History Main / BlockPuzzle

* The ''{{Eggerland}}'' series (which includes the ''VideoGame/{{Adventures of Lolo}}'' trilogy) is a series of Sokoban-style block-puzzle-and-collection games.

This occasionally crosses over with SolveTheSoupCans, when the block puzzles really don't make any sense, and coupled with a particular variety of UnexpectedGameplayChange. With the push towards realism in environments, the Block Puzzle does seem to be on the [[DiscreditedTrope decline]], but is far from [[DeadHorseTrope dead]] - you never know when you'll find yourself near a ledge you can't quite reach, in a room filled with CrateExpectations...

** The blocks on ice in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'' has sliding block puzzles and rolling block puzzles.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Where's '[[StatisticallySpeaking Strength]]' when you need it most?"

[[caption-width-right:350:"Where's '[[StatisticallySpeaking Strength]]' when you need it most?" [[labelnote:Click for solution]]In the bottom row of three, push the left and right stones upwards, then push the middle stone to the side. Then move up two rows and push the middle stone in that row upwards, then the two stones beside it to the walls. The top row will by then have five stones; push the second and fourth stones up, then push the middle stone to the side, and you can pass. Did you get all that?[[/labelnote]]]]

So you're storming the TempleOfDoom in search of the BigBad's CosmicKeystone that is the lynchpin to {{The Empire}}'s WorldDomination plans. And the mightiest force that the [[{{Precursors}} Ancient Precursors]] and TheLegionsOfHell can produce to stop you is ''blocks''.

** The floating crate puzzles in the Tower of the Gods in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''.

* ''{{Legacy of Kain}}: SoulReaver'' was stuffed liberally with these. For a vampire/ghost being, Raziel spent a remarkable amount of time shoving blocks around. Legend has it that the developers were told to come in with a different puzzle design each week or so. Everyone happened to show up with some kind of block puzzle, and the rest is history.

* Subverted in ''{{Okage}}: Shadow King.'' You're presented with one with much fanfare and warning about how hard it is... then it's solved for you in a cutscene the moment you actually try to interact with one of the blocks.

* ''{{Bangai-O}} Spirits'' has the "False Treasure" stage, found in the Puzzle Stages set. You need to fit a bunch of Boxes into Box Frames. If you push one into a corner, trap yourself, or otherwise render a Box unable to be moved into a remaining Box Frame, [[UnwinnableByDesign it's restart time]]. Later in that set you encounter a different kind of Block Puzzle, where you must bounce your shots in a maze to get it to a target. You use the boxes to alter the shots' trajectory.

* ''VideoGame/LostInBlue'' and its sequel had a number of them, made all the more annoying for the fact that completing the puzzles take stamina, which is a [[WizardNeedsFoodBadly very precious commodity]] in those games.
** Improved slight by the interesting twist: [[spoiler: some of the blocks will float when the player fills the room with water. The goal is to create platforms which can be jumped across (which, of course, also uses up stamina).]]

* ''Clogger'' for the BBCMicro has you assembling a picture in each level by pushing its 21 pieces around so that they fit together properly.

So you're storming the TempleOfDoom in search of the BigBad's CosmicKeystone that is the lynchpin to {{The Empire}}'s WorldDomination plans. And the mightiest force that the [[{{Precursors}} Ancient Precursors]] and TheLegionsOfHell can produce to stop you is... blocks.

Sometimes you can pretty much push them wherever you want, in which case the puzzle is how to get the blocks to their goal without other blocks getting in the way. Other times, the floors are covered with FrictionlessIce or some other slippery substance and whenever you push the block, it keeps moving until it hits a wall. In those cases, you have to bounce the block in a convoluted path around the room, hitting various pillars set up in the middle to get the block to its goal. If they really want to be nasty with these, they'll have more than one block in the puzzle, only one of which actually needs to get to the end; the rest have to be pushed to create additional walls for other blocks to hit. There are also dark rumors of block puzzles so fiendish that they actually require ALL blocks to get to the end, ''while using each other as walls to get there'' and BottomlessPits that eat the blocks and/or you, forcing you to start over. Blocks are usually heavy and so pushing or pulling them is a vexingly slow and tedious process.

The Block Puzzle shows up in many genres, though ActionAdventure and {{RPG}}s are well known for their propensity to stick giant boxes in your way. It serves to break up the action, in most games, intended to give the players a moment to breathe and think. Unfortunately, this trope has been used so often and to such an extent that the usual response upon finding such a room is something along the lines of "Aw geez, not ''another'' block puzzle!" and a quick trip to {{GameFAQs}} after you get the green block stuck in the corner ''again''.

Block Puzzles will show up in {{Puzzle Game}}s too, of course, but ... well, that's kind of the point, right? Also, in any game where you are accompanied by an ally (NPC or otherwise), you will almost ''always'' encounter [[BrokenBridge a block that won't budge]] unless you and your allies all shove away at it together. [[ArtificialStupidity If they can figure that out, of course]].

Named after the infamous block puzzle mechanic in ''VagrantStory''.

Also see {{Klotski}}. Not to be confused with FallingBlocks.

* The ''Franchise/ProfessorLayton'' series loves this type of puzzle. The early one aren't so bad, but by the end of the game they get pretty difficult, but still doable. But then, you get to the postgame puzzles. The worst offender is [[FinalDungeon the very definitely last puzzle]] of Diabolical Box, which is named [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Diabolical Box]]. It takes a whopping ''seventy-seven'' moves to complete at the very least!
** The final puzzle of Curious Village is a version of the Klotski, which takes ''eight-three'' moves to be completed!
** We're just getting started. The final puzzle of Last Specter is a [[spoiler:two-part [[MarathonLevel Marathon Puzzle]] in which the goal is to get two blocks into two corners. Do it once, and Layton points out that the player isn't done yet, and the player is taken to a second puzzle to do it again, with no breaks and no extra hints.]] Altogether, under the best circumstances, the whole puzzle will take at minimum 178 moves to complete, but unless one looks at a guide, it will take more. Hope you didn't make any plans tonight. (Or you feel like keeping one DS plugged in and unable to play anything else until you finish it...)

* These make up about a third of ''[[ChipsChallenge Chip's Challenge]]'', the other two-thirds being [[TheMaze mazes]] and avoid-the-monster levels, or, heaven help us, combinations of all three.

** Well, a wand of digging can destroy the blocks for you, but you get penalized for that. Cheater-pants.
*** A wand of digging has no effect on boulders (wand of striking works on the boulders, or any method of digging DOWN) , but yes, in Nethack, they try to make any attempt to 'think outside the Sokoban box' get a luck penalty
*** Also, you cannot fly over the holes in Sokoban, or move diagonally (unlike in the rest of the game), so if you destroy to many boulders, you cannot get to the end of the side quest and its juicy reward. Well, you can, by using scrolls to create more boulders, but then you have extra boulders in you path on the way back, and you may need to destroy them, thus getting another penalty.

* In every ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' game, there will be a level where a Pokémon with the Strength move is needed to push boulders. Some places you just had to shove a rock out of the way to show you had Strength, but there's always at least one block puzzle going on. Cursed Victory Road...
** Moreover, several areas featured multi-level block puzzles, where you had to push rocks through holes to land in the level below. But here's the catch - if you didn't correctly push all the necessary rocks through the holes before descending to the next level (say, by accidentally falling through the hole after the rock you were pushing), the puzzle reset itself.
** In the Generation 4 games, the sliding block puzzle in the ice-type gym is {{That One Puzzle}}. This section is easily the hardest, puzzle wise, in the entire game.
** Subverted in [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black and White]], as most of the [=HMs=] (including Strength) are no longer required to complete the main game. There are still a few points where moving a boulder can create a shortcut, but even those aren't as common as they used to be.
* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'' featured an enormous amount of block puzzles, ranging from "push the same-colored blocks together" to "push every block into a particular position, then bomb them in a very specific order while pressing certain switches". Surprisingly, these were almost never cases of GuideDangIt, and perfectly workable on your own (if a bit frustrating at times).
** Until you got to the one that was actually (correctly) called the Hardest Puzzle in the World by an NPC. (Fortunately, it was optional.)

* Pretty much every dungeon in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' has at least one of these, though the game is less bad at this than in others. In fact, there's more than one spell in-game dedicated to aiding one in solving block puzzles.
** The worst part of one of them in the sequel, ''Lost Age'', is that it's random by cartridge leaving most {{Walkthrough}}s saying, "yeah, sorry, can't help you here" on the off-chance you get stuck on the circuit board.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' has one in almost every dungeon, or so it seems. Notably the first one, in which they're actually ''{{Golem}}s'', and so have to be beaten into submission before you can use them.
** At least in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' the four most egregious were optional, albeit rewarded with one of the most useful titles in the game.

* ''VideoGame/LightCrusader'' LOVES this trope!

* It appeared in ''VideoGame/IcewindDale II'', out of nowhere (in a classic western cRPG).
* Loudly subverted in ''{{Okage}}: Shadow King.'' You're presented with one with much fanfare and warning about how hard it is... then it's solved for you in a cutscene the moment you actually try to interact with one of the blocks.

* ''{{Bangai-O}} Spirits'' has the "False Treasure" stage, found in the Puzzle Stages set. You need to fit a bunch of Boxes into Box Frames. If you push one into a corner, trap yourself, or otherwise render a Box unable to be moved into a remaining Box Frame, [[UnwinnableByDesign it's restart time]].
** Later in that set you encounter a different kind of Block Puzzle, where you must bounce your shots in a maze to get it to a target. You use the boxes to alter the shots' trajectory.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' has one statue-moving puzzle with no logical reason to do it and another, more reasonable section where some crates must be moved to make a bridge to cross some water. Swimming might be out of the question if that water is sewage.
** Ditto for ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'', its remake, and ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil0'', some puzzles of which had DeadlyGas {{deathtrap}}s if you did them wrong.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games have them in spades, even in places where it doesn't make sense -- such as the blocks on ice in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', the giant granite blocks in the Spirit Temple of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', the picture block puzzle in the Forest Temple of the same game, and the floating crate puzzles in the Tower of the Gods in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''. Evidently the ancients enjoyed lugging thousand-pound blocks around to negotiate their temples. Strangest part? In some games, Link can also ''pull'' them where they need to go (despite the lack of any visible features to get a grip on).
** And in the Tower of the Gods, you could control 3 of the blocks, just in case the point wasn't clear enough.
** Block puzzles rarely turned up to block progress in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', typically being reserved for optional Heart Pieces and rewards, or to screw you out of mid-dungeon refills.
** Not to mention the Cane of Somaria in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'', an item whose purpose is to actually create blocks.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' cuts down on these considerably, but they're still there in some form.
* ''{{Legacy of Kain}}: SoulReaver'' was stuffed liberally with these. For a vampire/ghost being, Raziel spent a remarkable amount of time shoving blocks around.
** Legend has it that the developers were told to come in with a different puzzle design each week or so. Everyone happened to show up with some kind of block puzzle, and the rest is history.

* This was easily the ''worst'' bit in ''{{Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance}}''. It was part of the ''mandatory'' quest. Hatreeeeeed!

* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' has a few:
** In Cape Claw, one room locks you in and some blocks move, releasing poison gas in. The "challenge" is to move the blocks back before the gauge empties, or you start losing health. Once you do it, the door opens, and the air becomes breathable again. (And the point of that exercise? [[spoiler:It also releases the Queen Cloudrunner, who is needed to forward the plot.]])
** The Ocean Force Point Temple has two block puzzles in which you must maneuver a block by Fire Blasting it. If it hits an exterior wall, you have to start over; getting it where you want it to go involves making it run into the internal walls.
** The Walled City has a pair of block puzzles in a pit. There are four blocks. Your job is to push the blocks around until they run into the floating sun or moon symbols (depending on which side of the city the puzzle is on). Of course, this is the kind of puzzle where the block keeps going until it hits something. If one hits the wall, the puzzle resets.
** And inside one of the structures, there's a T-shaped groove in the floor, with a block at each end. Your job is to move them around so that all the blocks have the face with the moon symbol facing out.

* There are many levels in ''{{Disgaea 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4| A Promise Unforgotten}}'' that require the proper placement of Geo Blocks, to be used as steps, and/or to manipulate the GeoEffects in a way that allows you to win the map. Some of them are also timed, and will either make the map unwinnable, or give you an instant GameOver if you don't get the blocks into position quickly enough.

* The ''Sokoban'' {{minigame}} {{sidequest}} in ''{{Nethack}}'' consists of pushing boulders around to plug up holes in the floor which are otherwise impassable.
** Well, a wand of digging can destroy the blocks for you, but you get penalised for that. Cheater-pants.

* ''{{Half-Life}}'' is chock-full of puzzles with the traditional non-descript metal blocks. Its sequel, ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'', gives the block puzzles a more modern look, with a gravity gun and physics objects replacing the old-school blocks. In other words, first game: block puzzle, second game: block puzzle [[RecycledInSpace WITH PHYSICS]].

[[caption-width-right:350:"Where's '[[StatisticallySpeaking Strength]]' when you need it most?" [[labelnote:Click for solution]]In the bottom row of three, push the left and right stones upwards, then push the middle stone to the side. Then move up two rows and push the middle stone in that row upwards, then the two stones beside it to the walls. The top row will by then have five stones; push the second and fourth stones up, then push the middle stone to the side, and you can pass.[[/labelnote]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"Where's '[[StatisticallySpeaking Strength]]' when you need it most?" [[labelnote:Solution:]]In the bottom row of three, push the left and right stones upwards, then push the middle stone to the side. Then move up two rows and push the middle stone in that row upwards, then the two stones beside it to the walls. The top row will by then have five stones; push the second and fourth stones up, then push the middle stone to the side, and you can pass.[[/labelnote]]]]

* The bulk of actual gameplay in ''{{Catherine}}'' ultimately consists of a variety of {{Block Puzzle}}s that must be solved across three dimensions so the main character can climb a tower. This might not sound especially enthralling, but the addition of a ''de facto'' [[TimedMission countdown timer]], [[NintendoHard Atlus Hard]] puzzles, and the [[PrimalFear very human fear of falling]] can make for some rather gripping gameplay.

Well, there's the whole "[[EverythingTryingToKillYou hordes of monsters]]" thing, but the real stumbling, um, ''blocks'' in your journey are roomfuls of fiendish {{Block Puzzle}}s. In the course of many quests to save the world in a video game, you're going to run across a warehouse, a factory, or sometimes even a random nondescript cave full of [[CrateExpectations crates]], boxes, boulders, or featureless cubes which can only be negotiated by pushing them around until you push them into a slot or a door opens or you form a bridge or something. Sometimes you simply need to get them out of your way, because [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence for some reason you can't climb over them]].

The BlockPuzzle shows up in many genres, though ActionAdventure and {{RPG}}s are well known for their propensity to stick giant boxes in your way. It serves to break up the action, in most games, intended to give the players a moment to breathe and think. Unfortunately, this trope has been used so often and to such an extent that the usual response upon finding such a room is something along the lines of "Aw geez, not ''another'' block puzzle!" and a quick trip to {{GameFAQs}} after you get the green block stuck in the corner ''again''.

{{Block Puzzle}}s will show up in {{Puzzle Game}}s too, of course, but ... well, that's kind of the point, right? Also, in any game where you are accompanied by an ally (NPC or otherwise), you will almost ''always'' encounter [[BrokenBridge a block that won't budge]] unless you and your allies all shove away at it together. [[ArtificialStupidity If they can figure that out, of course]].

This occasionally crosses over with SolveTheSoupCans, when the block puzzles really don't make any sense, and coupled with a particular variety of UnexpectedGameplayChange. With the push towards realism in environments, the BlockPuzzle does seem to be on the [[DiscreditedTrope decline]], but is far from [[DeadHorseTrope dead]] - you never know when you'll find yourself near a ledge you can't quite reach, in a room filled with CrateExpectations...

[[caption-width-right:350:"Where's '[[StatisticallySpeaking Strength]]' when you need it most?" [[labelnote:Solution:]]In the bottom row of three, push the left and right stones upwards, then push the middle stone to the side. Then move up two rows and push the middle stone in that row upwards, then the two stones beside it to the walls. The top row will by then have five stones; push the second and fourth stones up, then push the middle stone to the side, and you can pass.[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"Where's '[[StatisticallySpeaking Strength]]' when you need it most?" [[hottip:Solution:In the bottom row of three, push the left and right stones upwards, then push the middle stone to the side. Then move up two rows and push the middle stone in that row upwards, then the two stones beside it to the walls. The top row will by then have five stones; push the second and fourth stones up, then push the middle stone to the side, and you can pass.]]]]

* ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'' is notorious for the prevalence of its block puzzles, in which nearly every other room has some block-pushing that needs to be done to traverse it. It even keeps records of how fast you can clear each room. To their credit, the developers pushed the block puzzles to their limits, with blocks ranging from boxes you can pick up and chuck around to heavier crates you can only push, rocks you can only roll, and more complex versions like magnetic and frictionless blocks. One's [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief suspension of disbelief]] wavers a bit here: A world that probably doesn't have toilet paper has frictionless blocks. Another editor assumes this must be something to do with the ''city of magic'' that said blocks inhabit.