Push-pull block puzzles are hard

DOI10.1007/978-3-319-57586-5_16zbMATH Open1487.68243arXiv1709.01241OpenAlexW2963425277MaRDI QIDQ5283366FDOQ5283366

Authors: Erik D. Demaine, Isaac Grosof, Jayson Lynch 

Publication date: 21 July 2017

Published in: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: This paper proves that push-pull block puzzles in 3D are PSPACE-complete to solve, and push-pull block puzzles in 2D with thin walls are NP-hard to solve, settling an open question by Zubaran and Ritt. Push-pull block puzzles are a type of recreational motion planning problem, similar to Sokoban, that involve moving a `robot' on a square grid with $1imes1$ obstacles. The obstacles cannot be traversed by the robot, but some can be pushed and pulled by the robot into adjacent squares. Thin walls prevent movement between two adjacent squares. This work follows in a long line of algorithms and complexity work on similar problems. The 2D push-pull block puzzle shows up in the video games Pukoban as well as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, giving another proof of hardness for the latter. This variant of block-pushing puzzles is of particular interest because of its connections to reversibility, since any action (e.g., push or pull) can be inverted by another valid action (e.g., pull or push).

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.01241

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zbMATH Keywords

complexitymotion planningPSPACE-completenesspuzzlesNP

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Computational difficulty of problems (lower bounds, completeness, difficulty of approximation, etc.) (68Q17) Computer graphics; computational geometry (digital and algorithmic aspects) (68U05) Artificial intelligence for robotics (68T40)

Cites Work

• Title not available (Why is that?)
• SOKOBAN and other motion planning problems
• Relationships between nondeterministic and deterministic tape complexities
• PSPACE-completeness of sliding-block puzzles and other problems through the nondeterministic constraint logic model of computation
• Rush Hour is PSPACE-complete, or ``Why you should generously tip parking lot attendants
• Motion planning in the presence of movable obstacles
• Classic Nintendo games are (computationally) hard
• 2048 without new tiles is still hard

Cited In (7)

• Computational complexity of motion planning of a robot through simple gadgets
• \textsc{Pull} and \textsc{PushPull} are PSPACE-complete
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Pushing blocks is hard.
• Defying gravity and gadget numerosity: the complexity of the Hanano puzzle and beyond
• The parameterized complexity of motion planning for snake-like robots
• PSPACE-completeness of Bloxorz and of games with 2-buttons

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