The Lost Archives of Sokoban
Published: 2025 April 05
Over the years, while collecting Sokoban games, I’ve come across a few mysterious titles. Some were announced but appear to have never been released; others were once available but are now lost, and some might never have existed at all. To describe these cases, I’ve learned three terms: vaporware, lost media, and rumored titles.
Vaporware
Vaporware refers to games that were announced but never officially released.
One example of vaporware I consider is 倉庫番3 (Sokoban 3). This game, featuring 130 puzzles for the PC-8801, was announced in the Japanese magazines MSX Magazine (August 1986, page 22), Micom BASIC (October 1986, page 20), and LOGiN Magazine (October 1986, page 40), with plans to distribute it on a floppy disk via Takeru vending machines.
Strangely, nobody seems to remember Sokoban 3, and no evidence has surfaced confirming that it was ever sold on those machines.
Sokoban 3 was also mentioned in the book The Sokoban ("THE 倉庫番") in 1987, which listed all its puzzles on pages 134 and 135. However, it does not appear in the list of released games on page 112.
According to my conversation with Mr. Hiroyuki, Sokoban 3 was the product name that eventually evolved into Sokoban Perfect.
It’s still possible that the game was sold, even if only for a single day, and someone might have bought it. Perhaps a copy still exists, tucked away in a Japanese home library or even a developer’s archive. The picture in the magazine suggests the game was at least partially developed, leaving hope that a copy may still be found someday.
Rumored title
A rumored title refers to a game (or other media) that has been mentioned, discussed, or speculated about but lacks concrete evidence of its existence.
One such case, in my opinion, is 倉庫番Revenge (Sokoban Revenge) for the PC-8801. As of now, it only appears on the Sokoban History page, but no pictures, screenshots, or gameplay footage have been found.
This is quite different from Sokoban Perfect for the PC-8801, which has verifiable proof of its existence.
Lost Media
Lost media includes games that were once available but are now nearly impossible to find.
Many Sokoban games—if not all—created for Japanese mobile phones between 2004 and 2007 fall into this category.
Sokoban M.E., published by Living Mobile GmbH in 2005. It featured 48 puzzles.
Most websites that hosted reviews of it have vanished. Some pages mentioned it was a JAR file of 96 KB.
This game was also reviewed in the German magazine Bravo Screenfun (November 2005, page 102).
倉庫番 ファーストステップ (Sokoban First Steps), published by Dwango in 2004. It featured 48 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(1-1) (Sokoban Perfect (1-1)), published by Dwango in 2005. It featured 16 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(1-2) (Sokoban Perfect (1-2)), published by Dwango in 2005. It featured 16 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(1-3) (Sokoban Perfect (1-3)), published by Dwango in 2005. It featured 16 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(2-1) (Sokoban Perfect (2-1)), published by Dwango in 2005. It featured 16 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(2-2) (Sokoban Perfect (2-2)), published by Dwango in 2005. It featured 16 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(2-3) (Sokoban Perfect (2-3)), published by Dwango in 2005. It featured 16 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(3-1) (Sokoban Perfect (3-1)), published by Dwango in 2005. It featured 16 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(3-2) (Sokoban Perfect (3-2)), published by Dwango in 2005. It featured 16 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(3-3) (Sokoban Perfect (3-3)), published by Dwango in 2005. It featured 16 puzzles.
倉庫番 ファーストステップ (Sokoban First Steps), published by Square Enix in 2004. It featured 48 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(1) (Sokoban Perfect (1)), published by Square Enix in 2004. It featured 48 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(2) (Sokoban Perfect (2)), published by Square Enix in 2004. It featured 48 puzzles.
倉庫番 パーフェクト(3) (Sokoban Perfect (3)), published by Square Enix in 2004. It featured 48 puzzles.
倉庫番 DX ファーストステップ&パーフェクト(1) (Sokoban DX First Steps & Perfect (1)), published by Square Enix in 2004. It featured 96 puzzles.
コナミワイワイ倉庫番 (Konami Wai Wai Sokoban), published by Konami in 2007.
Another interesting lost Sokoban game was created in 2005 for the PLUS e (プラスe), a touchscreen entertainment device mainly found at tables in casual restaurants.
倉庫番 プラスe (Sokoban Plus e), published by JCM in 2004.
The Search Continues
As a Sokoban player, I’m always on the lookout for old releases, searching for puzzles that may have only appeared once and never again. Even if all the puzzles from lost releases were included in later titles, I still want to play each release, even if only briefly—each one had its own distinct graphics, sounds, and vibe, making the experience unique. I hope that one day, these lost games will be found, allowing us to rediscover all their puzzles and fully appreciate the creativity and charm of their time.
If you have any information or resources that might help uncover these forgotten games, please feel free to contact me at cmontiers@gmail.com.
A special thank you to Mr. Joseph Redon, who kindly shared his insights and helped me reach the conclusions presented here. His knowledge and passion for Japanese games have been invaluable to this research.