---
key: mechanic/shared-family-14
type: mechanic
id: shared-family-14
lang: en
title: Rearrangement and spatial puzzles
summary: >-
  Players move elements within constrained space, rearranging them and clearing
  a route to the goal.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-14/'
jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-14.json'
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-14.md'
aliases:
  - Spatial permutations
tags:
  - Children’s games
  - 'Structures, logic and space'
  - Educational games
sourceIds:
  - source-10d1df6f36fd4358
sources:
  - id: source-10d1df6f36fd4358
    title: Patrick's Parabox
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: children
    id: family-14
    title: Children’s games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-14'
    categoryIds:
      - logic
  - catalogId: education
    id: family-14
    title: Educational games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-14'
    categoryIds:
      - logic
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Spatial permutations
    description: >-
      Players move elements within constrained space, rearranging them and
      clearing a route to the goal.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-patrick-parabox-00.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      game: Patrick's Parabox
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1260520/ss_fc9994b3d063276aaaeacbc86c6d740dabeebdc0.1920x1080.jpg?t=1745611653
      credit: Patrick Traynor
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: Block positions change the available configuration
      alt: Block positions change the available configuration
      markers:
        - x: 43
          'y': 56
          label: Movable block within a constrained passage
    tips:
      - Make free space and permitted moves visible.
    examples:
      - title: Patrick's Parabox
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Play-focused selection adapted from the original children-education taxonomy,
  with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Developer sources support
  specific examples, not the entire classification.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/children
---
# Rearrangement and spatial puzzles

id: shared-family-14
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/shared-family-14
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-14/

Players move elements within constrained space, rearranging them and clearing a route to the goal.

## At a glance

![Block positions change the available configuration](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-patrick-parabox-00.webp)

[Patrick's Parabox](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Movable block within a constrained passage

- Make free space and permitted moves visible.

- [Patrick's Parabox](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/)

## How it works

Assemble jigsaws

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-14-branch-1"></a>

- Assemble jigsaws <a id="family-14-variant-1"></a>
- Solve tangrams <a id="family-14-variant-2"></a>
- Slide tiles into an empty space <a id="family-14-variant-3"></a>
- Push boxes <a id="family-14-variant-4"></a>
- Unblock a path <a id="family-14-variant-5"></a>
- Swap elements <a id="family-14-variant-6"></a>
- Pack shapes into limited space <a id="family-14-variant-7"></a>
- Escape a maze <a id="family-14-variant-8"></a>
- Untangle lines <a id="family-14-variant-9"></a>
- Reproduce a three-dimensional arrangement <a id="family-14-variant-10"></a>

## Design example

Move blocks to clear a vehicle's path.

## Context and limits

An action map for children’s digital, board, active and mixed games. An instructional goal is optional: children can invent stories, explore toys, compete or enjoy play itself. Select age suitability, reading demands, controls and pace separately; different implementations can suit different ages. Learning tasks and instructional support have their own reference.

## Context: Educational games

A mechanic map for games with explicit learning goals, from first encounters with a topic to professional practice. It covers children, teenagers and adults; choose subject, difficulty, context and controls for the learner. Player actions, subject content, instructional support and assessment are distinct layers. Scores and game completion alone do not establish mastery or skill transfer.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Play-focused selection adapted from the original children-education taxonomy, with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Developer sources support specific examples, not the entire classification.

- [Patrick's Parabox](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260520/) (id: source-10d1df6f36fd4358)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors