History Main / Klotski

Compare InventoryManagementPuzzle, when organizing GridInventory-Systems can get incredibly tedious. See also ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}''.

* ''ComicBook/ArchieComics Website'': There's a Java puzzle called "Traffic Jam", in which the player must move Archie's red car to the exit by rearranging other vehicles in the parking lot. A physical version of this has been sold under the name "Rush Hour".

* Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3: One of the games included is ''Klotski''; three levels of eight puzzles each, starting with several variants of the puzzle described above, then moving through more complex puzzles and culminating in a 27×27-square puzzle titled ''Sunshine''. This final puzzle, requiring some 2,000-plus moves to get the 5×5 block to its home, takes not so much ingenuity as patience: With only five squares' leeway, each square required for a single move of the red piece, work the red piece down to the door, then tediously work it around the edge of the puzzle and back up to the top.

* Windows/DOS: ''VideoGame/{{Bricks}}'' is a NintendoHard Klotski clone that includes, among other things, magnetic pieces, walls that pop up if you slide something over them, pieces that can't move until a certain "key" piece is brought to a certain position, and unconnected groups of pieces that move as one unit. And that's just in the first installment.

* ''Anime/PhiBrainPuzzleOfGod'': The second season features this as the puzzle of the week.

** ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheCuriousVillage'': "The Princess in the Box" is one of the puzzles found while climbing the tower.

* Windows/DOS: ''Bricks'' is a Klotski clone that includes, among other things, magnetic pieces, walls that pop up if you slide something over them, pieces that can't move until a certain "key" piece is brought to a certain position, and unconnected groups of pieces that move as one unit. And that's just in the first installment.

* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'': Obscenely difficult versions are typically the final puzzles in each game.

* ''VideoGame/{{Safecracker}}: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure'': One of the late-game safes.
* ''VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest'': The furniture puzzle in ''The 11th Hour''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bricks}}'': If you thought this kind of puzzle was hard enough, don't even look at this game. It's a Windows/DOS Klotski clone that includes, among other things, magnetic pieces, walls that pop up if you slide something over them, pieces that can't move until a certain "key" piece is brought to a certain position, and unconnected groups of pieces that move as one unit. And that's just in the first installment.

* The video for the ''Anime/MegaManNTWarrior'' ending theme, ''Hikari Todoku Basho'', has a short animation of the puzzle being solved in the background near the start of the video.

* A regularly used challenge component throughout the history of ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' but known by the more generic term 'slide puzzle'. Typically an ax or other blade is embedded in the 2x2 piece; after freeing the piece, the blade is used to cut a rope, which often unfurls a victory banner. In more recent years, an eight piece/4x4 variant is more often used, occasionally with crate-size pieces so large that they require several people to move.

* The "World's Most Difficult Trick" in ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals''.
* The furniture puzzle in ''[[VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest The 11th Hour]]''.
* The "Last Pedestal of Buddha" in ''VideoGame/QuestForKarma''.
* The ComicBook/ArchieComics Web site has a Java puzzle called "Traffic Jam", in which the player must move Archie's red car to the exit by rearranging other vehicles in the parking lot. A physical version of this has been sold under the name "Rush Hour".
* One of the games included with ''Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3'' is ''Klotski'': three levels of eight puzzles each, starting with several variants of the puzzle described above, then moving through more complex puzzles and culminating in a 27×27-square puzzle titled ''Sunshine''. This final puzzle, requiring some 2,000-plus moves to get the 5×5 block to its home, takes not so much ingenuity as patience: With only five squares' leeway, each square required for a single move of the red piece, work the red piece down to the door, then tediously work it around the edge of the puzzle and back up to the top.
* One of the late-game safes in ''VideoGame/{{Safecracker}}: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure''.
* The [=GNOME=] desktop environment includes a straightforward Klotski game in the ''[=GNOME=] Games'' package.
* And if you thought this kind of puzzle was hard enough, don't even look at ''Bricks'', a Windows/DOS Klotski clone that includes, among other things, magnetic pieces, walls that pop up if you slide something over them, pieces that can't move until a certain "key" piece is brought to a certain position, and unconnected groups of pieces that move as one unit. And that's just in the first installment.
* This type of puzzle appears in the ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' games, naturally. Obscenely difficult versions are typically the final puzzles in each game.
* The AdventureGame ''Companions of Literature/{{Xanth}}'' includes an optional Klotski puzzle.
* A few puzzles in the PC version of ''VideoGame/SpongebobSquarepantsBattleForBikiniBottom''.

There are variations of this puzzle based on differences in the initial position, or in the number of blocks of various sizes. It is sometimes known as the Dad's Puzzle, where the theme is a father trying to move around pieces of furniture, or the Pennant Puzzle.

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[[folder:Real Life]]

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The ComicBook/ArchieComics Web site has a Java puzzle called "Traffic Jam", in which the player must move Archie's red car to the exit by rearranging other vehicles in the parking lot.
** A physical version of this has been sold under the name "Rush Hour".

* The [[http://www0.us.ioccc.org/ International Obfuscated C Code Contest]] had a winning entry one year that solved this puzzle. Here's the catch: When presenting its moves and the current state of the board, it would print out valid C code (obfuscated to look like the blocks)... which compiled into a program that did the ''same thing but faster''.

[[folder:Television]]

* This type of puzzle appears in the ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' games, naturally. Obscenely difficult versions are also the final puzzles in each game.

* The [[http://www0.us.ioccc.org/ International Obfuscated C Code Contest]] had a winning entry one year that solved this puzzle. Here's the catch: When presenting its moves and the current state of the board, it would print out valid C code (obfuscated to look like the blocks)... which ''actually compiled'' into a program that did the ''same thing'' but ''faster''.

* The Franchise/ArchieComics Web site has a Java puzzle called "Traffic Jam", in which the player must move Archie's red car to the exit by rearranging other vehicles in the parking lot.

[[folder: Television ]]

* A regularly used challenge component through out the history of ''Series/Survivor'' but known by the more generic term 'slide puzzle'. Typically an ax or other blade is embedded in the 2x2 piece; after freeing the piece, the blade is used to cut a rope, which often unfurls a victory banner. In more recent years, an eight piece/4x4 variant is more often used, occasionally with crate-size pieces so large that they require several people to move.
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[[folder: Video Games ]]

* One of the games included with ''Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3'' is ''Klotski'': three levels of eight puzzles each, starting with several variants of the puzzle described above, then moving through more complex puzzles and culminating in a 27×27-square puzzle titled ''Sunshine''. This final puzzle, requiring some 2000-plus moves to get the 5×5 block to its home, takes not so much ingenuity as patience: With only five squares' leeway, each square required for a single move of the red piece, work the red piece down to the door, then tediously work it around the edge of the puzzle and back up to the top.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* The [[http://www0.us.ioccc.org/ International Obfuscated C Code Contest]] had a winning entry one year that solved this puzzle. Here's the catch: When presenting its moves and the current state of the board, it would print out valid C code (obfuscated to look like the blocks)... which ''actually compiled'', into a program that did the ''same thing'', but ''faster''.

* The old Windows game pack came with ''Klotski'': three levels of eight puzzles each, starting with several variants of the puzzle described above, then moving through more complex puzzles and culminating in a 27×27-square puzzle titled ''Sunshine''. This final puzzle, requiring some 2000-plus moves to get the 5×5 block to its home, takes not so much ingenuity as patience: With only five squares' leeway, each square required for a single move of the red piece, work the red piece down to the door, then tediously work it around the edge of the puzzle and back up to the top.

This StockPuzzle consists of a 4×5 board with sliding blocks. One block is 2×2; the other blocks are 2×1, 1×2 and 1×1. The goal of the puzzle is to get the 2×2 block into the bottom position.

[[AC:{{Video Games}}]]

* The old Windows game pack came with ''Klotski'': three levels of eight puzzles each, starting with several variants of the puzzle described above, then moving through more complex puzzles and culminating in a 27×27-square puzzle titled ''Sunshine''. This final puzzle, requiring some 2000-plus moves to get the 5×5 block to its home, takes not so much ingenuity as patience: With only five squares' leeway, each square required for a single move of the red piece, work the red piece down to the door, then tediously work it around the edge of the puzzle and back up to the top.
* The [=GNOME=] desktop environment includes a straightforward Klotski game in the ''[=GNOME=] Games'' package.

* This type of puzzle appears in the ''Franchise/ProfessorLayton'' games, naturally. Obscenely difficult versions are also the final puzzles in each game.

* The video for [[VideoGame/MegaManNTWarrior Rockman.EXE Axess]]' ending theme, ''Hikari Todoku Basho'', has a short animation of the puzzle being solved in the background near the start of the video.

[[AC:{{Real Life}}]]

* The [[http://www0.us.ioccc.org/ International Obfuscated C Code Contest]] had a winning entry one year that solved this puzzle. Here's the catch: When presenting its moves and the current state of the board, it would print out valid C code (obfuscated to look like the blocks)... which ''actually compiled'', into a program that did the ''same thing'', but ''faster''. CrowningMomentOfAwesome for the entire study of computer science.

This StockPuzzle consists of a 4x5 board with sliding blocks. One block is 2x2; the other blocks are 2x1, 1x2 and 1x1. The goal of the puzzle is to get the 2x2 block into the bottom position.

* The "Last Pedestal of Buddha" in ''QuestForKarma''.
* The ArchieComics Web site has a Java puzzle called "Traffic Jam", in which the player must move Archie's red car to the exit by rearranging other vehicles in the parking lot.

* The old Windows game pack came with ''Klotski'': three levels of eight puzzles each, starting with several variants of the puzzle described above, then moving through more complex puzzles and culminating in a 27x27-square puzzle titled ''Sunshine''. This final puzzle, requiring some 2000-plus moves to get the five-by-five block to its home, takes not so much ingenuity as patience: with only five squares' leeway, each square required for a single move of the red piece, work the red piece down to the door, then tediously work it around the edge of the puzzle and back up to the top.

* And if you thought this kind of puzzle was hard enough, don't even look at Bricks, a Windows/DOS Klotski clone that includes, among other things, magnetic pieces, walls that pop up if you slide something over them, pieces that can't move until a certain "key" piece is brought to a certain position, and unconnected groups of pieces that move as one unit. And that's just in the first installment.
* This type of puzzle appears in the ''ProfessorLayton'' games, naturally. Obscenely difficult versions are also the final puzzles in each game.

* The video for [[MegaManNTWarrior Rockman.EXE Axess]]'s ending theme, Hikari Todoku Basho, has a short animation of the puzzle being solved in the background near the start of the video.