How to Play Huarong Dao
Huarong Dao (华容道, "the Huarong road") is a Chinese sliding block puzzle. It retells a scene from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: after his defeat at Red Cliffs, the warlord Cao Cao flees along a narrow road where his enemy's generals block the way. Your job is to get him out.
The tray and the blocks
The tray is 4 cells wide and 5 tall, with an exit at the bottom, under the middle two columns. There are four kinds of block:
| Block | Size |
|---|---|
| Cao Cao (曹操) | 2 × 2 |
| Generals standing up | 1 wide, 2 tall |
| Generals lying down (usually Guan Yu) | 2 wide, 1 tall |
| Soldiers (兵) | 1 × 1 |
The blocks fill the tray except for two empty cells.
Moving
- Slide a block up, down, left or right into empty space. Blocks can't be lifted, turned, or pushed through each other.
- Drag a block on the board, or tap it: if it can only go one way, it goes. If it could go more than one way, the first tap selects it and the next one moves it. The arrow keys move a focused block.
Winning
Bring Cao Cao to the bottom middle, right above the exit. He then walks out and the level is solved.
Counting moves
A move is one block sliding any distance, even if it turns a corner on the way. Two slides of the same block one after the other count as one move. Each level shows the fewest moves it can be solved in. Match that number to solve it perfectly.
Levels
- The Classic (横刀立马, "Guan Yu on his horse, sword drawn"): the traditional opening, 81 moves at best.
- 40 more levels made by kawu: random layouts, each solved by computer to find its fewest moves, then ordered from easy to hard.
Hints
The hint shows the next step of a shortest solution from wherever you are. It knows when you're halfway through sliding a block, so continuing that slide counts as part of the same move.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fewest moves to solve Huarong Dao?
The classic opening, 'Guan Yu on his horse' (横刀立马), takes 81 moves at best, counting a block sliding any distance (even round a corner) as one move.
Is Huarong Dao the same as Klotski?
They're the same kind of puzzle. Huarong Dao is the Chinese version, with blocks named after the story of Cao Cao's escape at Huarong in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Last updated 2026-10-19