How to Make a Free Drawn Maze

In a series of posts I will show you how to make a maze in a wide variety of design constructions. The 26th type of maze construction is the Free Drawn maze. Let’s define what I mean, then get into the example. Every example will use the sample basic outline (the state of Ohio) to better illustrate the differences between each maze type.

Free Drawn Mazes - A maze where the walls are drawn by hand, or without a geometric structure.

How to Make a Free Drawn 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. The outline should be thicker than the internal lines to give the maze definition. In the example below I chose the state of Ohio.

Step 1.5 - Choose the Start and Goal

For the below example I chose the start of Cleveland and the goal of Cincinnati.

000 Outline.png

Step 2 - Start Drawing the Walls

Starting from entrance, begin drawing walls. In a free drawn maze the walls are hand drawn (or if done digitally without any specific geometric shape). Remember to keep an open pathway for solving at all times.

24.1 Free Lines - start paths.png

Continue drawing walls.

24.2 Free Lines - more paths.png

Step 3 - Complete the Maze

Draw the necessary walls to make the final pathways and complete the maze.

Ohio maze drawn with free hand walls

Step 4 - Make the Maze Solution

Highlight the correct path in the final version of the maze to create the final maze solution (shown here in red).

Ohio maze drawn with free hand walls- solution

Additional Free Drawn Maze Examples

Two good examples of using free drawn lines to construct mazes are the Bacon maze and the Crushed Can maze. The structure of each object made the choice of construction easy.

Crushed beer can maze
bacon maze in color

Another good example of a free drawn maze is this Vegetables Maze, which features a maze thru the lettuce. The construction really works well with the shape of the leaves.

Vegetables Maze

My next example is another food maze (if you make a food maze maybe consider free drawing it?). This Garlic Maze uses free drawn lines to accentuate the rounded shape.

Garlic Maze

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.