Play Shikinjou Online

Shikinjou came out in 1991 for the Game Boy, developed by Naxat Soft. It was part of that wave of early handheld puzzle games, the kind you'd play in short bursts between bus stops or before bed, with that distinctive green-tinted screen. It didn't have the flash of an action title, but it had a quiet, deliberate presence in a library full of platformers and RPGs.

You control a small character whose main task is to push blocks onto specific floor tiles to clear each screen. The objective is straightforward: solve the puzzle to proceed to the next. The mechanics are built entirely around this block-pushing, with levels designed to trap you if you make an incorrect move, often forcing a reset. The pacing is slow and thoughtful, and the difficulty ramps up significantly as the puzzles introduce more complex arrangements and limited moves. It feels like a constant, satisfying battle against the grid itself.