Escape: The Sliding Block Puzzle I Found at the Museum of Illusions Chicago

Where the idea came from

A while back I visited the Museum of Illusions Chicago. Alongside the optical illusions, there are hands-on puzzles to try, and one of them stuck with me: a box of blocks of different sizes, with one big block you had to slide out through a small opening.

It looks easy. It isn’t. Every piece blocks another, and the big block needs a surprisingly long path to get out. When I left I wanted to keep playing it on my phone, so I searched the Play Store. I couldn’t find an app made for this specific puzzle. There were plenty of number-sliding games and generic block puzzles, but nothing that recreated that layout and the feeling of solving it with your hands.

So I built it. Escape is my take on that puzzle: the same layout and the same goal, with smooth drag-to-slide controls, made to be picked up whenever you have a few minutes.

What is Escape?

Escape is a free sliding block puzzle game for iPhone, Android and the web. The board is a box four cells wide and five tall, filled with ten pieces: one big 2×2 block, four tall blocks, one wide block and four small squares. Two cells are empty. Your job is to slide the pieces around until the big green block escapes through the gate at the bottom.

The puzzle is known in Thailand as Khun Phan, after a hero of Thai folklore who has to escape his captors. It belongs to the same family as the Chinese Klotski (Huarong Dao) and the Japanese Hakoiri Musume.

How to play

1. Drag any piece into an empty space next to it. Pieces can only slide, never jump or rotate.
2. Clear a path for the big green block by moving the smaller pieces out of its way.
3. Guide the big block down to the gate, the green opening at the bottom of the box.
4. When it escapes, you’ll see your number of moves and time, and where you rank on the leaderboard.

3 tips for your first escape

1. Think about the two empty cells. Every move just moves the gaps around. Plan where you want them to be, not where the pieces go.
2. Use the small squares as gap-shufflers. They’re the easiest pieces to tuck away and bring back later.
3. Expect to move the big block away from the gate first. The best routes often go sideways or even up before they come down.

What’s in the app

• Smooth drag-to-slide controls that snap pieces cleanly into the grid.
• A move counter and a timer, so every solve is something to beat.
• A leaderboard that ranks players by fewest moves, then fastest time. On iPhone it uses Game Center.
• A short How to Play guide and a little celebration when you escape.
• It’s available on iPhone, Android and the web.

Try it yourself

If you’ve been to the Museum of Illusions and remember that puzzle, this one’s for you. If you haven’t, it’s a great first brain teaser either way. Download Escape on the App Store or Google Play, or play it in your browser right now.