Sokoban lessons - Tiny squares

The figure I like most is what I call "tiny square": four goals connected to form a small square. I've been curious to find out the best and most beautiful "tiny squares", and this is the result, in chronological order.

You can download all the puzzles here:

• Tiny squares

Author: Yut + hir
Title: Symmetric levels #2 十字の再来 (The return of the cross) a
Date: 1999.5.23
Difficulty: 3.5
Best moves/pushes: 78/34

Author: Hirohiko Nakamiya
Title: Monster Sokoban 1-2
Date: c. June 2000
Website: miya.s16.xrea.com/selection/bannin/
Difficulty: 2
Best moves/pushes: 88/20

Incredible simplicity.

Author: Hirohiko Nakamiya
Title: Monster Sokoban 5-7
Date: c. June 2000
Website: miya.s16.xrea.com/selection/bannin/
Difficulty: 4
Best moves/pushes: 143/35

Magistral. A classic of fascinating simplicity.

Author: Hirohiko Nakamiya
Title: Practice levels #12
Date: c. July 2000
Website: miya.s16.xrea.com/selection/bannin/
Difficulty: 3
Best moves/pushes: 171/52 

Author: François Marques
Title: Novoban #46 For ban 17
Date: March 2001
Website: sokoban.online.fr/
Difficulty: 3.5
Best moves/pushes: 103/19 

Extra-compact...

Author: Evgeny Grigoriev (GRIGoRusha)
Title: grigr2001 #79 Big uborka
Date: November 2001
Website: grigr.narod.ru/
Difficulty: 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 166/54

Excellent! Rotary puzzle, also with a very simple structure, it is necessary to make skillful use of spaces in the cargo room (bottom right). As in the next puzzle of Kenyam, boxes 3 and 4 are placed alone, but this is usual in the puzzles of connected goals.

Author: Kenyam (Kenya Maruyama)
Title: Kenyam Set A #28 CR II
Date: 2003.10.20
Website: www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Domino/7999/soko/skrmc_a.htm
Difficulty: 7
Best moves/pushes: 345/74

This is my favorite. Amazing puzzle of remarkable difficulty, but more surprising is its simple structure: two rooms and a side corridor. Not only is the best "tiny square", but one of the best puzzles of four boxes.

Author: Thomas Reinke
Title: TBox #43
Date: November 2004
Difficulty: 5
Best moves/pushes: 202/54

Rotary puzzle, very similar to the previous of Kenyam, but without the difficulty of it.

Author: Kevin B. Reilly
Title: #1956
Date: 2005
Difficulty: 3.5
Best moves/pushes: 227/95

Fun mini maze.

Author: Thomas Reinke
Title: Scoria 2 #9
Date: November 2007
Difficulty: 4
Best moves/pushes: 92/28

Good! It is not easy to see the solution.

Author: David W. Skinner
Title: Microban III #14
Date: December 2009
Website: users.bentonrea.com/~sasquatch/sokoban/
Difficulty: 5
Best moves/pushes: 143/34

Excellent! As surprising as ingenious. It is almost impossible to find a solution in the first attempt!...

Author: Jordi Doménech
Title: Magic Sokoban #26 Tiny square
Date: June 2011
Website: www.abelmartin.com/rj/sokoban.html
Difficulty: 3.5
Best moves/pushes: 55/10

Author: Jordi Doménech
Title: Magic Sokoban #27 I like tiny squares
Date: June 2011
Website: www.abelmartin.com/rj/sokoban.html
Difficulty: 4.5
Best moves/pushes: 179/35 

Author: Jordi Doménech
Title: Magic Sokoban #33 Tiny square 4
Comment: based on LOMA #10-07 by František Pokorný
Date: June 2011
Website: www.abelmartin.com/rj/sokoban.html
Difficulty: 3
Best moves/pushes: 56/17 

Author: Jordi Doménech
Title: Magic Sokoban #60 Tiny square 6
Date: June 2011
Website: www.abelmartin.com/rj/sokoban.html
Difficulty: 5.5
Best moves/pushes: 153/43 

Author: Přemysl Zíka
Title: Level 82
Website: www.zusbreznice.cz/rozvrhy-zika-premysl-sokoban.cz
Date: 2011
Difficulty: 4.5
Best moves/pushes: 233/75
 
"Tiny square" within a windmill-shaped structure.

Author: morganine
Title: Sokomet #35
Date: January 2012
Difficulty: 5
Best moves/pushes: 202/49

Amazing!

Author: Jordi Doménech
Title: Magic Sokoban 2 #31 Tiny square 1001
Date: April 2012
Website: www.abelmartin.com/rj/sokoban.html
Difficulty: 4.5
Best moves/pushes: 197/50 

Author: Marcis Berzins
Title: Magic Sokoban 5 #23
Date: September 2013

Website: 

mb13.allalla.com/csoko/
www.abelmartin.com/rj/sokoban.html

Difficulty: 3.5
Best moves/pushes: 180/59
 

Fantastic and simple rotary puzzle

New additions

Note: These puzzles are not included in the downloadable file

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Author: Kevin B. Reilly + Masato Hiramatsu
Title: Sokomind #2 b
Date: 2000.2.21
Difficulty: 3.5
Best moves/pushes: 55/18

Other "tiny squares":

- Serg Belyaev
svb032

- Roger Delaporte
rd137

- Jordi Doménech
Miniatures #10
Magic Sokoban #51 Another tiny square, #96 Tiny square 9
Magic Sokoban 2 #50

- François Marques
Novoban #38
Sokompact #10
Sokolate #33

- monry
FirstStep 412

- Blaž Nikolic
Blazz2 #1

- Thomas Reinke
Sokomania #108

- Sokoban Revenge 
#19 (Yoshio Sakae)
 
- Shaggath
Mulholland 2 #38
V2009 #38, 45

- David W. Skinner
Microban #120, 132

Martí Homs

It is the second time I meet a stretch of the 764 small puzzles of Martí Homs, and I ask myself the same question as the first time: how is it possible to get as good puzzles? I think after the fine Martí Homs's collection, who want to build a puzzle of 3 boxes a bit unusual, it is quite difficult ...

This time I used to make a selection of the 80 most beautiful puzzles, which I call "Homz Challenge". You can download it here:

• Homz Challenge (80 puzzles)

Martí Homs is a computer engineer and, like me, lives in Catalonia (northeastern Spain) and both speak the same language.

I wrote to Martí, and he explained:

"As a final project of engineering studies, long ago, I worked on artificial intelligence concepts, and finally applied them to the design of Sokoban puzzles ... The technique used is called Genetic Algorithms, which can be applied to almost any optimization problem ..."

What surprises me most of the puzzles of Martí they are incredibly fun, many of them even with structure of "rooms" differentiated. Usually, and with few exceptions, the collections of puzzles automatically obtained are usually very boring: one has the feeling of always solving the same puzzle, and after 15 or 20 leaves. Instead, it is a pleasure to solve the puzzles of Martí. How is it possible to obtain as entertaining puzzles and such varied themes?

I hope you enjoy this selection "Homz Challenge" of 80 puzzles that, in my humble opinion, can be placed alongside the classic collections of Jacques Duthen and Yoshio Murase.

Enjoy!