Hidden Message Maze Letter Design templates

So you want to design your own hidden message maze, but you want a little extra help. Today I show you 4 different mazed alphabet sets that I have made. Each was a grid background that will help you make the letters on your own. Some letters are consistently difficult to make into a maze form….I think B, K, G, N, X and Z always seem to be difficult. Every once in awhile if you have an odd letter size you will have trouble with an E.

Mazed Alphabet #1:

A collection of standard “mazed” letters. I will say that these letters are actually labyrinths because there are no choices to be made once you enter a letter (vs. the choices you would find in a maze). To give these a maze feel add some gaps in the letters that lead into false pathways. You may also add gaps inside letters that have closed sections (A,B,D,O,P,Q, and R).

And here is a few examples of alternative constructions that can be used if you prefer how they look ! They also give different alignments if you are spelling something and want a different exit/entrance combination.

Click below to download the template as an svg file. Available for personal use ONLY, no commercial use without prior consent.

Mazed Alphabet #2

And here is a larger size template at 15x19. Notice that I did include gaps for false pathways in the letters A, B, D, O, and Q. Just like my example above of alternative letter alignments, many of these letters can be re-configured if you like. The bottom of the G could be done back and forth so that it ends at the bottom instead of higher up.

Click below to download the template as an svg file. Available for personal use ONLY, no commercial use without prior consent.

Mazed Alphabet #3

And with my third template I have made an even larger group of letters. It includes multiple versions of L, T and Y. Almost all letters have entrances and exits that align for easy combining (P can be adjusted - check some of the other templates for examples).

Click below to download the template as an svg file. Available for personal use ONLY, no commercial use without prior consent.

Mazed Alphabet #4

The fourth template uses Alphabet #1 and puts it into an Axonometric grid to give it a dimensional effect. I also added a few false exits in some of the letters if you want to make the hidden messages more hidden ! For stand alone mazes (non-hidden words) you could add a depth to these letters to give them a 3D look.

Click below to download the template as an svg file. Available for personal use ONLY, no commercial use without prior consent.

If you get stuck making your own letters, use these as reference.

You could use these letters to make a maze of your name. I have 5 different How-to make a maze of your name versions that would might interest you. And if you just want to print out your name as a maze, I probably have it done already in my name maze section, and if I do not you can request it !

Math Maze Template

So you want to make your own Math Mazes but you want a bit of a help. Well, I will assume you have already read my blog post How to Make a Math Maze. I have made 6 different templates (11 total including variations) to get you started on making the math mazes you want. I do not include any math, just empty, ready to go templates. These templates can be used from anything from simple addition, to order of operations, fractions, counting, and much more !

Math Maze Template #1

This template is a 3 x 4 in landscape with pre-stated Start and Goal in the corners. It also includes some extra diagonal pathways for additional possible answers. Questions go in the rectangles, and possible answers on the pathways leading from the rectangles. The template will print in landscape.

Math Maze Template #2

A similar maze template in landscape in 3x4. This template uses ovals and has less options of movement between them. Again, the math equations go in the ovals while the answers go in the pathways !

Math Maze Template #3 (2 versions)

This template is oriented in portrait and uses a 3 x 5 grid with a pre-selected Start and Goal. The version on the right includes extra branches for more possible answers.

Math Maze Template #4 (2 versions)

This is a large format maze template, in portrait, 4 x 7 with a flexible Start and Goal. If you want to make a large math maze, this is your template !

Math Maze Template #5 (2 versions)

Landscape 5x4 templates. The first with simple branches, the the second with more possible pathways for possible answers.

Math Maze Template #6 (3 versions)

This format works best for children’s counting mazes. There is extra space at the top of the template to write the directions to solve the maze. An example would be, count and move by 2’s to solve the maze, or solve the maze moving only between numbers divisible by 3. This does not work for mathematical equations per say, but for counting, it works well. Comes in 2 sizes, plus an option to draw in your own Start and Goal items for kids. Some examples would be a rabbit to a carrot, a leprechaun to a pot of gold, or a dog to his doghouse. I’m sure you can think of many more !

Maze Design Case Study - Designing a Grid Maze in Different Difficulty levels

I wanted to do a case study showing how to create a maze in a few different difficultly levels. I thought the best way to illustrate this was to design a create a maze with a variety of different branch types included then have you solve them and compare how enjoyable each was for you to solve. Let’s jump into the example and you’ll see what I mean. (Hopefully).

• Example - Part 1. Please solve this small 10x10 grid maze. Yes this is an interactive example !

OK. Take note of how your experience was solving the maze. Did you enjoy it ? How quickly did you solve the maze ? Anything you did not like about the experience ? Did you find it to be enjoyable or frustrating ?

Now lets try this maze made on the same grid structure. We have 10x10 grid maze with the Start and Goal placed in the same locations.

• Example - Part 2. Please solve this small 10x10 grid maze.

I have the same questions for you as before. How was your experience was solving the maze ? Did you enjoy it ? How quickly did you solve the maze ? Anything you did not like about the experience ? Did you find it to be enjoyable or frustrating ?

An finally in Part 3 we will group 2 additional mazes together for evaluation. Same questions will apply.

• Example - Part 3. Please solve each of these small 10x10 grid mazes.

So what have we learned ? Before I go into some explanations on the design of each maze take a minute to hypothesize on what you think just happened. 4 similar mazes. Hopefully they gave you different experiences for you when you were solving them.

4 Maze Comparison - The Differences and Design Choices

• First, did you notice each maze has the same exact solution ? Mazes 2 & 3 have the inverse (or flipped) solution of mazes 1 & 4. So the solutions are essentially all equal.

• Each numbered maze should have gotten more difficult as the numbers increased (although with a small maze size this may have been somewhat less obvious)

• Maze 1 - Short dead ends. Incorrect paths do not have branches. Pathways are wide. Some paths are “filler” and unusable.

• Maze 2 - Longer dead ends. Incorrect paths do not have branches. Pathways normal width.

• Maze 3 - Long dead ends with additional branches off of them. Pathways slightly smaller.

• Maze 4 - Long dead ends with choices and branches off them. 4 way choices included. Small pathway widths.

So to summarize I used the following to change the difficulty of the 4 mazes:

• The length of dead ends - How fast you know you have made an incorrect choice

• Dead end branches - When you make a wrong turn are there multiple incorrect choices on that branch

• Expanded pathway choices - Some intersections have multiple choices

• Pathway widths - Smaller pathways are more difficult to see and navigate.

• Unusable pathways - Filler sometimes used to fill a maze out while keeping it at the desired difficulty level.

Let’s look at the pathways coded to show what I mean. The red line is the solution. The blue line is the false pathway. The purple line is an unusable pathway (Did you know some mazes use this ?)

What you need to notice in the below deconstructed mazes:

• Maze 1 - Thick pathways make this maze easier to solve. The purple lines to not connect to anything - essentially they are filler and unusable pathways. Most likely you did not notice them. They make the maze easier. The blue lines, the incorrect dead end paths - are short and only extend 2 levels before letting the solver know it was the wrong choice.

• Maze 2 - Normal pathway width. No purple pathways from here on out. The blue lines are long but have no branches off of them. Longest length is 11 blocks.

• Maze 3 - Pathways are a bit thinner. The blue dead end lines now have branches, so wrong turns have additional wrong turns. None of these, however has more than one additional dead end branch. There is also a dead end choice at the starting block.

• Maze 4 - Pathways are very thin. There are now 3 intersections where 4 pathway choices are included (they look like a plus sign in this grid maze). Dead end branches also have multiple dead ends off of them.

Hopefully this explanation and example shows you a small piece of how maze difficulty can be designed and changed with a few different choices. Most solvers would prefer Maze #1 because the wrong turns are not overly punishing. But a nice amount of people would prefer something a bit more challenging also, so remember the audience you are designing for when you create your mazes !

I will say that there is a balance between making a challenging maze and poor maze design. Do the pathways need to be ultra thin or are you just straining the eyes of the solver ? I think a re-design of Maze #3 with thick pathways would be both enjoyable AND challenging ! Happy maze-ing !

Additional popular posts you may like:

How To Make A Grid Maze

44 Different types of Mazes and Labyrinths

Comparison of the Top 10 Maze Generation Websites

Daily Maze #1000 !!

This site started in late 2018. And on December 21, 2018 I posted my first daily maze on the home page, initially unsure if this was something I actually wanted to do. Could I commit to making a new maze each and every day ? Could I commit to changing the website each and every day (and early on remembering to do it) ? What would I do for themes and ideas ? When I first started out I had more questions than answers. The first maze I ever made was made for National Crossword Puzzle Day. It looks like a crossword puzzle but is actually a grid maze. The technique I use has changed since then but I think the maze works.

This maze has been followed by a series of themed mazes each and every day since, all on the home page of the website. Each are free to download. Many have later been made into free downloadable maze books. I have enjoyed making them, and based on the sites growth, you have enjoyed solving them. You may have also noticed that there is a second daily maze posted each day that started in April 2021 in the now retired Laberintos section of the site (Spanish for Mazes). It is the same maze translated into Spanish. But for my counting I am treating this separately. Counting ? Yes. Today is a special day because I have hit a milestone maze. Today I post daily maze #1000.

There have been some bad mazes and some really good mazes posted and everything in between. Lots of conventional mazes and more than a few experimental ones.