AirPro Games

Pushback

The jet is ready to leave, but the apron is packed. Roll the ground vehicles out of the way so the pink pushback tug can reach its nose, in as few moves as you can.

How to play Pushback

Pushback is a sliding-block puzzle set on an airport apron seen from above. Ground vehicles fill a stand six cells by six: baggage tugs and trains, belt loaders, catering and fuel trucks, passenger stairs, apron buses and ground power units. Each one rolls only along its length, forwards or backwards, never sideways and never through another. Clear a way for the pink pushback tug to the top of the stand, where the departing jet waits for it.

Drag a vehicle to roll it, or pick it with Tab or a tap and roll it with the arrow keys. One move is one vehicle rolled any distance; rolling the same vehicle again straight after is still the same move. Undo takes a move back, and Restart sets the stand up again while the clock goes on. Par is the fewest moves the puzzle can be solved in. A solve in par scores 10 points per move of par, so harder puzzles are worth more (a par-12 puzzle: 120 points), and every move over par costs 2 points. On equal scores, the faster solve ranks first.

Three levels: Easy (par 5 to 9), Medium (10 to 15) and Hard (18 and more). The daily puzzle of each level is the same for everyone that day; free play deals another puzzle as often as you like. Pick the look you like best: the apron by day, the night shift or the ops board.

Tips

Work backwards: find what blocks the tug, then what blocks that vehicle, and so on.
A vehicle across the tug's column can only roll left or right: make room in its row first.
Three-cell vehicles have few places to go. Settle where they will end up early.

Where the data comes from

No outside data: every puzzle was made for AirPro Games by a program that also found its par, and the apron is drawn in your browser.

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