1 version, which is also written in BASIC, features 18 levels. In Level 16-18 the walls are invisible. You have to navigate the level with the help of a minimap in the corner of the screen.

Sharp PA version

The game also received a port for Sharps PA series of personal assistant devices. It's played on a 96x64 LCD.

Title translation

Sōkoban means "warehouse duty" in Japanese.

Awards

  • Commodore Format
    • June 1991 (Issue 9) - listed in the A to Z of Classic Games article (Great)
  • Power Play
    • 1987 - #3 Best MS-DOS Game '87

Information also contributed by Indra was here and FatherJack

Analytics

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 1715
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Contribute

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by emerging_lurker.

Commodore 64 added by Quapil. Epoch Game Pocket Computer added by Rola. TRS-80 CoCo added by Corn Popper. PC-6001, Sharp MZ-80B/2000/2500, PC-8000 added by Infernos. Apple II added by Servo. SG-1000, MSX, PC-88, Sharp X1, FM-7 added by Игги Друге.

Additional contributors: Buuks, jean-louis, Игги Друге, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack, twitek.

Game added June 21, 2000. Last modified May 1, 2024.