How to build a Sokoban level

I start by choosing a simple theme, for example a "four" (or "tiny square"). It's my favorite figure! After some trials, this is the final level:

Title: Four - test 1
Best moves/pushes: 201/60 

Simple and nice!... Do you like? It does not present any special difficulty; so, I try to give a little difficulty. For example, I change the arrangement of goals, in this way:

Title: Four - test 2
Best moves/pushes: 253/82

It is not too bad. It is quite more complicated than the first version. Now, I try to add another box:

Title: Four - test 2a
Best moves/pushes: 274/93

Hmmm, I don't like... It is aesthetically beautiful, with symmetry of goals/boxes, but the storage problem is very obvious. I do another test:

Title: Four - test 3
Best moves/pushes: 355/74

Well, that's much better!... Now I can think to make a radical change in the storage area, by adding a wall, in this way:

Title: Four - test 4
Best moves/pushes: 307/99

I like this structure!... Immediately, it occurs to me transform the puzzle in a rotary level:

Title: Four - test 5a
Best moves/pushes: 492/157 

What do you think? It was written in the fate that this level would end up being rotary!... A small arrangement: add another box and two "rooms" at the top, to complicate the rotation of boxes:

Title: Four - test 5b
Best moves/pushes: 623/208
 
And so on, we could try more tests and develop new ideas, until you find the definitive level... Do you have other ideas? Do you dare to continue this series? Paste your puzzles (in TXT format) in the "Post a comment" area (at the end of this post).

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I built this level in one afternoon, after several hours of work. It is the final version. The initial idea was an "eight", later extended to "ten". It is a classic problem of storage ("two rows"), not too difficult. I have added some "rooms" in the corners (in the "Přemysl Zíka style"), which are the "sauce" of the level: they add emotion and a plus of difficulty, because they hinder the rotation of the boxes and force to keep the ways open:

Author: Jordi Domènech
Title: Ten
Date: 2015.2.3
Best moves/pushes: 1047/294  


You can download all puzzles here:

• How to build a Sokoban level

Contributions

Hi Jordi,
I like Test 4 the most - it is has great complexity in a simple design.
The following is a slight modification.

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    #  $  #
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# ..#  # ##
#....  # #
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#  #   $  #
#  @ $#   #
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  #####
Author: Jordi Domenech + Serial
Title: Four - Test 4 Mod [160]
Date: 2015.4.21
Best moves/pushes: 476/160



Some tips

1) The most important thing in a puzzle is the structure. Note that in the same structure, we can test different arrangements of the goals. For example, this "four":

Author: Jordi Domènech
Title: Magic Sokoban #27
Best moves/pushes: 179/35
 
Also, we can try to place the "four" in the up room:

Or, we can change the "four" in a line:

Etc., etc.

2) (Aesthetic golden rule).-The connected goals provide a more aesthetic look. Examples of connected goals: line, square, L, T, angle, cross...

3) AXIOM 1: If a box can be placed immediately, it is better to delete this box (and replace the goal by a wall).

For example, in the puzzle of Serg Belyaev (svb389), I remove the useless goal of bottom right: the result is now a perfect puzzle (see svb389 arr.). Perhaps it is a very obvious example, but this is a very frequent problem in the construction of puzzles.

Author: Serg Belyaev
Title: svb389

Author: Serg Belyaev
Title: svb389 arr.
Best moves/pushes: 222/59 

I learned this from David Holland. David had "horror" to what he called the "early storage". It's what she disliked most about a level. I agree with him!

4) AXIOM 2: The "perfect" level is one where ALL the boxes are placed with difficulty. This is very difficult to achieve. In most levels, only have difficulty the first boxes (or the first box), and the rest of boxes were placed alone, just pushing. This is inevitable in many cases, but...

5) I always prefer the levels with structure of "rooms", instead of "compact" puzzles. The levels with rooms are more fun.