In a series of posts I will show you how to make a maze in a wide variety of design constructions. For the fifth example we will look at the arrow maze construction. It is one of the most enjoyable maze constructions to make. Every how-to will use a simple square so you can compare the differences between each maze construction type. I will also show a consolidated secondary how-to using an irregular shape (the state of Ohio).
Here is an outline for this blog post with jump links if you want to skip ahead to a section.
ARROW MAZE DEFINITION
HOW TO MAKE AN ARROW MAZE - abbreviated writing & using a different shape
ADDITIONAL ARROW MAZE EXAMPLES
6 ADDITIONAL ARROW MAZE MOVEMENT OPTIONS
ARROW MAZE DEFINITION
Arrow Maze - A maze that involves following arrows in the direction shown with a few decisions along the way to create the maze solving aspect. Standard movement is one grid at a time (vs an Slide Arrow Maze that allows multiple grids per move). A well designed arrow maze has no dead ends, but rather loops that return you to an earlier part of the maze.
THE 5 RULES OF MAZE DESIGN:
These 5 rules apply to any maze you make so we start with them !
1. Always keep an open pathway for the solution
While drawing a maze you will need to juggle multiple open pathways each of which could become the solution. One of them will become the solution. Keep track of it. This is especially important if you are designing pathways in both directions (from the start and from the goal).
2. Clearly mark the start and goal, or the objective of the maze
A maze should have a start and a goal that you can assess just by glancing at it. There are many ways to start and end a maze I review in this blog post: Options for Starting and Ending a Maze
3. Ensure the difficulty matches the intended audience
Most people want to solve a puzzle/maze that is just slightly below or slightly above their skill level. Many things help determine the difficulty of a maze. Size, number of branches, the length of dead ends, the number of choices, the complexity of the rules (if the maze has them).
4. Ensure your maze has a solution
When your maze is complete, solve it to determine the difficulty level and to ensure it is a real, solvable maze. Depending on the complexity of the maze you may want to do this right away or wait so you can properly assess the difficulty.
5. Explain anything that needs explaining
Some mazes have rules or conditions. Explain them with directions. If it isn't obvious, make it so. This is extremely important with an Arrow Maze !
HOW TO MAKE AN ARROW MAZE
Step 1 - Draw the Outline
The outline of the maze makes the outer wall of the maze. It can be anything from a simple shape like a square, to a complex picture. Arrow mazes are made of grids, so any configuration or shape you can make from grids would be suitable for an arrow maze.
Step 1.5 - Choose the Start and Goal
I use START and GOAL written in the grid typically. They cab be anywhere as long as they are no touching each other
Step 2 - Draw the Grid Design
Draw a grid design to fill the outline with blocks that will contain the arrows. I made an O.
Step 3 - Draw the Arrows off to the side
Unique for this maze is that prep-work will help with the mazes construction. An arrow maze can be moved thru in 8 main directions (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW). I like to create an arrow and then rotate the arrow to the needed directions to make the construction of the maze more efficient. I also make one “choice” arrow with multiple directions that I can rotate as needed. For advanced Arrow mazes there are a few other options I will show in my other examples section, but these basic arrows are a good start.
Step 4 - Start Filling in Arrows
Beginning from the starting block, add arrows to create pathways away from the block. Any block touching the starting block can be a first move. Arrows that face the starting block will return you back immediately. While constructing an Arrow maze you should have at least one path back to the starting block for false paths. Unlike most mazes, an Arrow path has no dead ends (ideally), only loops to earlier parts of the maze.
Notice how I created false paths that bring you back to earlier parts of the maze. I find that return loops are much more enjoyable than dead ends when solving a maze.
Step 5 - Complete the Arrow Maze
To complete an Arrow maze you fill in each block with an arrow. Make sure to never create a dead end or an infinite loop. In this way an Arrow maze can be solved in multiple ways (some loops return to their initial mistake), but there is always a best solution. There are also “short” loops that are less punishing to the solver if they make a wrong choice.
Step 6 (Optional) - Make the Solution
Highlight the solution for the solver that is the quickest path to the goal. For Arrow mazes I like to solve these after a few days to check how enjoyable they are. I did not make this one very complicated ! I used both a drawn line and black vs grey to highlight the correct pathway.
Step 7 (Optional) - Give it Depth
I have added a 3d element to almost every Arrow maze I have made the last few years. It gives them shape and they look more interesting. Add one if you want !
HOW TO MAKE AN ARROW MAZE - abbreviated writing & using a different shape
Here is the original step by step maze done in the shape of Ohio. Use the next controls to watch the maze get made, then see the solution.
Step 1 - Draw the Outline - Ohio for this example
Step 2 - Draw the Grid Design
Step 3 - Draw the Arrows off to the side - If this is your first Arrow Maze. These are the most basic arrows.
Step 4 - Start Filling in Arrows
Step 5 - Complete the Arrow Maze - I added Start and Goal labels here also.
Step 6 (Optional) - Make the Solution - I used red, but a line tracing the arrows is also helpful IMO.
What this maze lacks is directions ! Could the average person solve this without them ?
ADDITIONAL ARROW MAZE EXAMPLES
Here are a few additional examples of Arrow mazes in more traditional forms. The first is in a the most common square grid form. I included this example because it was one of my first formats which included directions and the use of colors for the Start and Goal.
And these are two examples of Arrow mazes in different shaped grids. Any grid shape could work if it has enough options for the solver to be challenged. The maze on the left also includes a decision arrow at 45 degrees.
While making an Arrow Maze can be pretty basic from a movement perspective, there are many options to make it more interesting. Let’s review some the the most common ones I use to make things more challenging.
6 ADDITIONAL ARROW MAZE MOVEMENT OPTIONS
The ALL WAYS ARROW allows anyone to land on it to leave the grid in ANY direction. It looks like a star.
The DOUBLE MOVE ARROW allows you to jump over grids or spaces in the maze. It works well to get out of tight areas and from a design perspective makes the maze more difficult to solve.
RETURN TO START is a grid that you do not want to land on.
START / GOAL is my favorite grid type. Instead of telling the solver where the START and the GOAL is you only show them where the 2 possible are. It is the solvers job to find which is which by finding a path between each START/GOAL grid.
The SLIDE ARROW allows you to move to any arrow the Slide Arrow is pointing at.
WARP GRIDS allow the solver to jump across the maze between each Warp.
Check out my rule movement page from an upcoming book, along with a few examples that showcase the new movements. They make for much harder mazes, and are much more interesting to solve. For all of these mazes I dropped the color start/goal and went with a more traditional and intuitive use of the words “Start” and “Goal”.
Example of moves 1,2,3,6
Slide Arrow Maze
There is also an option to use ONLY Slide Arrows, creating a Slide Arrow Maze. These can be made extremely difficult to solve. Since they are both Arrow Mazes, here is a comparison of the 2 types of Arrow Mazes and their rules for solving:
THE MASTERCLASS
I did the following 14 Part series where I dive into Arrow mazes in detail. It is long and complete.
The Arrow Mazes Design Masterclass: 14 parts, 50 examples
This is one of the most comprehensive blog posts on any subject on the website.
I have 4 Arrow Maze Books AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
Here an overview of the first book:
THE ARROW MAZE BOOK VOLUME 1: AVAILABLE IN 4 LANGUAGES IN BOTH PRINT AND KINDLE EDITIONS
Part puzzle, part maze, all fun ! Enjoy 100 Arrow Mazes that get more challenging as you move forward. Arrow Mazes don't have walls or dead ends but that doesn't mean you won't get lost ! Perfect for both maze lovers and puzzle solvers. Later puzzles get new solving rules to keep the challenge fresh.
Features large size of 8.5 x 11 (Print edition)
100 Arrow Mazes with solutions
Unlike most maze books, no pencil is needed - perfect for solving on a Kindle !
See Maze 49 below for an example.
A FREE downloadable Arrow Maze book to try
In January 2020 my daily mazes consisted of Arrow Mazes I made using my original design. This book does NOT include any of the new movements which make the mazes more fun and challenging but it is a nice introduction to Arrow Mazes. As the month went on the mazes got larger. This book collects all of the mazes from that month. (If you are wondering Volumes 1 & 2 were retired).
THE ARROW MAZE BOOK - VOLUME 3
31 pages, 32 mazes including the cover
File Size: 715 KB
Features each daily maze from January 2020. Arrow mazes have no dead ends which means they should be easy…right ? Each Arrow maze get progressively harder.
MAKING AN ARROW MAZE VIDEO
Take 2 minutes to watch an Arrow Maze being made. This shows the sped up process I described above.
Interested in learning how to make or draw other types of digital mazes ? I have step by step instructions on how to make over 40 different maze types.
If you prefer making labyrinths, you can find step by step labyrinth making instructions.
