One Maze - Many designs - experiment #4

This is a continuation of of maze design experiments. Read about it in post #1, One Maze - Many designs, then The first 5 experiments and so on, or just enjoy the ride.

The original maze:

I used Inkscape for these 5 options to redesign it. All of this batch is pretty simple in execution.

• The first thickens the lines and uses rounded ends and corners.

• The next is just a simple thin lined maze.

• The 3rd takes the maze and skews it.

• The fourth is again a thick lined maze but uses geometric corner edges and regular internal line ends.

• The fifth is layered lines from a base of black building into lighter and lighter greys. I used 2 different versions for the border and the internal walls. I prefer how the internal walls look and could use this version in the future.

No big experiments, but things I can use.

thick equal lines - rounded maze

thin lined maze

skewed maze

thick lined edges maze

layered lines maze

Valentine's Day Mazes

If you are looking for a wide variety of Valentine’s Day Mazes, I have pulled together a collection from this website and added some new mazes specifically for this post. It currently has over a dozen mazes and I will add new mazes as I make them !

Let’s start with a heart maze for kids from my shape maze collection:

Heart Maze for kids

download heart maze

I made a horizontal maze construction heart maze that is also dual entrance/exits. This maze is no longer found on the site.

Heart Maze

download heart maze

I did an experiment a few years ago where I made hidden message trail mazes, not a very common maze. To solve the maze you move from start to goal by moving over letters which you use to solve the hidden message. They remain on the website only in book form. Here is my heart themed trail maze I originally made for Valentine’s Day:

I have also made a group of hidden message mazes. They are perfect for Valentine’s Day cards. Hopefully you can’t tell what these say until you solve them. I did not label them. 2 in English and 2 in Spanish (see download buttons for messages)

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View fullsize

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I have made well over 2,000 different name mazes for the site. I get requests all the time. They are popular to give to someone for Valentine’s Day with a note telling them they are amazing ! Here is the name of a friend of mine from Thailand to give you an idea of what they look like.

How about a heart to heart themed maze ?

Want to try a heart shaped weaving maze ? If you like it I have a section of them.

How about an open dot style heart maze ? I have multiple sections of this style of mazes.

And I made an on line style heart maze also. These are fun to make and I have a section of them for kids.

And a simple black and white heart maze for kids.

heart maze

download maze

Maze and Labyrinth News - February 2026

I am back again with all the things I found during the month that didn’t quite fit into it’s own blog post, but that I found interesting about mazes and labyrinths. The news archive is below.

• A House with a maze is still for sale in NY

The house is being sold by Sotheby’s International Real Estate and is listed for $10 Million. The photo gallery is worth a look and includes some great views of the maze ! I will quote directly from the Sotheby’s site:

“At its core lies one of the most extraordinary sculptural landmarks in the world: the largest stone maze ever built, a 1,680-foot-long environmental sculpture by British artist Michael Ayrton. Completed in 1965 and described by the artist as "the only one of stone since the 4th or 5th century B.C.," the labyrinth features towering walls and original bronzes of Daedalus, Icarus, and the Minotaur.”

• An Android 3D Maze figure

Did you know that Google has an Android store ? They just launched a new figurine of the Android robot that includes a maze inside it. You can purchase it here.

• Film School Analysis of The Shining maze

When I saw this article about the maze from best horror maze movie of all time I knew I would enjoy it ! Not only do I love the movie, but the documentary about the symbolism it contains, Room 237, is fascinating. This is the first time I saw an analysis of the hedge maze and I am here for it !

• A Christmas Tree Labyrinth in WA

A Christmas Tree labyrinth was created in the Chewelah Creative District in Washington state. It was created by creating pathways using Christmas lights strung between the trees. It opened on January 1st and is open each night with free admission. Check out the article with an aerial photo of the labyrinth. Here is a video of a walk through last year’s version:

• A Maze returns at Yarralumla Play Station

I had written about this before, but if you are in Canberra, Australia the Yarramula Play Station just opened a new, large, indoor-outdoor maze that looks amazing. The owner, Jason Perkins, mentions in this article that it takes between 1-2 hours to solve ! The maze is made of wooden poles, and I for one am excited to see the upcoming videos that get made of it (you can a watch a mini video in the article) !

• A Snow Maze from Shenyang, China

I’m boing to quote directly from the details on You Tube for this one “A winter park in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province in northeastern China, has become a seasonal magnet for residents and tourists seeking outdoor recreation amid the cold season. The park’s main attractions include a sprawling snow maze carved into the winter landscape and a thrilling 400‑metre ice slide that draws long lines of visitors eager to experience its speed and excitement.

• A short animated video for kids about a snow maze

A snowstorm that buries Topi and Kiko’s house in snow, creating a snow maze. Good animation and a fun story !

• A Guide Dog solves a Mirror Maze

I love a good animal story, and this article tells about a talented guide dog who has no problem solving a mirror maze (the video is embedded in the article).

• The Indiana State Museum has gone maze !!

I have written before about the company Minotaur Mazes, which specializes in creating real world mazes that can be used in exhibits and museums. They have brought their concept to the Indiana State Museum located in Indianapolis if you want to plan a visit ! Here is a link highlighting what you can expect to find.

• New Maze section on this site

I added a section to the free downloadable maze portion of the website that I called regular mazes. They are basic black and white standard mazes, no frills. 4 levels from easy to almost hard, with 10 mazes per level. 4 downloadable booklets are available. Here is a medium level maze for kids as an example:

Some news is evergreen and can be found in past monthly news posts:

June 2025, July 2025, August 2025 , September 2025 , October 2025 , November 2025, December 2025 and January 2026.

Area Maze Book Reviews

Today I bring you a slightly different book review. I have covered what an Area Maze is before in my post about the 44 different types of mazes and labyrinths, but today I will go over it again. Let’s get into the 2 books !

The Original Area Mazes (2017) AMZN ; The Original Area Mazes, Volume 2 (2018) AMZN

by Naoki Inaba, Ryoichi Murakami; from Workman Publishing, 228 Pages ; 201 Pages

Area Mazes - Called a maze, but actually a type of logic puzzle from Japan created by Naoki Inaba. Used to teach Japan children mathematics and logic. Solving requires calculating the area of a rectangle, often multiple times (Area = length × width). Also called Menseki Meiro. If you would like to try to solve some, online area mazes can be found here. They are available in 5 difficulty levels. Here is a second website with free downloadable pdf of 4 puzzles that includes answers.

What you need to know about Area Mazes: Each of the mazes is NOT drawn to scale. You cannot measure for an answer. You must use the formula Area = length × width and spatial reasoning to find the answer that you are being asked for. Each book starts with easier problems and gets more difficult as the book continues (Levels are ranked from 1-5). If you read this book digitally (as I did - it was available on Hoopla from my library) it includes links to see the solution as you move through the book !

Here is an example I made to show how to solve an Area Maze. You are trying to calculate the area of the grey box. Answer and reasoning below.

In the above example you would first solve the wall under the # 12. You solve the equation 4 * Y = 12. So Y = 3, meaning the bottom left side of the square has a length of 3. Now you can solve using the 3 and the 21 to calculate the length of the left side of the square above the 4. Solve 3 * Z = 21. The answer is 7. Continue this to solve the Area Maze. Top right wall = 4. Area and answer is thus 4x4=16. How did you do ?

Well, that was a level 1 for sure. Shapes and calculations get very interesting as you get to the later chapters !

If you like Sudoku and similar puzzles, you will love these puzzles ! As far the the books, my review is: Excellent 9/10 !

Here is another example that is a bit more difficult:

If you are interested in area mazes beyond the books check out this video about them which shows 2 different methods to solve the maze in the thumbnail. If you want try to solve it, then watch the video like I did !

One of the great things about area mazes is they can be made in many difficulty levels. I seem to like level 1 and level 2 !! If you likes math problems these might be for you !

Other blog posts you might like:

Maze books about the spirituality of mazes, or the history of physical mazes.

The 12 Best Maze and Labyrinth Movies Of All Time

How to make over 40 types of maze