How to play Stow
Stow is a daily Sokoban puzzle. Everyone gets the same puzzle, a new one appears at midnight, and most take a few minutes.
The goal
Push every box onto a ring. You can push one box at a time, and you can never pull.
The push budget
Walking is free. Only pushes count, and you get a limited number of them: the fewest the puzzle can be solved in, plus two. The number at the top of the screen is how many you have left. When it reaches zero, you can still walk, but you'll need to undo or restart to push again.
Hard mode gives you exactly the fewest possible.
Undos and hints
You get 5 undos and 3 hints per puzzle. An undo takes back your last push. A hint shows the next good push; if the puzzle can no longer be finished within the budget, it rewinds you to where it still can. Restarting is free, but it doesn't give undos or hints back.
Rule days
Some days add a rule, and the game tells you before your first move.
- Colored boxes: each box goes on the ring of its own color. Every color has its own shape too.
- Arrow tiles: they can only be crossed the way they point, by you and by boxes.
Controls
- Phone: use the D-pad, swipe on the board for one step, or tap a square to walk there.
- Keyboard: arrow keys or WASD to move, U or Z to undo, H for a hint, R to restart.
- Mouse: click a square to walk there, or click next to a box to push it.
Streaks, practice and the archive
Solve the daily puzzle on its day to build your streak. Share your result without giving the puzzle away. Practice puzzles and every past daily in the archive are free to play, but they don't count toward your streak.
What is Sokoban?
Sokoban is a box-pushing puzzle created by Hiroyuki Imabayashi and published by Thinking Rabbit in 1982. The name is Japanese for warehouse keeper. Stow is an independent game in that genre, built around one small puzzle a day and a budget of pushes. It isn't affiliated with the original game or its publishers.