What makes a good maze? – 5 Characterics of a maze

Introduction

Almost anyone I know likes to play a simple maze game every now and then (as long as the maze is solvable for them within short period of time :p).

As a matter of fact, I like navigating through mazes and trying to solve them so much, that I’m working on a mobile game for that purpose exactly (and thus, meet Mazy Maze!).

So then, what makes a good maze that is effective and fun to navigate? Let’s define those characteristics below!

What are the characteristics of an effective maze?

A maze is a structure with a start- and endpoint that are connected by a complex network of pathways that you have to navigate through. A maze has an outer edge that prevents you from leaving the maze, and the only way to leave a maze is via its openings (which are usually the start- or endpoint, in case those are positioned at the outer edge of the maze)

All mazes have the following aspects in common:

• They have a goal or objective.
• Their paths have multiple branches and choices.
• A lot of paths result dead ends on purpose.
• Some paths can result in a loop.

Let’s describe these characteristics in more detail.

1. A maze has a goal or objective

A maze often has a specific goal or endpoint, such as reaching the center, finding an exit, or reaching a particular destination within the structure. A maze without an entrance but without an andpoint is simply a dead end or infinite loop.

2. Mazes are designed to mislead and confuse you

Although a maze has a goal, which in most cases is to reach an exit or endpoint, at the same time it’s purpose is to make it as hard as possible for you to read that endpoint. The characteristic way in which a maze does so, is by having multiple paths that intersect, weave in eachother, combine into one, or branch into multiple pathways.

These pathways are usually interconnected in complex ways to purposefully mislead and confuse you, and to deliberately make it harder for you to navigate the maze from the start to its endpoint.

This is in contrast to a labyrinth, since you can not get lost in a labyrinth as it’s one long path from.

3. Multiple choices and branches

Mazes typically offer multiple choices or directions at various points, forcing you to make decisions about which path to take. The more and frequenter choices there are to make, the easier it is to loose oversight of the maze, get confused, and eventually to get lost.

A path, for example, can branch into different pathways when a player encounters an intersection. Below you’ll see images of paths that branch into 2, 3, and 4 pathways.

A maze may also combine branching with other gameplay elements, such as loops and dead ends. For example, two branches can make a circular path, resulting in a loop, where the entrance of one branch is the exit of another (and vice versa).

4. Paths and dead ends

The many paths in a maze are usually designed so that at least one path leads to the endpoint, while many other paths lead to dead ends or cul-de-sacs.

Dead ends are implemented to trick you into believing you’re making progress or heading towards the goal, only to find yourself at a point you’ve already encountered or at a pathway that doesn’t lead to the desired destination.

The types of dead ends you may encounter in a maze, are:

• Cul-de-sacs: These are paths that lead to a dead end, forcing individuals to turn back without finding a way forward. They can be short or long corridors that abruptly end without an exit.

• Blind alleys: These are paths that appear to lead somewhere but eventually end without an exit or connection to the main path.

• Blocked passages: Sometimes, a passage might be blocked by a wall, obstacle, or barrier, creating a dead end and preventing further progress along that route.

Dead ends are frustrating to deal with, since they initially make you believe you are progressing toward the end of the maze, only to realize suddenly that the whole path you took brought you nowhere close to your goal.

Despite this frustrating aspect of dead ends, you will always find the end of the maze if you stick to the left or right wall of the maze (although this works online in perfect mazes where the start- and endpoints are at the outer edges of the maze).

Dealing with dead ends often, such as in large mazes, has a psychological effect that can wear you down, with the ultimate consequence that you just rage quit and give up on the maze :p.

5. Puzzling routes and loops

Although dead ends result in an abrupt end in the path the player is currently following and forcing them to go back, a loop’s function is to keep the player going forward and giving them a sense of advancing, only to keep them circling over and over again without actually progressing toward the end goal of the maze.

Loops are a very common characteristic (and trick!) of directional mazes.

You can encounter different types of loops in (complex) mazes, such as:

• Circular paths: these are simply created by pathways that circle back to their starting point without leading to an exit or another part of the maze.

• Repetitive pathways: these involve sequences of twists and turns that eventually bring a person back to a previously visited location without advancing toward the maze’s end point.

• Infinite loops: Infinite loops are the types of loops that you can’t get out of once you’re trapped in them. They can sometimes be found in digital mazes that are generated by an algorithm. When an infinite loop is implemented in the digitale maze game, it’s either a design flaw due to an incorrect use of the maze generation algorithm, or the programmer of the algorithm has intentionally not caught this loop with an exception. In the latter case, it is a gameplay element that triggers a ‘game-over’ state (*).

*: In Mazy Maze, such gameplay element will be implemented, but it won’t result in an automatic game over. In stead, the player is deliberately free to keep navigating, until he/she realizes they’re in a loop. At that point, they can decide to give up and start over by pressing a button that quits the current gameplay session).

In summary

Mazes are usually created for recreational and entertainment purposes like puzzles or games, but there are also cases where mazes are used for therapeutic goals and to test specific cognitive skills such as attention, planning, and problem-solving.

To summarize the main characteristics of a good maze: it has a start- and endpoint that are connected by a complex network of paths with branches containing dead ends and loops, and it’s designed in such a way to misguide and confuse you, and to make it difficult for you to reach its endpoint… all on purpose :).

There are also other aspects you need to take into consideration if you want to design an effective maze layout.

What characteristic of mazes do you find the most fun to encounter? Let me know in the comments below!