How to play Push Crate
Push Crate is a two-player strategy board game on a 9×9 maze. The flag starts in the centre. Carry it to your own goal row, or destroy 5 crates, and you win. Everything below is the full rule set.
How to win
You win by doing either of these first. ① Reach your goal row while carrying the flag. ② Destroy 5 crates. A crate counts only when you break its wood chips and it disappears from the board. It counts for whoever breaks it, no matter who placed it. Each player's progress shows as a 5-segment bar at the bottom of their player card.
Turns
Moving (including pushing or breaking a crate) or placing a crate uses 1 turn.
Picking up the flag
Move onto the flag's tile to pick it up. The moment you pick it up, you get +2 extra turns.
Taking the flag
On your turn, if you're adjacent to your opponent (up, down, left, or right), they're sent back to their start tile and the flag drops where they were standing.
Crates
An obstacle that can block the path. Crates break in 4 stages — intact crate → broken crate → debris pile → wood chips — and once the wood chips break, the tile becomes empty. You can place a crate on an emptied tile again. Walls never break.
How crates break
Each time you push a crate toward a blocked side, it breaks one stage — it takes 4 hits to clear. ① Intact crate: how every crate starts. ② Broken crate: hit once. Only ① and ② can be pushed, and a pushed crate keeps its stage. ③ Debris pile: hit twice. ④ Wood chips: hit three times. These two can't be pushed — pushing them always breaks them. ⑤ Empty tile: the fourth hit clears it. You can walk there, push crates into it, or place a new crate on it.
Placing crates
You can't place a crate on the [only path] connecting either player's start tile to the flag, or the flag to the goal. A newly placed crate is always an intact box.
Pushing crates
If the space right behind a box (intact or broken crate only), in the direction you push, is empty, the box slides one tile. A pushed box doesn't break. You can't push a crate in a direction that cuts the [only path].
Breaking crates
If the way behind the box is blocked (wall, board edge, crate, flag, opponent), pushing it breaks it one stage instead, and you stay where you are. Only the crate right in front of you takes damage — crates lined up behind it don't break. Debris piles and wood chips can't be pushed; pushing them always breaks them. Breaking can't take the flag.
Jumping
If you're adjacent to your opponent, your movement options extend — you can move past them.
Common questions
How do I get a draw?
You can offer a draw after the first 50 turns. If your opponent declines, you can offer again 20 turns later.
What happens if I get boxed in?
You can't place crates on the only path, so you can't get boxed in. Even if the way gets narrow, you can break crates to open a new path.
What happens if I reach the goal without the flag?
Nothing happens.
Do I get a placement back when a crate breaks?
No. You can place up to 6 crates per game. You can use your remaining placements on tiles emptied by breaking.