Maze of the Week #25 - National Center for Civil and Human Rights Building Maze

Maze #25 features a museum that opened to the public on June 23, 2014. With wonderful architecture and an important mission, this week I feature a maze of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights Building located in Atlanta, Georgia. The architect of the building was Phil Freelon. My maze is a draw and cut construction and was originally done in black and white. I went back and worked on a colorized version of the maze that took me many weeks to finish (so many panels to color !). I hope you like the finished products !

Some information about the National Center for Civil and Human Rights

The museum primarily honors the history of the civil rights movement of black Americans in the 1960’s. Exhibits featuring the items from the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. The museum also works to connect this movement to current movements around the world for Human Rights.

Here is a 13 minute long video with a wonderful overview and virtual tour of the facility !

A photo:

From a slightly different angle than the maze I made, but you get the idea. Photo from Maciek Lulko on flickr.

The mazes:

The first version of the maze in black and white. I like how it came out but decided I wanted a version in color despite the challenge that was.

National Center for Civil and Human Rights Building Maze

And here is the color version: I think it was worth the effort ! I had to match the color of each panel with the picture to get it right.

I hope you enjoy the mazes. Free downloads are available of the mazes on their permanent webpage.

Coming next week:

A maze of a US National Park !

The 5 Hardest Mazes on this Website - Part 1

I have made a few thousand mazes for this website, although only half of them remain because I got rid of the least popular ones. What is left are the mazes people seem to search for and download the most. If you stop by on Mondays you will see the new maze of the week which a more artful maze (usually) than the daily mazes I was making for my first few years tending the site. I think the extra days of design means a better maze.

Today I want to take you through the 5 Hardest Mazes on this site. All of these come from the earlier version of the site where daily mazes were the norm. By the end of this year I expect to have a Part 2 with complicated picture mazes, but for now here are the big 5:

#5 and #4 Playing Card Mazes

Specifically the King of Diamonds and Queen of Hearts playing cards. As of this writing each is featured on the home page, neither has a downloadable solution available, and both feature long dead ends. What do I mean by long dead ends ? Well I did not make the incorrect pathways obvious quickly for the solver. I also made multiple branches off of wrong pathways, so you might make a wrong turn, go back to the last intersection and go the other way just to realize later that is also the wrong pathway. Because of the level of detail each should be printed on large size paper to solve !!

King of Diamonds Maze

Queen of Hearts Maze

#3 Slide Arrow Maze(s)

The thing about a slide arrow maze is that if you make a large one with only one correct solution it can become impossible to solve without “backward solving”. In a slide arrow maze you can move to any other arrow the arrow you are on is pointing to (but no jumping gaps). So the number of possibilities gets large quickly and your chances of making the x# of moves in a row correctly are near zero. Any slide arrow maze would work here but I picked one where there are 13 possible second moves.

#2 Empire State Building Maze (at night)

First I want to mention that I made this in Microsoft Paint a pixel at a time before I discovered how to make digital mazes much more easily. It took months. The maze is based on a scale model I found online. Although it does not say so, there are 2 ways to solve the maze. From the start at the base to the top. Or go all the way up and then back down to the start. The maze has 2 pathways up/down. This is also my largest maze at 3 feet wide and 9.5 feet tall in full resolution. I did not make a solution file. The sheer size of this makes it difficult in addition to the fact it was an early maze of mine before I understood how to design an enjoyable maze soultion.

#1 Mega Arrow Maze

While this maze may or may not be the Largest Arrow Maze in the World, it is definitely difficult to solve. The thing that I like about Arrow mazes is that there are no dead ends, only incorrect loops that you can get caught in. Of course, that is also what makes them maddening when you choose the wrong pathway.

It has it’s own section on the site. And starting Tuesday I will be giving daily hints (5 in total) to help you solve it. Go there to get the directions on how to solve an arrow maze and the mazes download. Good Luck ! You will probably need it !

Hey, did you notice this is only Part 1 ? Well there are future collections of hard mazes coming. If you want to be notified when new collections of hard mazes are made send me your info below !

Maze of the Week #23 - Wrigley Field Sign Maze

Many of the mazes I have featured this year have showcased signs and buildings that most people probably weren’t that familiar with. But this week, for my 23rd maze I am featuring a maze of the iconic Wrigley Field Sign. The maze is a standard construction and was done in full color. There is only 1 version.

Some information about Wrigley Field

It is not surprising that Wrigley Field is a US National Historic Landmark, but it is surprising that it was only added in September of 2020. Since opening in 1914 it has primarily been the home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, however it has housed 3 different NFL teams since it’s opening…the Bears…and well you’ll need to guess the other 2 ! Here is a video with a quick view of the sign:

The maze:

Wrigley Field Sign Maze

I hope you enjoy the maze. Free Wrigley Field Sign Maze download is available on it’s long term webpage.

Coming next week:

A sign maze of a local Ice Cream shop !

Maze of the Week #22 - Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch Maze

This week I am featuring a maze of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch located in Hartford, Connecticut to celebrate Memorial Day in the US. It becomes maze of the week #22 after a last minute switch with a lighthouse maze (now maze #37). There are many memorials (over 20) named this, or similar around the United States. This particular memorial celebrates those Hartford citizens that served in the US Civil War. The Memorial Arch was dedicated on September 17, 1886 and was designed by a local architect named George Keller.

If you want to learn more about the memorial arch, read the Wikipedia page , or just check out this video:

Here is a photo of the memorial:

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch - Connecticut State Library flickr

The maze: Finished? You decide. I can’t seem to find a clear picture of the battle scene that is banded above the arch. I attempted a few versions with it and none came out to my standards. I may add it in the future (and change the maze) if I find a good picture to work off of. I went with black and white. The brocks make for a good gridded maze construction.

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch Maze

I hope you enjoy the maze. Downloads are available on the homepage.

Coming next week:

An iconic sign maze from the world of sports !

Also interesting:

Maze Construction - 5 Maze Design Decisions Make All the Difference