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Each Saturday I post a new hard maze with all of them sitting in the Hard Maze Archive. I will try to post a variety of maze types to keep things interesting.
Weekly Hard Maze #35 - Directional Maze
Solution will be in the archive. Download is below.
If you solved that maze quickly and want to try some of my archival hard mazes, these posts should do the trick:
In a series of posts I will show you how to make a maze in a wide variety of design constructions. The 25th type of maze construction is the Draw and Cut maze. Let’s define what I mean, then get into the example. 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:
HOW TO MAKE A DRAW AND CUT MAZE
HOW TO MAKE A DRAW AND CUT MAZE - abbreviated writing & using a different shape
DRAW AND CUT MAZE DEFINTION:
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.
HOW TO MAKE A DRAW AND CUT MAZE
I should mention that this is a digital maze how-to only (unless you use a pencil with a very good eraser), while most of my how-to’s can be applied to non-digital creations.
Step 1 - Draw the Outline
I went with a simple box and added arrows for the start and goal which I can move later.
Step 1.5 - Choose the Start and Goal
Step 2 - Draw the Picture
This type of maze starts with a complete picture, so draw that picture. The ideal use of a Draw and Cut maze is for complex drawings that many would consider maze art. It also works well for geometric box mazes like my example.
PRO TIP: When creating a cut thru maze digitally it is best to use one consistent background color. In the example below, white. Cutting between a variety of background colors means making many ‘half cuts’ in those same colors to create the maze. That is obviously not ideal and takes significantly more time. If you think the colors are important, I suggest you consider a different maze type.
Step 3 - Draw the Maze Solution
Draw the solution to the maze by cutting through the drawing you made. In example below it is shown as the red line. Make sure it is thick enough to be easily visible later for the solver to find and move through.
Step 4 - Draw the Dead Ends
Make branches off the solution path to create dead end paths. The longer the paths, the more difficult the maze. In the example below the false paths are blue.
Step 5 - Convert all Pathways to White
Completing the maze means converting all paths you made to white. The width looks good and the solution does not appear obvious from glancing at the maze.
Step 6 (Optional) - Make the Maze Solution
Highlight the correct path in the final version of the maze to create the final Maze solution.
HOW TO MAKE A DRAW AND CUT MAZE - abbreviated writing & using a different shape
I used the Ohio shape as a comparison for the mazes and when I got to draw and cut all I could think of was drawing the highway road system to cut into. Anyway, click through the gallery to watch the maze get made. I did not show the drawing by steps, just the completed version showing the highway road system.
Step 1 - Draw the Outline
Step 1.5 - Choose the Start and Goal
Step 2 - Draw the Picture
Step 3 - Draw the Maze Solution - burgundy color in my example
Step 4 - Draw the Dead Ends - blue in my example
Step 5 - Convert all Pathways to White - ideally I think these cuts should have been made wider.
Step 6 (Optional) - Make the Maze Solution
ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF DRAW AND CUT MAZES
I start with 3 examples of maze art I have made for the site. Click on the image below to see a larger version, or click on the title to go to the page and download the maze.
Chichen Itza Pyramid Maze - the stones make a natural location for making maze pathways between
Leeds Castle Maze - Bricks also work well to create cuts into, making a grid-like maze
Heydar Aliyev Center Maze - And the panels on the building do the same - creating nice locations for a maze!
And now the more simple examples:
A great example of a Draw and Cut maze is this Peanut maze. The structure of the peanut makes for natural walls (it looks like a grid maze in some respects) that can be cut thru. There are no additional lines needed for this maze, only the drawing of a peanut and then the cuts to make paths.
And a second example of a Draw and Cut maze is this Pie maze. The structure of the pie crust and the crust topping made for natural paths after the initial picture of a pie was drawn. Notice that within the main crust of the pie the walls were free drawn to fit the naturally varied structure of a homemade crust.
One of my favorite mazes that uses Draw and Cut is this Brain Maze. At first glance this is a drawing of a brain…wait..it’s a maze. That is what makes a great draw and cut maze IMO.
And here is my Oreo Cookie Maze. I needed to add a few lines to close up some pathways, but the overall maze construction is a draw and cut. The design on the cookie makes for a great template to make a maze.
If you prefer making labyrinths, you can find step by step labyrinth making instructions.
Have you ever wanted to create a maze ? What about a maze that has enough detail and complexity that it could be considered art ? I love creating maze art and I want to share with you my process. Let’s start with a definition of what exactly I mean by maze art. OK maybe a few possible definitions.
Maze Art - A solvable maze of a subject that is good enough that someone would consider hanging it on the wall as an art piece.
Maze Art - A piece of art that just so happens to contain a solvable maze.
Maze Art - A solvable maze made to look like something that is not a maze, like an object/thing/person/place/landscape.
Maze Art - A solvable maze made to look aesthetically pleasing or interesting and not just to be solved.
All of my definitions includes solvability. I do not include pictures that have design elements of mazes and labyrinths in them but are not solvable. Also, I think when you look at maze art you see the picture first and the maze is secondary (when looking at it, certainly this is not the case when designing it !!!).
One place you will not find help on defining this is in the Image Search section of your favorite browser. The majority of what you will get back a variety of renderings of boring maze clipart. Well unless you are looking for maze clip art - then you have a very efficient search !!! Every time I do the search I am disappointed with very few exceptions. For awhile I thought AI hasn’t been trained on what is considered art yet (Maybe that’s a good thing?), but we all have seen the new AI art tools by now, so that is not it.
Here is what I found from 3 different searches (update from the future - I did this search in 2026 and the results are much better - maybe this quest is working ! Click on the images to see larger versions.
Bing: 2022: About half of the results are of basic clip art. Nothing I would consider putting on my wall except result #2 and the skateboarder in row #2. You also get some cool 3D renderings of mazes but none of them are solvable since they include no start/goal and are not fully viewable. 2026: I have my search set to exclude AI images, but it looks like many of these are AI generated. The images flipped from simple mazes to elaborate maze-like images that are not solvable. Maybe we come back in 2030 and we get the combined !
Google: 2022: Much better results. A few clip art images are mixed in. This also includes a mix of art pieces that include maze and labyrinth elements but they are not solvable. But this is closer to what I would hope for from the search at least. 2026: Similar to Bing, we get a lot of fun images but this has a few mazes mixed in. And in row 3, the second image…is one of my mazes ! I made it !
DuckDuckGo: 2022: More majority clip art of basic mazes. Generally a very similar look to the Bing results in a different order. 2026: Looks like a a lot of AI images to me. They are more interesting in 2026 at least.
Here are some examples that I have made that I believe would be considered maze art. They are examples that I think should show up in the searches above. If you are interested in solving them, downloads of all of these mazes can be found on this site.
Building Maze art:
The Alamo Mission Maze art
Lotus Temple Maze art
And here are 2 Sign maze art examples:
Spillway Lanes Sign Maze Art
Chicago Theatre Sign Maze Art
You can also find on the site examples of landscape maze art, scene maze art, animal maze art and monument maze art. Take some time to look around !
So that is what I think maze art is, with many other examples and styles possible.
Today is first in a series of posts that will take you through how to make maze art step by step. Now this could mean converting a picture, or drawing something you think of free hand. One thing I can’t help you with is your drawing skills. If I say “Draw me a picture of Abraham Lincoln”, some of you have the skills to do that and some of you don’t, and even those with the skills will have different levels of detail and realism to their finished product. I can’t teach the skill of drawing. Sorry. But, regardless of your skill level, I hope you enjoy the process and consider trying to make some art yourself. Let’s get started.
Seems easy right ? If you are going to make a maze you need to pick what the subject of the maze is first. But I don’t suggest you grab the first photograph you have. Here are some things to consider when making a maze:
Objects with right angles are a natural thing to make into mazes. Think about architecture. Buildings are a natural subject to make a maze of. They are made of geometric shapes and are filled with right angles whether it is a house or a skyscraper.
Consumer goods make good subject matter also, but chances are you won’t want to invest time in making them. A Bike, lamp, radio, television, desk, and chair could all become maze art. I’m not sure anyone gets very excited about them, but they are possible.
Faces are possible, but very difficult for most people (If they are easy for you congratulations !). Any maze art includes a drawing of the subject matter first and foremost, so doing a maze of a friend means you have the ability to draw your friend and it to be recognizable as them. This can be easier if your friend has an extremely recognizable look, say someone like Abraham Lincoln - a large beard and hat with a gaunt face gets you relatively close.
Ideally, the picture you choose should not be too busy. Too much detail can be difficult to make into a maze. You do have the option to ignore the detail. But think about a picture of 4 faces vs a picture of 1 face. 4 faces in a picture with all of their individual detail will be very difficult. 1 face is enough.
If you don’t already have a photograph of your subject matter, take one. Remember from step 1 to make the picture as minimalistic as you can.
Taking the photograph also means prepping it as a “before” photo if you are doing a before and after version of the subject. Crop as needed, adjust the brightness, etc.
If you are doing something from memory or doing fictional subject matter, no photo is needed obviously.
And finally, you can find a photograph to base your maze off of if taking a photo yourself is not feasible. For presentation purposes, having the rights to a photograph will help you to display it in the future.
Determine how you will deal with an object’s perspective. By this I mean if you are making a maze of an object that is square or rectangle in real life it is likely the photograph will not be perfectly square/rectangular. Do you want to represent a building as it is (perfect angles), or how you see it (your perspective - the building is slightly smaller at the top). Maze lines are easier to make without perspective, but either can be done.
Use the photograph to draw the major outline of the maze. If you are doing this digitally (As I assume you are) you do not need to leave openings for the paths/entrance/exit.
The outer walls of the maze should be done with a thicker maze line to give the picture definition. Inner walls that define the picture should be a smaller thickness (with some exceptions based on the subject).
If you aren’t sure what maze construction you are going to do, check out this section for some ideas. I will say with maze art you will find it looks best when done with free drawn or standard pathways. I also like to use the natural features of the subject as the maze walls where possible - see the Alamo Mission maze above - the bricks naturally became the walls; and the Museum of the North Maze above where the metal panels naturally created a grid maze format.
Choose the start and goal, ideally on opposite sides of the picture.
Choose the wall design you will use to make the maze walls. Regardless of the design you choose the walls will need to be a smaller width than the previous outer and inner walls. There are many types of pathways you can use from a standard pathway to hand drawn, vertical, horizontal and many more.
Consider how difficult you want to make the maze for the solver. For most mazes you don’t want to discourage the solver by making it too difficult.
It took 5 steps to get here, now do the actual work. Funny this is the shortest step to write but typically the longest to complete !
Black and white is the standard coloring of most mazes, but some mazes will look even better if they are in color. Consider coloring your maze to enhance the way it looks.
Some mazes work best in larger/smaller scales. Consider changing the size of your maze to fit the desired presentation you are looking for. This is the advantage of digital mazes vs hand drawn mazes.
Consider adding a title and border depending on how your maze will be presented.
Congratulations on creating a piece of maze art !!
Now I’m going to take you behind the scenes in my making of some Maze Art. Here is a real life example from a maze I made for the site, of the sculpture that is The Largest FREE Stamp in the World. Using the steps I outlined before here is how the Maze got made !!
While previously living in Cleveland, Ohio I found my inspiration in the park. If you walk to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (and if you are ever in Cleveland that is probably why you are here) you will pass the FREE Stamp on your walk. The stamp is located in Willard Park on the northwest corner of East 9th Street and Lakeside Avenue, having been installed there in 1991. It has an interesting history that involves Standard Oil (Sohio) and their purchase by BP.
I took many photos of the stamp from different angles so I would be able to narrow them down later.
Eventually, I chose photograph #3, which I cropped and adjusted the color on to account for the overcast day. Here is the final version I used to make the Maze art:
Using the photograph in the background I made the maze outline. Here are some points in time during that outline process. You will notice that because this is a digital drawing so I can fix the FREE overlap you see later using layers.
I did not want much difficultly in this maze so I intended to make the dead ends obvious more quickly and have the maze spacing be wide. It seemed natural to make the internal maze lines somewhat match the shape of the sculpture. A typical left to right maze start to finish seems to fit the sculpture. So a relatively simple maze design. I used essentially a free drawn maze construction.
Below are a few of the points in time in making the stamp maze. Notice that I sometimes rotate the maze in order to make the lines easier to draw at the correct angle. Also notice that the goal of the maze changes late in the process (panel 4) as I have a better idea of how I want the maze solver to maneuver through the maze as I make the internal maze lines. Also in Panel 4 I add a layer to raise the FREE part of the maze above the remaining drawing (most easily seen at the bottom of the last E which no longer has a line thru it).
Here is the final black and white version of the FREE Stamp maze.
I like how it came out, but I think this particular subject matter deserves to be tried in color, to see if it will enhance the maze.
Initially I did a basic 2 color approach. Sometimes less is more. Here is the simple red and white version of the maze:
Not bad. But I thought I could do better with a more detailed coloring similar to what you would see in Willard Park. Here is my preferred and final version in full color:
I do need to mention that the inclusion of the black pathways changes the way you see the colors you select. If you were to try and color match the photo using the tools in your drawing program the result would look off (usually darker). Better to select the colors and adjust them on your own. Also, in order to see the pathways well, it is important to not make the shadowy underbelly of the stamp too dark !!
My original post ended here, but because I make my mazes digitally I can always go back and improve it. So I did. I wrote about the changes I made here: Maze of the Week 46 Redux - The Free Stamp (MOTW#177). I used some of my advanced tips and applied them to this maze. MAZE ART: ADVANCED TIPS TO CREATING YOUR OWN MASTERPIECE. After making 8 big changes, including adding shadows and a detailed background here is the final maze. The actual solvable maze has very minor changes but the presentation is much improved. And you can clearly see that I used my photograph above to draw this !
I’ve made over 2,700 different names into mazes on the site. You can try to find your name on the name maze page. If you have a name that is common in the United States or a top ten name in another country, there is a good chance you’ll find it ! To read about how I’ve picked the names you can read this post. And of course if you just want to skip everything and have me make the name maze for you, you can request a name maze here, but please check the name page first to make sure it isn’t already there.
Today I will take you thru 5 different options to digitally making your name into a maze. Let’s get started !
Here is an outline for this blog post with jump links if you want to skip ahead to a section:
OPTION 1 - USING AN EXISTING FONT
OPTION 2 - BY DRAWING INDIVIDUAL LETTERS
OPTION 3 - BY DRAWING DIMENSIONAL LETTERS
OPTION 4 - BY USING PRE-MADE MAZED LETTER TEMPLATES
HERE IS A QUICK LOOK AT THE MAZE LETTER TEMPLATES
OPTION 1 - USING AN EXISTING FONT
Step 1 - Select your Font
A good maze-able font is one that is thick enough that it will allow pathways and walls to be draw within them. That means either a Bold version of a font or a font that is naturally wide. You may want to consider a “blocky” font if your name contains an angled character that does not fit into a square based grid well, K, M, N, S, V, W, X and Y. In the example the fonts are all the same point size, but the bottom 2 fonts will be significantly easier to maze.
Step 2 - Prep your Name
After spelling out your name in the font you have chosen, adjust the fill and stroke to essentially hollow out your name. Typically the fill becomes white (or whatever background you are working on) and the stroke becomes black (or the color you want your name to appear in). The Stroke, or outline should be greater than or equal to the width your maze walls will be drawn at.
Step 3 - Create a Background Grid
Align your name with an appropriately sized grid when compared to the font size. This grid will become the basis for your maze walls. In the example below I actually drew on top of the grid (typically transparent in the final product). As you can see the letter height has room for 3-4 pathways in the north south direction. 2 would be a minimum needed to make a maze in a letter which would be suitable to kids. The more pathways, the harder the maze you can make ! If you want to want to get very fancy for curved letters you can skip the grid and use curved hand drawn lines. In this example the C. The A could also use a grid that aligns with the outer wall rather than the horizon.
Step 4 - Start Maze-ing
There are many different types of mazes and constructions you can use, check out 40+ here, including instructions on how to make them. For my example I am going to use a standard maze construction, but I think a grid maze construction works especially well if you have any of the angling letters mentioned in step 1. Here is a start arrow and the M mazed. Notice the connection between the M and I that was created. I used a width slightly larger than the pathway, but you can equalize that if you prefer that look.
Step 5 - Complete the Maze
Continue thru the maze construction process until you have completed the maze. Add the exit arrow and you are complete. With most name mazes there are natural points where the letters can connect to one another without much trouble, as in the A with both the H and E. For the letter C because it has natural connections from both the top and bottom portions I used both to add some complexity to the maze. For all other letters, once you enter a new letter, you can immediately see your goal out to the next letter.
For comparison, here is the Michael maze I have on my site in the Name mazes section. It uses the same font as Option 1 but has a much different look based on the scale of the internal paths. This creates a much more difficult maze for the solver ! For construction purposes I also use a consistent connection point between the letters.
Michael name mazed
OPTION 2 - BY DRAWING INDIVIDUAL LETTERS
Step 1 - Set-up a Grid
I will be using a standard square grid shape in this example. First, make a standard size for your letters. I like the height to be between 1.5X and 2X larger than the width. Below see what 3 common options look like. You also need to take into account how many paths you want in a standard upstroke of a letter. Think the left side of the H or an E. Anything less than a width of 8 will be difficult to work with. Notice how the letter H looks in each size.
Step 2 - Letter Your Name
Make your name in the size you choose (below is 10 x 16). Space each letter the same distance from the next (I suggest 1 or 2 blocks). Make each upstroke the same width for each letter. If your name contains a W or M you will need to add additional width for those letters, and of course the letter I will be smaller width (with options for the same with J, L and T). Notice the letters are very “blocky” which will help during the maze making, but they do not have to be. Because you are making the Letters using a grid the resulting maze will be much more uniform than using a font to build from.
Step 3 - Make the Maze
There are many different types of mazes and constructions you can use, check out 40+ here, including instructions on how to make them. Again, I will use the standard maze construction for this example. In my example below I used 1 space between letters. Notice the spacing of the walls are more uniform than in the first option. Also I did the maze walls in the M to match the angle of the letter with no movement options in that section.
OPTION 3 - BY DRAWING DIMENSIONAL LETTERS
Step 1 - Set-up an Axonometric Grid
Use an Axonometric grid to draw a 3-D looking object on a flat surface. Think about drawing a cube. When I set-up this grid I use a low angle % - the higher, the more slope the name would have. In my example I used 10%. You can check what the spacing will look like by drawing placeholders for each letter in your name. Similar to Option #2 above the optimal letter size seems to be height 2X width as in my example below.
Step 2 - Letter your name
I like a gap of 3 grids between letters - they will eventually be filled in to allow a nice transition for the maze between letters. Again, the M is expanded in this case because it is a wide letter.
Step 3 - Give it Depth
Add the depth to each letter using the slope in the other direction of the letters. The depth portion of each letter align naturally to the front of the next letter so there is no need for a connector bridge between the letters as there is in the other 2 options above.
Step 4 - Make the Maze
Draw the walls of the maze in the same sloping direction as the edge you are on. Use the depth of the maze as the transition between letters. Add start/goal arrows
I hope you found a maze construction you like to make your name a-maze-ing ! And remember that even though each of my mazes were done in black and white fell free to add some color !!! I went with yellow, red and burgundy for the below example, but play around with your own colors and you can find some great combinations. I will say that when you do 3D letters, it can help people read them when you are consistent in your colorations based on the orientation of the letter sides. Here, yellow in front, red on the sides, and burgundy on the (un-mazed) tops. As always, if you use dark colors for the background, you should use light colors for the maze walls. A black maze on a navy or burgundy background would not be enjoyable for the solver !
OPTION 4 - BY USING PRE-MADE MAZED LETTER TEMPLATES
I made an entire book of hidden message mazes. While working on it I decided to make a series of 4 mazed letter templates to be used for making hidden message mazes quickly. I have already done the work of mazing each letter, so you just need to put them together. Below is one of the four templates, but I suggest you click the link above to see the other options (or just to get inspiration to make your own mazed letters!). Some letters always give me trouble when starting from scratch !!
Before we get into to details and step by step, what do you notice about the mazed latters ? Hopefully that they are actually labyrinthic letters - there are no choices along the pathways ! So this is actually how to make a labyrinth of your name….UNLESS, you use this template and add gaps in the letters that lead to dead ends. This would be used in a hidden message version using these letters. In other words, hiding a name into a larger maze. Let’s get onto Option 4.
Step 1 - copy the design of my letters
Step 2 - spell your name
Step 3 - connect the letters
Notice that my letters almost all align at the bottom with a few exceptions (N, S, W, and Z). With these letters you can adjust surrounding letters, or the maze within the actual letter. Each letter can be adjusted if needed.
Step 4 - add the start and end arrows
HERE IS A QUICK LOOK AT THE MAZE LETTER TEMPLATES
Click to see larger versions of the letters. You can read about them in detail in this blog post: 4 mazed letter templates.
These letters were made as “labyrinths”, but they can easily be made into mazes by adding gaps to the actual letters. This will help hide the name when the maze is unsolved, but will also make the maze harder to solve. Here is an example of the letter A - all would look the same when solved but the second and third examples have more options for the solver.
OPTION 5 - HIDDEN NAME MAZE VERSION
This is a variation of option 4 above where I used pre-made letters to create the name Michael. As I mentioned above the result of this is actually a labyrinth of the name Michael, because you cannot get lost like you might in a maze.
Step 1 - spell your name using my letter template
Also note that I did change the latter A slightly with a dead end in the opening center of the A.
Step 2 - begin mazing around the letters
First I added a border around the name. Then I began adding false pathways in the maze. Key to this maze is to not let any false pathway lead anywhere, including back to the actual name.
Step 3 - complete the maze
And add a start and goal arrow. This is a hidden name…but not well hidden IMO if you know what you are looking for. This is a relatively easy solve however once you get into the letters because as long as you do not break away between letters where the main gaps of false pathways are you will solve the maze.
Step 4 - MAKE A SOLUTION
Check your work. How will the maze look when someone solves it ? I think this hidden name maze looks pretty good !
Learn more about this type of maze by reading Creating a Hidden Maze - Case Study #1. Or you can practice solving them with your eyes in this set of posts:
Hidden Message Maze challenge - Part 1
Hidden Message Maze challenge - Part 2
Hidden Message Maze challenge - Part 3
By now you should be able to make a maze of your name !
ADDITIONAL NAME MAZE IDEAS
If you have a family or group of friends how about making an interconnected family maze using all of the names. For a family make the surname/last name the main focus and then add the individual names off of them. I did not maze the names but I might layout like this:
If you prefer making labyrinths, you can find step by step labyrinth making instructions.
