About Escape Grid
Escape Grid is a sliding block puzzle game that runs in the browser. It is built and maintained by Pankaj Kumar Behera, working alone. There is no studio behind it and no publisher: the levels, the engine, the site and the guides on it are all one person's work, which is why the level list grows slowly and why every change is written down on the updates page.
What the game is
Every level is a 6×6 board holding one target block and a set of blockers. Pieces slide only along their own axis — horizontal pieces left and right, vertical pieces up and down — and nothing rotates. You win by clearing a lane so the target block can leave the board through its exit. That is the classic unblock format; the additions here are walls, locked blocks that need a matching key, and ice tiles that carry a piece until something stops it. Alongside the 160 numbered levels there is a Daily Challenge, a 60-second Rush mode, an Endless run and timed events.
How the levels are made
The first twenty boards were placed by hand, one new idea per level, so the movement rules teach themselves before the puzzles start hiding their first move. Beyond that, candidate boards are generated and then filtered: a breadth-first solver plays each candidate to find its shortest solution, and a board is only kept if it has exactly one target route of a length that fits where it sits in the progression. Boards that can be solved by pushing the target forward repeatedly are discarded, because they teach the wrong instinct.
Why every level is guaranteed solvable
The solver result is stored with the level, so the game knows the shortest possible solution before you ever see the board. That number is what the star rating compares your move count against, and it is why a level that feels impossible is never actually impossible — you have not yet found the order. The hint button reveals the next optimal move from that stored solution rather than guessing.
How it is funded
The game is free and needs no account. It is paid for by display advertising and by two optional purchases: a one-off ad removal and an Escape Grid Plus membership that adds unlimited energy and cosmetic items. None of it sells progress — every level can be finished, and every leaderboard score can be set, without paying. Payments are handled by Paddle, who act as the merchant of record; the refund policy and terms spell out what that means for you.
Scores and fairness
Leaderboard scores are re-played on the server before they count. The browser sends the moves it made; the server runs those moves against the same level and works out the score itself, so a score cannot be typed in from outside the game. The public leaderboard shows a display name, country and score and nothing else — no account identifiers are exposed. What we collect and why is set out in the privacy policy.
Getting in touch
Bug reports, level feedback and purchase questions all reach me directly through the contact page. Reports of a level that seems unsolvable are especially welcome — include the level number and I will re-run the solver on it.