Sokoban 2K by Brian Kent

2025-12-29The sokoban player Sokoban 2K by Brian Kent from 2000 got some hype during the years. Probably because of the unusual psychedelic design and the ditto music. And a levelset screaming for remodelling.

You can still download Sokoban 2K playable with Windows 11 from Kliktopia.org. A homepage with LOTS of old games remade for newer Windows versions.
Or download Sokoban 2K directly from Sokoban.dk

The game includes several skins, one of them below:

Sokoban K2 contains the levelset “Ænigma” with Brian Kents own design.
Or is it? About the same time Howard Abed published the levelset “Sokocreation”. 26 of the levels are either simplified versions of Howard Abeds levels. Or Howard Abeds levels are remade more advanced versions of Brian Kents levels.
I can’t find proof which way around but tends to think Brian Kent was the first. Simplifying levels are much more seldom than the other way round.
Maybe somebody in the Sokoban community knows the answer.
Write me if you know something

Aenigma has spawned a lot of remakes during the years.
York Shen even remade the whole collection in his collection “Aenigma Arranged”
You will find around 60 remakes and hardly changed copies in the collection Bugs 1005 by Buddy Casamis.
13 remakes are found in ABHT2 by Archanfel.
Some hardly altered copies and one significantly changed level in Mass Remodel.
And a few levels remade by me just for this article.

The original levels are always very easy and the remakes are mostly just slightly more complex. Some of the remakes are very close to another. Some even exactly matching even if I don’t think the authors are aware of that.

Not many levels have been changed extensively but usually just sharpened. Sometimes true sharpening by just adding stuff inside the original level. Sometimes sharpening with tiny changes to frame, goals and box layout.

Lets have a look.

One obvious thing to do for a remodeller is to increase the number of boxes from 2 to 6.
York Shen added a not so obvious 7th box and made the goal horizontal. Some nice improvements adding a little difficulty to the level.

The 3×3 floors to the right should either contain a box or be removed.
If you choose a box it is natural to add a goal in the center to keep the symmetry.
The 3×3 floors don’t serve other purpose than as a container until you can push the box straight to the center and continue with the interesting part of the solving.
My favorite would be Howard Abeds layout of boxes and goals without the center goal and without the 3×3 floors.

An extra box in the center of the cross are mandatory. And the very loose level can be tightened around the boxes so the level gets more challenging.

This level really screams for remodelling. Vast amounts of unused floors and very few boxes.
Howard Abed and York Shen changed the goal area in the exact same way and added 16 boxes.
Findus stoned 3 floors and added 15 boxes. If you change the 3 central stoned floors to boxes on goal you have exactly the same layout as York Shen.
Isn’t it 4 stoned floors? Yes Findus figured out the floor at B8 wasn’t needed.
Archanfel made another approach by changing the goal area and added boxes only outside this.
I think this is nice as I generally don’t like many boxes in the goal area from the start. Most of the time these needs only few and uninteresting pushes to their final goal.
With Archanfels layout the 4 floors I stoned are not necessary.
You can probably stone B8 as well and maybe more. A challenge for you. I didn’t test it.

Should you remove superfluous floors or should you fill in something?
My favorite approach is usually to remove superfluous floors.
As York Shen did and the unknown Mass remodeller did. York Shen continued further by adding two boxes.

Hu Yibin took the remodeling several steps further. You have to look close to recognize the original level. I would not classify this level as a remodel/remade level but as a brand new level inspired by Level 6.

Buddy Casamis remade most of Aenigma. Usually one version of the level with some floors randomly stoned and one version with the level doubled as shown with necessary changes to make the level solvable.
Buddy also normalized all the levels to squares. Removed here for easier comparison.
York Shen made his usual job by cramming as many boxes as possible inside the original frame.

York Shen crammed in as many boxes as possible.
Howard Abed did the same thing and even made 8 more floors to get enough space for his boxes. What is not very interesting is a lot of boxes on goal of which you don’t need to move a single one to solve the level. Could as well be walls.
I clearly prefer Archanfels clean approach: Just adding boxes and goals inside the original unchanged frame and no boxes on goal.

All remaking authors had the same idea – 3 more boxes. Funny enough my layout of the boxes was exactly the same as by York Shen even if I didn’t see his level before I made mine. I removed the long passageway bottom left and 3 more floors at the top that are not needed.

I am proud to announce I am the one able to get most boxes inside this frame.

York Shen added the maximum number of boxes inside the original frame. No. You can’t put a goal and a box at the marked spots. The level gets unsolvable.
Archanfel removed 4 walls and had room to get round the walls in the middle of the level.
Then the tail of the plane/bird isn’t needed.

In chronological order.
Howard Abed hardened the level.
York Shen made the same changes as Howard Abed.
And then Archanfel unhardened the level a bit again.

This level actually is quite locked. You can´’t do any sensible changes inside the given frame.
This didn’t stop anybody making changes. Howard Abed and York Shen choose to remove the inner walls. Archangel choose to increase the floor.
Now we got the original level and 3 remodels.

However nice design some of the levels in Aenigma are basically boring.
This is one of these.
Everybody put in some more boxes.

York Shen remodelled the level by reducing it two columns and added two boxes. But in this process he had to remove two inner walls.
Archanfel remodelled the level by adding a column and a row getting room for 8 more boxes.
I found room for 2 new boxes in a solely sharpened level. 4 inner walls are stoned. Finally the level is reduced by two columns. Just for the cosmetics. It has no influence on the solution.

To many floors. What to do?
Howard Abed decided to put some boxes inside that just needed to be pushed to their goal and then you could solve the level in the same way a the original level.
York Shen made a better job making more goals that had to be more carefully handled.
I choose to implode the level by reducing it two rows and some stoned floors. And did the same as York Shen, removed two unnecessary pathways in the middle of the level. The bottom line? Nothing new but smaller.

If you ever attempt to remake this level keep the eyes!

Level 42 is a remodellers/sharpeners dream? Well, you can add 60(maybe one or two more) boxes and obscure the frame so you hardly recognize it.
Just did a few adjustments and added 66 boxes.

Level 48 is ugly and no challenge at all. I tried to change the level to something interesting and ended up with the above. Recognise it?

PS: I wrote most of this article 8 years ago but couldn’t decide who came first. Howard Abed or Brian Kent. And postphoned publishing. I still don’t know for sure but now I think it was Brian Kent. But can’t find proof of anything.
Anyone with collections with original timestamps?
Write me if you know something