The Atari 2600 was never known for its puzzle games considering the basis for the console was action games. It was just natural, considering the limitations of the platform, for developers to focus on repetitious action, or arcade, games that did not require much memory. Puzzle games by nature are unwieldly beasts that were not simplified very much till titles such as Tetris revolutionized the genre. Some would consider Q*Bert a puzzle game, but I consider that more of an arcade action game with a unique style.
I am not discounting the release of games like Atari Video Cube (Atari Club only release) and the later relabeled version, Rubik’s Cube (general release) here. That is indeed a puzzle game, an interesting one, even though the sound effects grate on your nerves after a bit. Atari 2600 was just not a puzzle gamers favorite console.
Later, and in certain regions, there would be more traditional puzzle games such as Klax (PAL regions only). Still, probably the only genre served less on the 2600 than puzzle games is the brawler/fighting genre (I can only think of Double Dragon meeting the requirements).
Please note, I am not counting independent homebrew releases here. I am specifically tallying titles released while the Atari 2600 was being sold in stores and pushed by Atari (I know, history is repeating itself but not for the intent of this article).
Also, I am no historian, even though I grew up in gaming, I was not enjoying electronic gaming with a critical eye paying attention to what released and when. I was, and still am, a gamer first.
Sokoban 2025 came across my YouTube recommendations in early July 2025 and considering the situation with puzzlers on the console, I knew I had to write something up about it. Surely there are fans that would want to know about it.
If you are not familiar with the Sokoban genre then you are probably not alone. It has not exactly been a barn burner as far as sales go.
Your goal is to move boxes, by pushing them, to certain spots marked on the ground. You cannot pull or slide sideways. Pushing a block against another, or a wall, could cause you to have to restart the level.
It is brutally tough depending on how diabolical the level is laid out, other times, super simple.
Over the years we have gotten many variations of Sokoban in North America. Shove It! on Sega Genesis (affiliate link) and Boxy Boy on TurboGrafx-16 (affiliate link). Both were released early titles on those consoles as well. Soon we can add Atari 2600 to the list of consoles with a Sokoban title available.
