Box Pushing Puzzle Tips: Avoid Deadlocks and Solve Any Room

A box pushing puzzle has the simplest rules in gaming: walk around a grid and push blocks one square at a time. Yet a single careless push can make a room impossible to finish. This guide explains how to recognise deadlocks before they happen, how to plan the order of your pushes and how to use undo like an expert, with examples from Relic Rooms, our free temple puzzle adventure.

The rules that create the challenge

Almost every box pushing puzzle shares three rules, and each one causes trouble in its own way:

• You can push, but never pull. Once a block is against a wall, you can't drag it back.
• You push from behind. To move a block left, you must stand on its right side, so you need space to get there.
• One block at a time. You can't push a block that has another block or a wall behind it.

Everything else in this guide follows from those three rules.

Deadlocks: the moves you can't take back

A deadlock is a position where a block can never reach the place it needs to go. The room may still look playable, but it is already lost. Learning to see deadlocks is the single biggest skill jump in the genre.

Corner deadlocks

A block pushed into a corner, with walls on two touching sides, can never move again. Unless that corner is exactly where the block needs to be, the room is lost. Rule one: never push a block into a corner by accident.

Wall deadlocks

A block pushed flat against a wall can only slide along that wall. If its target is not on that wall and there is no gap to push it back out, it is stuck for good. Before pushing a block against a wall, ask: "Is there any way to get behind it again?"

Block-pair deadlocks

Two blocks side by side against a wall lock each other: neither can be pushed away from the wall because the other one is in the way. A 2×2 square of blocks, or blocks and walls, is frozen in every direction.

A method for solving any room

When a room looks confusing, follow these steps instead of pushing at random.

1. Read the goal. What has to happen: blocks on targets, pits filled, a door opened or an exit reached?
2. Match blocks to jobs. Decide which block goes to which target, pit or plate. The nearest block is not always the right one.
3. Find the hardest job first. The target in the tightest spot, or the block with only one possible route, usually decides the order of everything else.
4. Trace each push. For every push, check where you must stand and whether you can walk there.
5. Watch for deadlocks on every step, especially near walls and corners.
6. Work backwards when stuck. Picture the final position and ask which push must come last. Then ask what had to happen just before it.

Using undo the smart way

Most modern box pushing games give you undo. Use it as a thinking tool, not just a rescue button.

• Experiment freely. Try a line of pushes to see where it leads, then undo back to the decision point.
• Undo as soon as you spot a deadlock. There is no point playing on from a lost position.
• Count your undos. If you keep undoing to the same spot, the problem is earlier than you think. Restart and rethink the plan.

Common room mechanics

Many modern versions of the genre add objects that change how blocks are used:

Mechanic	What blocks do there	Tip
Pits or holes	Fill them to make a bridge	Each block can fill only one pit
Pressure plates	Hold a gate open	A block can stay on a plate, freeing you to move
Ice	Blocks slide until stopped	Use walls or other blocks as brakes
Timed traps	Make some tiles unsafe on certain turns	Count turns and wait when needed

Applying these tips in Relic Rooms

Relic Rooms sends Juno, a cartoon explorer, through 40 hand-made rooms in four temples: the Jade Halls, the Ember Crypt, the Frost Vault and the Sunstone Sanctum. Every room is turn-based, with no timer. Here is how the advice above fits its real mechanics.

• Moving. Walk with the arrow keys or WASD, swipe, or tap beside Juno. Walk into a stone block to push it, one block at a time. You can push, but never pull.
• The goal. Grab the golden relic, then walk onto the stairs; the stairs stay sealed until you hold the relic. A goal card shows the move target for three stars.
• Pits and plates. Push a block into a pit to build a bridge. Pressure plates open iron gates while every plate is held down by Juno or a block, so parking a block on a plate frees you to explore.
• Keys and levers. Each key opens one door of its colour, and levers swap the purple doors between open and closed.
• Spike traps flip every turn. Wait a turn with Space, the Wait button or a tap on Juno.
• Ice. Juno and blocks slide until something stops them, so walls and other blocks become brakes.
• Cracked floor in the Sunstone Sanctum can be crossed once; it caves in behind you. A block pushed onto it makes it solid again, which is a lifesaver if you need to cross twice.

Stars, undo and help

Clearing a room earns one star, collecting every gem or beating the move target earns two, and collecting every gem within the move target earns three. Undo (Z, U or the button) is unlimited and Restart (R) is always free, so treat every room as a safe place to experiment. If you step onto raised spikes, you can take a free step back.

If you enjoy planning moves in advance, Honk Out and our car parking puzzle guide use very similar logic. For number logic, try how to solve sudoku or browse our puzzle games.

FAQ

What is a deadlock in a box pushing puzzle?

A deadlock is a position where at least one block can never reach the place it needs to go, even though the game hasn't ended yet. The most common deadlocks are a block pushed into a corner, a block pushed against a wall with no way back out, and two blocks side by side against a wall. Once you see one, undo or restart.

How do you solve a box pushing puzzle?

Start by reading the goal and matching each block to the target, pit or plate it should reach. Solve the hardest job first, usually the block or target in the tightest spot. Before each push, check where you must stand and whether you can get there, and avoid pushing blocks into corners or flat against walls unless that is their final position.

Can you pull blocks in a box pushing game?

In most box pushing puzzles you cannot pull blocks; you can only push them by walking into them from the opposite side. This is what makes corners and walls so dangerous. In Relic Rooms, Juno can only push stone blocks, one at a time, so plan your pushes carefully and use unlimited undo whenever a block ends up somewhere it can't come back from.

Is it cheating to use undo in puzzle games?

No. Undo is a tool the designers added on purpose, and good players use it to test ideas and back out of dead ends. Treat it like trying moves in your head, just faster. If you find yourself undoing to the same spot again and again, restart the room and rethink the order of your pushes.

How many rooms does Relic Rooms have?

Relic Rooms has 40 hand-made rooms in four temples of ten rooms each: the Jade Halls, the Ember Crypt, the Frost Vault and the Sunstone Sanctum. Each temple adds new ideas, from pits and pressure plates to keys, levers, spike traps, ice and cracked floor. There is also a daily expedition that replays a cleared room with a special rule.