Recently, Stephen Lavelle (aka @increpare) released this awesome puzzle game creator called PuzzleScript. I spent a while making a little game with it called The Legend of Zokoban.

Click to play!

My inspiration is clearly everyone’s favorite NES game from 1986, but I wanted to not just clone the game, but to answer a long-standing question “Why can’t I push that block out of this room?” So many block-pushing puzzles in video games limit the area in which you can push the blocks. I always wanted to try puzzles that span larger areas. So here’s my attempt to answer that.

The game features most of the clichés you’ve come to expect and enjoy: blocks you can push, pots to smash, a sword, a shield, a grappling hook, traps, monsters, gems, hearts, secret areas, a dungeon and an old lady with some helpful advice. Not bad for 500 lines of code!

If you die, just hold Z to rewind a bit and try again.