Patrick's Parabox

The appeal of Patrick's Parabox is the way pushing boxes into other boxes changes the puzzle world itself. More than 350 handcrafted challenges introduce recursive ideas, making it a natural fit for players who enjoy patiently working through rules. At $7.64 from Eneba, the purchase makes sense when that kind of solo puzzle-solving is what you want. The Steam PC version has full controller support, while 99% positive from 5,044 reviews offers context without replacing your judgment of the central mechanic. At $19.99 from Eneba, Patrick's Parabox suits a purchase when recursive box puzzles are your kind of challenge.

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99%Steam Reviews5K reviews84Metacritic/10087OpenCritic/100

Released: Mar 29, 2022

Puzzle · Sokoban · Logic · Minimalist · Abstract

EnebaPatrick's Parabox (PC) Steam Key GLOBAL·Platform:·Checked 2026-11-02-62%~ $7.64ALL-TIME LOWSave $12.35 vs SteamBuy now

K4GPatrick's Parabox Steam CD Key·Platform:·Checked 2026-11-02~~~ $21.79~~-64%from~ $7.78(~ €6.96)ALL-TIME LOWBuy now

GAMIVOPatrick's Parabox Global·Platform:·Checked 2026-11-01-61%from~ $7.84(~ €7.02)ALL-TIME LOWBuy now

KinguinPatrick's Parabox Steam CD Key·Platform:·Checked 2026-11-02~~~ $18.76~~-58%from~ $7.92(~ €7.09)ALL-TIME LOWBuy now

Steam·Platform:·United States Steam official price~ $19.99Buy now

GGselPatrick's Parabox РФ+СНГ+ВЕСЬ МИР Steam КЛЮЧ·Platform:·Checked 2026-11-01~ RUB 778.86Credit/Debit CardBuy now

All-time low ~ $9.99across Steam & third-party storesat the recorded all-time low

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Price History

Past 36 months · Updated daily

Historical Low~ $9.232026-07Current Low Across Stores~ $7.64EnebaAt its historical low now

Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.

01About Patrick's Parabox

Patrick's Parabox is a puzzle game about boxes containing boxes, with recursive rules that let you reshape the world by pushing boxes into and out of one another. Learn how self-containing boxes work and use infinity to solve increasingly intricate challenges. More mechanics and recursive twists unfold as you explore the system. The game includes over 350 handcrafted puzzles, each presenting a new idea. The Steam PC version is single-player and supports full controller input. Its interface is available in Simplified Chinese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese-Brazil, and Russian. 99% positive from 5,044 Steam player reviews.

Credits

Developer

Patrick Traynor

Publisher

Patrick Traynor

Steam player reviews

99%positiveOverwhelmingly Positive5,044 Steam reviews

Lowest recorded in 36 months

$9.232026-07-30 · KinguinBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.

Language support

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
Simplified Chinese	Yes	—	—
English	Yes	—	—
French	Yes	—	—

Show 7 more languages

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
Italian	Yes	—	—
German	Yes	—	—
Spanish	Yes	—	—
Japanese	Yes	—	—
Korean	Yes	—	—
Portuguese-Brazil	Yes	—	—
Russian	Yes	—	—

Steam PC edition data · 2026-11-02

02Before you buy

Puzzle content

The game contains more than 350 handcrafted puzzles built around recursive boxes and rules. Each puzzle introduces a new idea.

Play and language

The Steam PC version is single-player and has full controller support. English is one of its interface languages.

03Frequently asked questions

What is the central puzzle mechanic?

Push boxes into and out of one another, changing the world's structure; some puzzles involve a box containing itself.

Can I play solo?

Yes. The Steam PC version is listed as single-player.

How many puzzles are included?

The description specifies more than 350 handcrafted puzzles.

Popular Steam reviews

Native-language selection · 10 reviews

Selected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.

RecommendedSteam player

04/15/2022

A very good recursive Sokoban. Highly recommended and see more details in this review: [quote zholobov]A very good recursive Sokoban. Highly recommended and see more details in this review: [quote zholobov]A very good recursive Sokoban. Highly recommended and see more details in this review: [quote zholobov]A very good recursive Sokoban. Highly recommended and see more details in this review: [quote zholobov]A very good recursive Sokoban. Highly recommended and see more details in this review: [quote zholobov]...Show moreShow less

8.7 hours at review189 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

04/08/2022

I unfortunately don't think I can recommend this game this game at $20. Patrick's Parabox does present some interesting ideas, but doesn't flesh them out enough to create a true sense of increasing difficultly. It took me only 5 hours to beat the game and almost every world to completion, because despite having over 300 levels, many of them are either solved with near identical solutions or the solution is the only set of unique game actions you can take. Despite that, I did enjoy myself and there were a handful of levels I thought were clever, but comparing this game to something like Baba is you is night and day. Which makes the price point of Patrick's Parabox being $20 seem ludicrous to me. I would probably recommend the game if it was $5-$10, but as it stands it unfortunately under delivers. Also on a different note the soundtrack just really does not do it for me, forgettable and annoying.Show moreShow less

5.2 hours at review39 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

04/03/2022

If you like Baba Is You, this game will be right up your alley. You will feel dumb, then you will feel smart, then you will feel dumb again.Show moreShow less

3 hours at review101 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

04/02/2022

I was expecting this to be another mind-blowing Sokoban game like Baba is You or Stephen's Sausage Roll, and while the basic premise is very cool and expanded upon greatly, this game just has far too much fluff for me to enjoy it entirely. A lot of the puzzles are very, very easy, to the point where your first solution is usually correct. There's also a ton of repetition, often the "harder" versions of puzzles require the same solution as the previous puzzle, but applied to a different shape of block, or just repeated multiple times. Even when new mechanics are introduced, it often feels like you can apply the same few tricks you used in previous levels to most puzzles. I'm about 130 puzzles in at time of review, but there's been less than 10 puzzles that have really felt difficult and satisfying in their solution. I think I would have enjoyed this game a lot more if it had like, 75% less puzzles. As it stands right now, by the time I've cleared an area, I'm already tired of its mechanics.Show moreShow less

3 hours at review28 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

07/15/2026

截止目前，过半以上的游戏时长在完全挂机。整个游戏的流程体验于我，像梅雨季烘干的衣服，掺杂着一点洗衣凝珠香氛的味道里满是挥之不去的霉气。当一个关卡卡住之后，我没有办法顺利劝说自己“先去玩下一个大章”。我会被“此章未完成”困在原地挂机，不断劝说自己“拆解一下关卡逻辑”，以至为了顺利通关去研究“什么是递归”（数学意义上的）。帕箱给我的“做题感”是我玩过的所有游戏里最重的的。我姑且可以认为帕箱在每一个大章都引入了一个新的“概念”，每一个小节都是对这个“概念”举一反三的应用。每一个小节，我是说每一个小节，都有自己通关的“标准答案（唯一核心关窍）”。喜欢在一套设计好的体系里“发散式解谜”的我（比如在野炊王泪的物理引擎里用天马行空的方式解神庙、围观游戏博主用更新奇的方式解神庙），像一只被掏空了内脏固定在毛毡背板上的昆虫一样，被迫收束“如果我可以这样，那我可不可以那样？”的想法，努力变成符合通关评级的“标本”。每一个小关都是一次验证“我是否对作者的想法无言自明”的默契测试，成功通关的多巴胺无法抵御“我下一节还能猜中作者心意吗？、我能一直这样顺利验证他在想什么吗”的对未知的恐惧。在你点进下一个关卡前你知道作者已经想到了一个“点子“，你要做的就是尝试和他想到同一个“点子”（或者说，解题公式？）（给我的感觉be like：“我心里有个想法但我不告诉你你猜中了就是我们有默契猜不中那就是我们没缘分”；于是我猜不中很愤怒，猜中了更愤怒）很多很多次，我都想不到“作者所想”，最后我会挂到实在受不了关闭游戏。我斗胆奉劝每一个Ne很高的人停止尝试帕箱。（或者如果有Ne很高的人愿意和我分享游戏体验感激不尽？我真的很好奇我不喜欢帕箱是什么性格特征发力了）。（我喜欢可能性，不喜欢确定性，尤其对“唯一正确答案”PTSD）我的理性在分析，理论上它作为cocoon（我的24年度最佳独游）的灵感启蒙之一，应该是个很好的游戏（它是干净的，我洗过了，有一点点香味，可以穿）但我的情感在抗拒，为什么它明明是个“好”游戏但我玩起来那么痛苦，需要不断通过播放自己喜欢的音乐覆盖游戏原生bgm、吃喜欢的零食、和喜欢的人们聊天转移注意力来哄自己“接着玩下去吧”（穿上这件衣服我闻起来像个老旧墙皮上的霉斑） “大家好像都很喜欢帕箱、我居然不喜欢帕箱”的愧疚被我用“我要坚持把这个游戏打完”活埋，终于有一天这些情绪以更丑陋的形式重新出现。帕箱或许对很多很多解谜独游爱好者来说是个好游戏，它机制设计环环相扣、几乎0损耗用“游戏”和“图形”引入了递归的概念，同时又从始至终只用这一个概念创造了三桌满汉全席（364个关卡量大管饱，按108道菜来算三桌甚至摆不下）；设计思路一点不拖泥带水，没有过量文字带来的厚重的说教感，引导十分精巧。但我不喜欢它，我在这个游戏身上体验到了当年被周测月考模拟压的喘不过气来的一次又一次的验证“你到底会不会数学”的痛苦。所以我认可帕箱是个优秀的游戏，我也不再逼自己喜欢它。以上。Show moreShow less

18.5 hours at review21 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

11/16/2022

Let's be honest: nobody likes looking up solutions to puzzles, and nobody likes leaving puzzles unfinished, and nobody likes staring at a puzzle for hours, having your brain operate on 42069 teraflops. But if a puzzle game is too easy, then it becomes boring and there's no satisfaction. Patrick's Parabox solves this conundrum by having excellent puzzle design, a very fine learning curve with lots of teachable moments, and deciding to err on the side of being too easy rather than too hard. Don't worry; it'll still make your brain hurt in that good way... okay, I think I'd better explain myself. Difficulty I don't consider myself particularly good at puzzle games; I managed to "beat" Baba is You (got to the credits) with only looking up solutions maybe 2-3 times, but every late game puzzle took me ... a pretty long time. Sometimes hours. At some point it stops being fun. Parabox, on the other hand... I managed to 100% of the main game (all puzzles, minus the post-game challenges) in 12 hours. The longest I was stuck on a puzzle was 15-20 minutes, tops, and most I've solved in around 2. I mean, I have around 260 puzzles solved, so that'd make it around 3 mins per puzzle on average? Point is, it's much easier. Once you hit the "aha" moment, setting everything up to work the way you want to is quick and pleasant. Still, no puzzle was so easy that I'd instantly know the answer just by looking at it. If I had to describe my "brain flow" here, it'd be something like this: Look -> Hmm -> Messing around -> Ok -> Sherlock Mode -> Elementary, my dear Patrick -> Solve I hope that makes sense. Let's talk about the learning curve, since that's what makes the difficulty so pleasant. Learning Curve The game's split into thematic worlds, which all use a central mechanic as a foundation. Of course, latter worlds include mechanics from previous worlds to keep things interesting - but they don't overuse them, and many optional side puzzles have mechanics that are unique to this particular set. Every world has the "main" path - easy puzzles which mostly just show you how a new mechanic works. Sometimes two puzzles have essentially the same solution, just are flipped around a bit; but that ensures that you really get it. Once you're done with those, you can try the "red" or even "blue" puzzles which are, in my opinion, where the real meat of the game is - they test your understanding of the mechanics, and are rather non-trivial. But the good news is that you don't need to do them if you don't want to. So: do you want a brain workout, or would you like to just be taken on a magic carpet box ride through a theme park of guided "aha" moments? The game's got you covered either way. No shame. Puzzle Design You might think that the trailer showcases this part quite well. You'd be wrong; because it gets so, so much crazier than that. What happens if you put a box inside itself, and then leave it? That's simple, you reappear inside, at the edge of where the "inner" box is. But what if you tweaked that situation and put the inner box's edge so that it lines up with the outer edge... and then try to leave? You'd be stuck in an infinite loop of leaving into something that doesn't exist. The game just shrugs at that paradox and calls it "infinity". It usually breaks the puzzle, but not always. The game's called "Parabox" because it's all about using and abusing such paradoxes... with boxes. And that infinity thing is arguably the simplest weird thing you'll encounter here, by the way. And the best part? The puzzle design not only explains those weird concepts very well, it also twists them around and puts them in such insane configurations that you can't help but be amazed at the sheer genius required to craft this insane concoction. A prime example of the divine creativity only a solodev can wield. Conclusion Flaws... there really isn't much to complain here. The biggest "problem" I can think of is that there doesn't seem to be a way to zoom on a controller, you have to use the mouse. Also, if you're smarter than me (or just good at puzzle games), you'll probably find the game too easy - but I still think you'd have fun. In a nutshell, I'd say that this game has the mechanical depth of Baba is You but the difficulty and pacing of Portal. In other words - if you even remotely enjoy puzzle games, this is an absolute must play. Curator PageShow moreShow less

12.5 hours at review56 people found this helpful

Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/15/2026.