Maze of the Week #3 - The University of Alaska Museum of the North

January 17, 2022

After my first 2 landscape mazes to start the year we switch subjects and I present a building maze. This week the maze features the architecture of Joan Soranno and the GDM/HGA team in the form of The University of Alaska Museum of the North. I made 2 options of the maze, one in color and the other in greyscale. The architecture of the building, while not only beautiful lent itself to a draw and cut maze construction that solves like a grid maze. I think you will enjoy it !

Some information about The University of Alaska Museum of the North

My guess is most of you do not live near this museum, but if you are ever in Fairbanks, Alaska, you should plan a visit. While I have never visited myself, I have added this to my bucket list after watching this video (They have their own YouTube channel). Seems like a great and educational way to spend a day.

Museum photo:

Before we get to the maze let’s take a look at the building the maze was made of:

Photo courtesy of UA Museum of the North

Let’s look at the 2 mazes options:

First the full color version that I prefer. Notice it is from a slightly different angle than the photo above. Both are from a time of year (Summer?) when there is no snow on the ground.

The University of Alaska Museum of the North Color Maze — The University of Alaska Museum of the North Maze

And now the alternative version in greyscale. The maze is the same in each.

The University of Alaska Museum of the North Maze in greyscale

I hope you enjoy the mazes.

You can find downloads of the maze on it’s permanent page.

Coming Next week:

On January 24th I will be featuring the first of many sign mazes. If you are a fan of roadside signs I think you will really enjoy it !

Other Mazes you might enjoy:

The Alamo Mission Maze

Abraham Lincoln Maze

Codebox maze generator review

January 13, 2022

Today we have a new maze generator to review. I think you are going to like this one because it has so much more functionality than most I have seen online.

I will be using the same format I have used for my review of the top maze generators and am adding this review to the main blog post. If you are not familiar with that post I will look at what shapes of maze are available, the cell types, size, choices to start and end the maze, is the solution given and can you download it. Let’s get to the sitereview.

CODEBOX

Shapes: 4+ : Square, Circle, Triangular Grid, Hexagonal Grid. While there are 4 main types you can also create an infinite number of shapes using the mask feature !!

Cell types: 3: Square, Hexagons, Triangles

Width and Height: 2 - 50 for squares and hexagons, Triangles from 4-85 width to 2-50 height, and circles can have 30 layers

Start/end: 4 choices: None, Top to Bottom, Left to Right, Hardest entrance/exit

Solution generated: Yes

Downloads available: Yes, as an SVG file.

What this site does best: Of all the sites I reviewed this is one of only 2 sites with Circular maze generation. It is also the site with the most flexibility in creating shapes. You can create a distance map that shows how far the point is from the entrance. The generator offers a choice of 10 different algorithms to generate the maze. You can also solve these mazes on screen using your mouse and keyboard. You can also choose to watch the maze generate !

Examples: Starting in the top left corner a simple 20x20 maze, a hexagonal grid maze, a circular maze, and a shape I made myself using the mask feature. I also suggest you check out the examples given on the site.

Finally here is a look at an example of a distance map. From the bottom entrance in green to the top exit in red (generally).

I couldn’t resist making a “do you” maze using the mask feature.

This is an excellent website for generating mazes. I recommend it.

Maze of the Week #2 - Monument Valley Maze

January 10, 2022

This week I am featuring the famous Monument Valley landscape for a maze. You’ve seen it Western movies and tv shows for decades. Today I will also share 3 different versions of the maze (like comic book alternative covers). We have a black and white version, a color version, and a color version with clouds. All are the same maze, made with a free drawn construction. Which do you prefer ?

Some information about Monument Valley

The large sandstone buttes are near the Utah Arizona border on the Navajo Nation Reservation and is part of the Colorado plateau. Wikipedia is my go-to for information. If you want to visit, the admission is very inexpensive as is the nearby campsite and you can even book a tour with a Navajo Guide ! It can best be described as majestic.

You can find many videos about Monument Valley online but this short one from National Geographic is my favorite. The soil color is so vibrant and changes with the movement of the sun during the day.

And before we get to the mazes let’s take a look at what the subject matter looks like with a photo courtesy of Pixabay and pexels.com. This photo shows a larger landscape than what I focused on which is the butte on the left.

Let’s look at the 3 maze options:

My first version of the maze is a simple black white version.

While in this version #2 I add in the vibrant color the region is known for, while adding the landscape to the butte. I was also able to add some darker colors for the places in the shadows. I opted against adding contours to the landscape.

And in our final version we get a more defined sky that includes some clouds. For me, this is the preferred version.

Monument Valley Maze full color version — Monument Valley Maze

I hope you enjoy the mazes.

You can find downloads of the maze on the homepage.

Coming next week:

Stop back on January 17th for our first building maze of the year. A maze of a museum.

Arrow Maze Design Case Study - Part 14 - The Largest Arrow Maze in the World

January 6, 2022

The final portion of our 14 Part Series - The Largest Arrow Maze in the World (I think).

Here is an overview of what we covered in the 14 part series:

Arrow Maze Construction and Design:

Arrow Maze Components:

Part 5 - Regular Arrows

Part 6 - Double Arrows

Extreme Arrow Maze examples:

Arrow Maze Design Case Study - Part 14 - The Largest Arrow Maze in the World (I think)

How big is it ?

Well in terms of if you were going to print it, it is formatted at 31 inches by 61 inches.
In terms of grids, it is sized at 45 x 90, although there are less than 4,050 grid spaces because of the use of some long arrows !
You COULD print it, but it is best opened on a device and zoomed in on to solve.

Additional information:

There are no “filler” grids…all grids in the maze are reachable
Because of the size of the maze there are 3 checkpoints along the way that will help guide you towards a solve.
Between the second and third checkpoints there are NO decision arrows, only regular arrows…!
There are no dead ends

If you attempt this maze, do me a favor, time yourself. Send me a note with your time (or if you give up after a certain amount of time).