The puzzles of four boxes have a peculiarity: are the frontier between the easy and the difficult. Indeed, the puzzles of 3 boxes are easy (with rare exceptions); in contrast, with 5 boxes is already possible to build very difficult puzzles; 4 boxes is the border between the two.
Aymeric du Peloux is a specialist in this kind of puzzles. I recommend visiting their collections, and also those of Dries De Clercq and Shaggath.
See also the previous posts "Lines (four boxes)" and "Tiny squares", where I have selected many other puzzles in 4 boxes.
I publish below which are, in my opinion, the most beautiful puzzles of four boxes (with rooms), in chronological order. You can download all puzzles here:
Author: Hiroshi Yamamoto
Title: 迷走するシナプス２ (Synapse straying 2)
Comment:
上の問題は、未発表作を大幅に改良したもの。
歩数が多い割に面白さはそれほどでもないか。
Date: May 1999
Difficulty: 6
Best moves/pushes: 532/101
Nice storage problem: the goals area is located at the crossroads of the passage ways.
Author: Aymeric du Peloux
Title: Microcosmos 09
Subtitle: Moulin (Windmill)
Comment: Quand je l'ai créé, j'ai eu peur qu'on l'ai inventé avant moi. C'est un thème que j'aime beaucoup, et que j'ai souvent réutilisé par la suite (Microcosmos 18, 25, 37 ou encore Nabokosmos 10). Tourne, tourne petit moulin ...
Date: 1999
Website: www.onlinespiele-sammlung.de/sokoban/sokobangames/nabokos/
Difficulty (A. du P.): 6
Best moves/pushes: 209/64
Classic "wheel". By the way, this puzzle is identical to Souko Hard 05, of unknown author, dated 11 November 1999. What was the first?
 |
| 倉庫 (1999) - Souko Hard 05 |
See an enlargement (with 8 boxes): Monster Sokoban 7-3 of Hirohiko Nakamiya:
 |
| Hirohiko Nakamiya - Monster Sokoban 7-3 |
____
Author: David W. Skinner
Title: Microban #110
Date: April 2000
Difficulty: 3.5
Best moves/pushes: 51/14
The pinwheel.
Author: Hirohiko Nakamiya
Title: Monster Sokoban 6-2
Date: July 2000
Website: miya.s16.xrea.com/selection/bannin/
Difficulty: 3.5
Best moves/pushes: 149/54
Structure divided in columns (or rows) with a invariable width of 2 floors. This structure requires complicated maneuvers to move boxes from one room to another. See a similar theme in Yoshio Sakae, Sokoban Revenge #208 (1991, with 6 boxes). After treaty also by David W. Skinner, Sasquatch IV #9 (2001) and Microban III #8 (2009). See also the spectacular macro-enlargements: Yoshio Sakae, Sokoban Revenge #306 (1991, best moves/pushes: 11011/5929):
 |
| Yoshio Sakae - Sokoban Revenge #306 倉庫番の巡礼 ("Sokoban pilgrimage") |
Nakamiya #10 (2000, best moves/pushes: 9927/3462):
 |
| Nakamiya #10 |
"Long March" by 20603 (2000, best moves/pushes: 36603/13465):
 |
| "Long March" by 20603 (Yongzhong Zou) |
and Howard Abed, SokoBig-70 #70 (2001, best moves/pushes: 25789/12104).
Perhaps it would be interesting to dedicate a post to this typology of puzzles. Obviously, the first puzzle in this style was Sokoban 2 (1984) #13, of Thinking Rabbit (= Sokoban Perfect #154; modified versions: Original #23, and Sokoban Revenge #72).
 |
| 倉庫番2 (1984, Thinking Rabbit) - Level 13 |
___
Author: Aymeric du Peloux
Title: Nabokosmos 04
Subtitle: Grand T (Big T)
Comment: Le retour du thème de l'escalier. Pour ceux qui considère qu'un niveau "escalier" est facile. (Voir aussi Microcosmos 30)
Date: January 2001
Website: www.onlinespiele-sammlung.de/sokoban/sokobangames/nabokos/
Difficulty (A. du P.): 7
Best moves/pushes: 178/55
Exchange of boxes from one room to another, a theme already seen in "Three boxes"; in this case, within a stepped structure. Aymeric's rating is greatly exaggerated: my difficulty rating is 5.
Author: François Marques
Title: Kokoban #13 The butterfly
Date: March 2001
Website: sokoban.online.fr/
Difficulty: 5.5
Best moves/pushes: 176/68
Excellent! Exchange of boxes from one room to another, but with very tight spaces and with stepped structure in the upper half, which requires difficult maneuvers.
Author: David W. Skinner
Title: Sasquatch IV #2
Date: March 2001
Difficulty: 5.5
Best moves/pushes: 102/32
Beautiful puzzle with three rooms and alternate goals. Very elegant. This puzzle was used on the Sokoban Robot Competition (Syddansk Universitet Odense, Denmark, 2011). Watch a video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXSR7X0E-zg
Author: François Marques
Title: Novoban #29 For ban 4
Date: May 2001
Website: sokoban.online.fr/
Difficulty: 4
Best moves/pushes: 82/31
Exchange of boxes from one room to another within a minimal structure (the left room, stepped). Nice and funny.
Author: François Marques
Title: Sokolate #41 L'ai-je bien descendu
Date: November 2001
Website: sokoban.online.fr/
Difficulty: 4.5
Best moves/pushes: 119/37
Fun pairs.
Author: Evgeny Grigoriev (GRIGoRusha)
Title: Grigr2001 #55 Kubizm (arr.)
Date: November 2001
Website: grigr.narod.ru/
Difficulty: 4
Best moves/pushes: 173/31
Excellent rotary puzzle, within a minimal structure. I have added 1 wall in (5,5), the solution is the same.
Author: David W. Skinner
Title: Sasquatch V #1
Date: December 2001
Difficulty: 4
Best moves/pushes: 112/39
Again the theme of exchange of boxes between two rooms, within a minimal structure. Compare with the previous puzzle Novoban #29 of François Marques.
Author: François Marques + Aymeric du Peloux
Title: Cosmopoly #5 For ban 15
Comment: Réalisé en même temps que Nabokosmos 19. C'est un peu plus difficile.
Date: 2001
Website: www.onlinespiele-sammlung.de/sokoban/sokobangames/nabokos/
Difficulty (A. du P.): 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 158/64
Spectacular! Perhaps one of the best puzzles in this style.
Author: David W. Skinner + Jordi Domènech
Title: Microban II #166 variant
Date: April 2002. Remodel: 2013.2.21
Website: sokoban-jd.blogspot.com
Difficulty: 5
Best moves/pushes: 372/119
Curious rotary puzzle. A special variant for this post ;)
Author: Aymeric du Peloux
Title: Cosmonotes #2
Date: c. June 2003
Website: www.onlinespiele-sammlung.de/sokoban/sokobangames/nabokos/
Difficulty (A. du P.): 5.5
Best moves/pushes: 292/87
Excellent "staircase", within a rotary structure.
Author: Aymeric du Peloux
Title: Cosmonotes #9
Date: c. June 2003
Website: www.onlinespiele-sammlung.de/sokoban/sokobangames/nabokos/
Difficulty (A. du P.): 7
Best moves/pushes: 220/37
Hard! I acknowledge that I have desperately going round and round. The difficulty is to place the 4 boxes on the same side. Similar to Nabokosmos #18 ("Phone").
Myriocosmos #4 is a version more difficult with 5 boxes.
Author: Aymeric du Peloux
Title: Cosmonotes #10
Date: c. June 2003
Website: www.onlinespiele-sammlung.de/sokoban/sokobangames/nabokos/
Difficulty (A. du P.): 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 342/99
So fun puzzle, of subtle rotary structure. My difficulty rating: 5.5.
Author: Dries De Clercq
Title: 696 #83
Date: April 2005
Difficulty: 6
Best moves/pushes: 219/53
"696" is a remarkable collection of excellent compact and quasi-compact puzzles of 3, 4, 5 and up to 6 boxes. I've selected only three, but it would have been able to select other 20, and all equally good. In this particular puzzle, the last rotation of boxes before the end, is spectacular.
Author: Dries De Clercq
Title: 696 #282
Date: April 2005
Difficulty: 4
Best moves/pushes: 125/43
Classic lineup in two rooms, but with a fourth box of hindrance.
Author: Dries De Clercq
Title: 696 #353
Date: April 2005
Difficulty: 4
Best moves/pushes: 160/44
Nice! The whole difficulty is to rearrange the boxes to place the first box.
Author: Thomas Reinke
Title: Anomaly #15
Date: September 2005
Difficulty: 4
Best moves/pushes: 137/26
Nice and fun.
Author: Thomas Reinke
Title: Scoria 2 #11
Date: November 2007
Difficulty: 4.5
Best moves/pushes: 92/25
Another small puzzle very beautiful in its simplicity.
Author: Martí Homs
Title: Other levels #9 Nice ring #2 arr.
Date: 2007
Website: sokoban-jd.blogspot.com/2011/07/marti-homs.html
Difficulty: 4
Best moves/pushes: 168/63
Excellent rotary puzzle! Alongside with V2010 #81 of Shaggath (see below), I think it is one of the best.
Author: Aymeric du Peloux
Title: Myriocosmos #5
Date: 2008
Website: www.onlinespiele-sammlung.de/sokoban/sokobangames/nabokos/
Difficulty: 5
Best moves/pushes: 243/65
Original "stairs".
Author: Aymeric du Peloux
Title: Myriocosmos #8
Date: 2008
Website: www.onlinespiele-sammlung.de/sokoban/sokobangames/nabokos/
Difficulty: 5.5
Best moves/pushes: 169/38
Fantastic lineup, with fourth hindrance box (see also above 696 #353 of Dries De Clercq).
Author: Shaggath
Title: Mulholland 2 #10 arr.
Date: c. 2008
Difficulty: 6
Best moves/pushes: 242/74
Strange map, but interesting and fun to solve.
Author: Shaggath
Title: Mulholland 2 #43 arr.
Date: c. 2008
Difficulty: 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 188/54
Incredible puzzle, very difficult, but amazing resolution.
Author: Shaggath
Title: V2010 #36
Date: December 2009
Difficulty: 7
Best moves/pushes: 200/63
Hard one, but nice. Requires a lot of maneuvers ... 176 moves to place the first box!
Author: Shaggath
Title: V2010 #39 arr.
Date: December 2009
Difficulty: 6
Best moves/pushes: 164/38
Fantastic! Aesthetically beautiful, and very interesting to solve.
Author: Shaggath
Title: V2010 #40 arr.
Date: December 2009
Difficulty: 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 174/50
Another little pearl!
Author: Shaggath
Title: V2010 #51
Date: December 2009
Difficulty: 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 176/52
The ecstasy...
Author: Shaggath
Title: V2010 #81 arr.
Date: December 2009
Difficulty: 6
Best moves/pushes: 274/65
Magistral! Along with the puzzle of Martí Homs (see above), is one of the best rotary puzzles.
Author: David W. Skinner + Jordi Domènech
Title: Microban IV variations #12
Comment: based on Microban IV #44
Date: August 2010. Remodel: May 2012
Website: sokoban-jd.blogspot.com
Difficulty: 5.5
Best moves/pushes: 175/44
Original. It seems that lack a space ... but there is: the difficulty is to discover this space "invisible"...
Author: Jordi Domènech
Title: Miniatures - Part One (easy) #6
Date: December 2010
Website: sokoban-jd.blogspot.com
Difficulty: 3
Best moves/pushes: 47/16
Yes, very easy ... But if you choose and push the right box, is unsolvable ;)
Author: Jordi Domènech
Title: Miniatures - Part One (easy) #19
Date: December 2010
Website: sokoban-jd.blogspot.com
Difficulty: 5.5
Best moves/pushes: 189/36
Author: Přemysl Zíka
Title: Level 75
Date: 1990-1995, published in October 2011
Website: www.zusbreznice.cz/rozvrhy-zika-premysl-sokoban.cz
Difficulty: 4.5
Best moves/pushes: 190/78
Great labyrinth!
Author: Morganine
Title: Sokomet #32
Date: January 2012
Difficulty: 6.5
Best moves/pushes: 277/62
Difficult and disconcerting.
Author: Morganine
Title: Sokomet #55
Date: January 2012
Difficulty: 6
Best moves/pushes: 305/84
Excellent and original rotary puzzle.
Author: Thomas Reinke
Title: Anomaly 3 #46 Lake of Fire
Date: February 2012
Difficulty: 5
Best moves/pushes: 114/26
Alternate goals... Dice four to dice four.
Author: Shaggath
Title: V2014 #51
Date: January 2014
Difficulty: 6
Best moves/pushes: 197/53
Is a structure similar to Mulholland 2 #43 (see above), but this version is also very good.
Author: niwa
Title: Square dance #7 Circle the Square
Date: February 2014
Difficulty: 4
Best moves/pushes: 95/22
Author: Thomas Reinke
Title: Quagmire 3 #48 Theory of Gravity
Date: April 2014
Difficulty: 5
Best moves/pushes: 141/50
Other puzzles
- Howard Abed
Third Set #15 arr.
- Serg Belyaev
svb051, 148, 164, 329
- Choi In-Seok
My Sokoban 1
- Dries De Clercq
696 #39, 41, 46, 76, 83, 126, 305, 353, 437, 440, 443, 446, 451, 452, 453
Zone26 #1 Islands, #6 Go Round 1, #7 Stock
- Jordi Domènech
Magic Sokoban #30, #74 Perplexity
Magic Sokoban 2 #92 Moves a star
Magic Sokoban 3 #13 Four, #20 Tiny L, #32 Touching Sides variation, #36
Miniatures (Part One) #12
The beautiful world of remodels 3, #46
Microban I variations #14, 15
Microban II variations #12, 13, 15, 16
Microban III variations #3, 13
Microban IV variations #5
Alberto Garcia remixed #32
- Sven Egevad
SE 679, 1427
- Evgeny Grigoriev
Grigr2001 #44, #75 Telefon
- Marcus Hof
Revenge 30 #20
- Marti Homs
Homz Challenge #71
- François Marques
Novoban #50
Kokoban #8 Move my body
Sokompact #1
- François Marques + zhenying
Soloban #1 The spiral
- monry
FirstStep 413, 419
monry-light #12
- morganine
Sokomet #37, 43
- Aymeric du Peloux
Microcosmos 15, 18, 20, 27
Nabokosmos 18, 19, 24
Cosmonotes #4, 13
- Frantisek Pokorny
#43, 88
- Thomas Reinke
Anomaly #19
- Erim Sever
erim217
- Shaggath
Mulholland 2 #44, 61
V2010 #30, 45, 48, 55, 72
- David W. Skinner
Microban #152
Microban II #50, 129
Microban III #17, 45, 51
Microban IV #21
Sasquatch IV #8
- Sokoban Perfect
#199
- Sokoban Revenge
#104 (Hiroshi Yamamoto)
- Přemysl Zíka
#77
