How to Make an Axonometric Maze

October 7, 2020

In a series of posts I will show you how to make a maze in a wide variety of design constructions. The 7th example with look at an Axonometric maze construction. 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, however this maze type is best utilized for items you want to give some depth to. A cube, and other 3-dimensional objects work best for this maze type. If you are more visual, make sure to check out the video of a cube maze being made at the end of the post.

Axonometric Grid Maze - This is a maze made using an axonometric grid. Typically these grids are used to draw 3 dimensional representations of objects like a cube. But, for maze making this just means drawing walls at the angle of the axonometric grid.

How to Make an Axonometric 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. Unique to my example is this outline is not actually made using the Axonometric grid, while 99% of creation WILL use the grid in this step.

Step 1.5 - Choose the Start and Goal

For the below example I chose the start of Cleveland and the goal of Cincinnati. I made an entrance in Cleveland but I usually wait until I am in the last stage of drawing maze lines to draw the exit point for the goal. This is in case I need to adjust the location slightly based off of my design. This works if drawing a maze digitally, but for a hand drawn maze the outline will need to have a pre-determined start and goal.

Step 2 - Determine your grid shape

When making a regular grid maze you are choosing the size of the grid boxes you will use. So a 20x20 grid is larger than a 10x10 grid. When choosing an axonometric grid you may choose the size, but more importantly is choosing the angles of the grid you will be using see the 3 examples below. The first grid uses angles of 20 degrees, the second 30 degrees, and the last 45 degrees (making essentially regular grids tilted at a 45 degree angle). My program defaults to 30 x 30 unless I change it and seems to work well for almost everything.

Step 3 - Start Drawing the Walls

Using the axonometric grid pattern, begin drawing the maze walls starting at the entrance of the maze. Be careful to never close all open paths so the maze can be solved. As you make the maze decide how difficult you want to make it. A low amount of path choices, and short dead end paths will make an easy maze. Longer dead ends and lots of path choices make a more difficult maze.

Step 4 - Keep Drawing Walls

Like most mazes the middle part of design is a lot of keep doing what you are doing a draw more walls moving possible solutions towards the goal.

Step 5 - Complete the Maze

Draw the final walls and draw the exit. You have completed the drawing of an Axonometric maze !

Step 6 (Optional) - Draw the Solution

While the correct pathway is fresh in your mind, draw the solution to the maze. This is especially important with more complex mazes. It can also be a check to make sure your maze has a solution and helps you determine how difficult it is.

Other examples of Axonometric mazes that highlight the construction:

The Stairs maze naturally works as it helps to give the maze dimension. Notice how the direction of the walls is consistent with the plane of the object to help give it the dimensional look. The Lemon Meringue Pie maze uses the construction to draw the maze at the proper angle to the picture. And of course, where the construction really shines is on the Cube Maze !

A very important design note not covered in the step by step above is to follow the direction of the object when making your pathways. This will give your object dimension and make for a better looking maze. Both of the below cubes were made using an Axo grid, but the one on the left follows the direction and flow of the object while the one on the right does not. Personally I think the example on the left is a much better maze. Imagine the Steps maze above if it did not use the objects flow to make the pathways.

Cube mazes with 2 different wall examples

Axonometric grids also serve as the base for geometric mazes that aren’t square or rectangular, like this example of a Hexagon maze. However, I do not consider this a pure axonometric maze, but instead an Escape Maze !

and this example of a triangular maze using the grid (again an Escape Maze!).

And sometimes the shape of the item lends itself to grid that is tilted at an angle. I really like this Kazoo Maze. How many kazoo mazes have you seen before ?

Making of an Axonometric Maze Video

Watch this quick video to get a sense of how an Axonometric Cube maze is made.

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.

How to Make a Maze with Standard Equal Maze Paths

October 2, 2020

In a series of posts I will show you how to make a maze in a wide variety of design constructions. The second example we’ll look at is a construction variation of the standard maze construction. I call it a Standard Equal Maze Path design. 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. If you want to see this type of maze made in video form, that is added at the end of the post.

Standard Equal Maze Paths - the construction concept is the same with making a standard maze except the pathways and walls are of equal width. TO achieve this in practice the wall width should equal half the grid used (i.e. a 6x6 grid with wall widths of 3) This gives the maze a different look as everything becomes compacted.

These also tend to be longer and more difficult mazes to solve because of the additional pathways it creates. While a Standard Maze looks white, the Standard Equal Maze looks much more black from the thicker lines.

How to Make a Maze with Standard Equal Maze Paths

Step 1 - Draw the Outline

Step 1.5 - Choose the Start and Goal

Step 2 - Start Drawing the Walls

Using a grid pattern, begin drawing the maze walls starting at the entrance of the maze. For a Standard Equal Maze the maze walls should be drawn to be equal width to the pathways in between them. In my example maze I am using a 4x4 grid with wall widths of 2. That is an easy to remember ratio when creating a standard equal maze - the wall width must be equal to half the grid size used. While drawing your walls make sure to never break the cardinal rule of maze design - never close all open paths so the maze can be solved. As you make the maze decide how difficult you want to make it. A low amount of path choices, and short dead end paths will make an easy maze. Longer dead ends and lots of path choices make a more difficult maze. The below example is starting off at an easy / medium difficulty.

Step 3 - Keep Drawing the Maze Walls

Like most mazes the middle part of design is a lot of keep doing what you are doing and draw more walls. There is nothing too complicated in the below example. The dead ends are long in this maze and there are many choices to make, increasing the difficulty. At this point I also have 2 open pathways which could be used as solutions.

00.2 Standard Equal - create more walls.png

Step 4 - Complete the Maze

Draw the final walls and draw the exit. You have completed the drawing of a standard equal maze !

00.3 Standard Equal - ccomplete walls.png

Step 5 (Optional) - Draw the Solution

You have two options here - Option 1 - While the correct pathway is fresh in your mind, draw the solution to the maze. This is especially important with more complex mazes. It can also be a check to make sure your maze has a solution. This example maze is easy. Option 2 - Let the maze sit for a few days and try solving it yourself. Was it the difficulty you thought as you were designing it ? Did you enjoy it or did it frustrate you in any way ? Using option 2 means you are more likely to go back and make adjustments to improve the maze. Think of it as proofreading for mazes.

Comparison of the 2 standard maze types:

Visually the Standard Equal Maze Paths design construction makes for a darker maze, and a more complex maze than the standard path maze. Although I did not measure the pathways, you can intuitively see that standard equal maze has much more pathway length.

4 Additional examples of Standard Equal Mazes

Below is an example of another standard equal paths maze of the state of New York. I wanted to show this example to mention that the outline is not the same width as the internal paths/walls. There is also a prominent Spiral maze pattern in the center of the state, although I would not consider this a spiral maze construction.

Our 2nd example shows what happens when we add some color to both standard maze variations, with the Rubber Ducky maze. While the background colors of yellow and orange are the same in each maze, the standard equal construction has a much darker look, with the thicker black walls holding back the colors underneath. The standard maze is bright and much easier to solve. Notice that because of the spacing of the orange beak compared to the wall spacing I decided not to maze the beak on the standard maze. Doing so would have only added a few meaningless lines on the beak.

For my 3rd example I present the Umbrella maze. The size of this maze is larger than previous examples and I wanted to show you this so you think about scale when using a standard equal construction. This is all about a rule of thumb I have when deciding on my wall structure - when using a standard equal construction - the larger the space you are mazing, the more walls you will need and the more time it will take to construct. Without doing the math, I estimate standard equal constructions take 10X longer to make on average. In this particular example, while I like how the maze looks, I could have increased the scale to make the maze easier to solve on a screen. I do think that this construction is good for maze art. From across the room that looks like an umbrella…..and it is not until you get up close that you realize, wait, that’s a maze !!

For my 4th example I want to show you a time when this construction can be used to make a completely different type of maze, the Hidden Message maze. A hidden message maze is a maze where the correct solve of the maze creates a message for the solver. I use this to make greeting cards with hidden messages. Here is an example. If the below maze was made with a standard construction it would need to be a much tighter ratio of grid/wall so the message remains hidden at a glance.

Can you figure out what it says from looking at it ? Scroll down for the answer.

“Miss you”. If this were made with a much wider standard construction the pencil/pen/writing utensil used would not fill the pathways as well, making the message much harder to read (in addition to being easier to find). Want to learn how to make a hidden message maze ?

My fifth and final example is actually a mixed section maze, or a maze that uses multiple constructions. This particular Bishop Chess Piece maze uses a mixture of standard and standard equal constructions to differentiate the sections of the chess piece. Notice how the background color changes with the changes in the spacing of the walls. While this illustrates the point I want to make, imagine using this concept when creating your own mazes. Imagine a maze picture with shadows…illustrated with closer maze walls.

Making a Standard Equal Maze Video

Here is a quick 3:31 minute video of the making of a simple Standard Equal 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 HERE.

If you prefer making labyrinths, you can find step by step instructions HERE.

How to Make a Maze with Standard Maze Paths

October 1, 2020

In a series of posts I will show you how to make a maze in a wide variety of design constructions. The best place to start this topic is with the standard maze construction. 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.

Standard Maze Paths - By standard I mean a maze made with paths based off of a grid framework. The wall width is smaller than the pathway width. This includes wall widths that are less than half the width of the pathways.

HOW TO MAKE A MAZE WITH STANDARD MAZE PATHS

Step 1 - Draw the Outline

Step 1.5 - Choose the Start and Goal

Step 2 - Start Drawing the Maze Walls

Using a grid pattern, begin drawing the maze walls starting at the entrance of the maze. Although you do not see the grid in the example below, it is present as I work on drawing the maze on my screen. This particular maze was built using a 30x30 grid with wall widths of 4. The smaller the size of the grid you use, the more difficult the maze can become. This is because a small grid will need more pathways to fill the space you are mazing. Of course be careful to not break the #1 rule of making a maze - never close all the open paths so the maze can eventually be solved using one of the pathways. As you make the maze decide how difficult you want to make it based on your preference or your intended audience. A low amount of path choices, and short dead end paths will make an easy maze. Longer dead ends and lots of path choices make a more difficult maze. The below example is starting off as an easy maze.

Step 3 - Keep Drawing the Maze Walls

Like most mazes the middle part of design is a lot of keep doing what you are doing and draw more walls. There is nothing too complicated in the below example. The solution is not difficult to follow so far as there are still two possible solves still available in my example picture 1, and only 1 in example picture 2. When I design a maze of any type I like to have multiple options open for most of the design process. When I get near the goal of the maze, that is where I decide which path works better. Take a quick moment to solve these mazes using your eyes. Notice the length of the dead ends and how quickly you find the wrong turns. The more novice the target audience for the maze, the shorter the dead ends should be.

Step 4 - Complete the Maze

Draw the final walls and draw the exit (if you are making your maze digitally). You have completed the drawing of a standard maze ! As I mentioned above, I reviewed the possible pathways as I was reaching the goal and chose the one that best fit what I wanted to achieve (in terms of difficulty). Just a quick note if you were hand drawing your maze the goal was already drawn in step 1.5. In this case you have the option to complete your maze by drawing from your exit goal to the mostly completed maze.

Step 5 (Optional) - Draw the Solution

Ohio Maze in standard constructions solution

5 Additional Examples of Standard Mazes

The Cheeseburger maze happens to be in full color and uses a smaller scale (the grid is 10x10 with walls at a 1.5 width) but it is a standard maze. Difficulty is medium because the pathways that are false tend to be longer then normal, so if you take a wrong turn early there may be a delay until you realize it with a longer backtrack to get on the correct path.

The standard maze is the default for most maze makers because it works well with just about any subject you are making a maze of. Like this full-color Pug maze. A medium difficulty maze. Was made on 16x16 grid with wall widths of 2.5

In the first two examples you can see how this maze construction works with irregular shapes. Now let’s look at how it works on more structured shapes like rectangles. The Zipper maze below, and there are not many zipper mazes out there, has a very rectangular structure that naturally fits with the grid pattern. Yes there are some rounded corners but they are easy to navigate as a designer ! I think you can tell by the scale this is a 4x4 grid with walls of 1.2.

Next we have another maze a natural fit for a standard maze because of it’s shape, the Barn maze. The entire lower portion fits perfectly with the grid. It was made on a 4x4 grid with walls of 1. I think this maze is medium hard, and definitely not for kids. One of the main reasons I included this maze was because of a specific detail I like. Do you know what it is ? It is the rooster on the roof. I like adding little details, even if they do not effect the solve of the maze.

And our last example is an easy maze with a rectangular structure, the Microwave maze. I include it here because I made the choice to leave a lot of the drawing un-mazed. I could have made the decision to maze the entire microwave, but by leaving things un-mazed I was able to make this a much easier 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 HERE.

If you prefer making labyrinths, you can find step by step instructions HERE.