The Surprising Benefits of Solving Mazes

June 3, 2023

I love making mazes and sometimes I even like solving them. I know a good maze engages me and captures my attention and focus. This gave me a good idea and led me to do some research on what the benefits are of solving mazes. Mazes have been around for thousands of years and have been used for various purposes, from entertainment to spiritual practices. In this blog post, we will explore some of the benefits of solving mazes and why you should consider incorporating them into your weekly routine.

6 Benefits of Solving Mazes

1. Improves Problem-Solving Skills

One of the most significant benefits of solving mazes is that it helps improve problem-solving skills. When you are navigating through a maze, you are presented with a problem of how to get from one point to another. This requires you to think critically, plan ahead, and try different strategies to find the best solution. By doing this, you are exercising your brain and improving your ability to solve problems in other areas of your life. And this is true even if you prefer easy mazes to more difficult ones !

2. Enhances Spatial Recognition

Solving mazes also helps enhance spatial recognition, which is the ability to understand and remember the spatial relationships between objects. When you are navigating through a maze, you are using your spatial skills to visually map ahead and see if the path you are on is clear or blocked. This helps improve your ability to understand and remember spatial relationships, which can be useful in many areas of your life, such as driving, playing sports, and even cooking.

3. Boosts Patience and Persistence

This really resonates with me because I like to solve difficult mazes and puzzles. Solving mazes can also help boost patience and persistence. When you are working your way through a maze, it can be frustrating when you hit a dead end or take a wrong turn. However, by persevering and continuing to work through the maze, you are building your patience and persistence. This can be useful in many areas of your life, such as work, relationships, and personal goals.

4. Builds Hand-Eye Coordination

Another benefit of solving mazes is that it helps build hand-eye coordination. When you are working your way through a maze, you are using your hands and eyes to navigate through the twists and turns. This helps improve your hand-eye coordination, which can be useful in many areas of your life, such as playing sports, typing, and even driving.

5. Reduces Stress and Anxiety

Solving mazes can also help reduce stress and anxiety. When you are working your way through a maze, you are focused on the task at hand, which can help take your mind off of other stressors in your life. Additionally, the sense of accomplishment you feel when you complete a maze can help boost your mood and reduce anxiety. Of course it is also true that a very difficult maze can also increase stress ! That is when labyrinths come into play. Often confused for a maze, a walk through a labyrinth would be a great remedy for that stress.

6. Provides a Fun and Engaging Activity

Finally, solving mazes provides a fun and engaging activity that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Whether you are working on a physical maze or a digital one, solving mazes can be a great way to pass the time and challenge yourself. Additionally, many mazes are designed with themes and puzzles that make them even more engaging and entertaining.

In conclusion, solving mazes can have surprising benefits for your brain and overall well-being. From improving problem-solving skills to reducing stress and anxiety, there are many reasons why you should consider incorporating mazes into your daily routine. So the next time you are looking for a fun and engaging activity, consider working your way through a maze and see how it can benefit you!

If you made it this far I think you might want to check out some of my maze artwork like the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Maze below. Or maybe the Taj Mahal. Or all the other mazes I have made !

Discovering 7 of the World's Most Interesting Mazes

June 1, 2023

The world is full of amazing maze and labyrinths. While the labyrinths can be found easily based on your location, there is no such website dedicated to all types of mazes (or I just haven’t found it yet - send me a note). You can find a site dedicated to corn mazes in the USA, which must be difficult to keep up to date with so many corn mazes having short lives. Today I want to take you to 3 continents and show you 7 of the world’s most unique physical mazes.

There are many unique mazes and labyrinths all over the world, each with its own unique design and features. Let’s explore them.

1. The Hedge Maze at Longleat House, Wiltshire, England - this hedge maze is one of the largest mazes in the world (and at one time held the record as the longest), covering over 1.5 acres of land. Built in 1978 and designed by Greg Bright, the maze features over 16,000 yew trees (trimmed to be 8 feet tall). It also features 6 viewing decks/bridges spread throughout so can get a view of the maze as you solve it - very helpful if you are struggling to reach the goal. If you plan a visit to the Longleat House there is also a Safari Park on the grounds ! It happens to be the first Safari park to ever open outside of Africa when it debuted in 1966. Don’t worry, they don’t mix the two attractions - while it might be fun to see a giraffe in a maze over the 8 foot hedges, turning a corner and encountering a tiger seems like a bad idea. You can plan your visit here. What makes this Maze Unique: The 6 viewing decks spread throughout the maze. The large size.

2. Yancheng Dafeng Dream Maze, Yancheng, Jiangsu, China - Became the largest hedge maze in the world in 2018 measuring in at 35,596.74 square meters ! While the main maze is of an elk, it includes 4 smaller mazes around it as well as an observation deck 20 meters high. You can plan your visit here. What makes this Maze Unique: The largest hedge maze in the world

3. The Traquair Maze, Innerleithen, Scotland - a difficult maze and the largest hedge maze in Scotland was planted in 1981. Designed by John Schofield, the maze has no dead ends making it very easy to get lost in the loops ! That also means it can not be solved using the “right hand” method! You can plan your visit here. What makes this Maze Unique: No dead ends make it very difficult !.

4. The Pineapple Garden Maze, Wahiawa, Hawaii, USA - this maze is located at the Dole Plantation and is made from 14,000 Hawaiian plants. The maze is over 2 acres big and held the title for world’s largest maze from 2008 until it was passed by the Yancheng Dafeng Dream Maze in 2018. This seems like one of the best places to get lost - around fresh pineapples ! Sign me up ! You can plan your visit here. What makes this Maze Unique: the size, the location on a plantation and the use of native plants !

5. Amazing Mirror Maze, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA - At 2,500 square feet this is one of the largest mirror mazes in the world and probably the only one located next to a mall food court. Hey, if you are hungry that could be motivation to get out. You can plan your visit here. What makes this Maze Unique: It is a very large mirror maze !

6. The Minotaur Maze at Kielder Castle, Kiedler, England.

Opened in 2006, this maze on the grounds of Kiedler Castle has walls made of stone, specifically basalt stone with the center goal made of glass ! Walking through the maze also gives you the opportunity to duck through small doorways along the way, or use “step-ups” to gauge where you are in the maze. You can plan your visit here. What makes this Maze Unique: The walls are made of basalt stones and glass.

7. Labyrinthe Aventure, Evionnaz, Switzerland.
This attraction makes me want to be a kid again. A huge slide, indoor and outdoor games of every type, bouncy castles that aren’t castles but I don’t know what else to call them. And the entire place is surrounded by beautiful mountains. Plus, the reason I am writing this, the main attraction, the hedge maze full of obstacles and slides !! You can plan your visit here. What makes this Maze Unique: The maze contains slides, obstacles and hurdles along the route !

I hope you enjoyed this look into 7 interesting mazes around the world !

While you are here, check out some of my maze art !

The 12 Most Important Retro Maze Video Games to Lose a Day With

May 30, 2023

I love to play retro video games. But only games from the years of my childhood on. I think this is because you get used to a particular quality of graphics and gameplay and then that level continually gets better throughout your life. You get faster, lighter machines, with better graphics, music and gameplay. So I am not playing anything from 1975, but I get excited about emulators of my favorite games from 1985. Today we are going to look at a specific genre of game that I have always loved - maze video games.

a History of Maze Video Games

For maze video games it all started in 1959 at MIT in a room filled with a TX-0 computer. This is where the first maze video game was created, called Mouse in the Maze. The gameplay was simple. A mouse is tasked to get through a maze and find the cheese (the goal). The mouse in the game is considered the very first character in a video game. The next 2 maze games were not developed until 1973, with Gotcha (Atari’s 4th game) and Maze (by Steve Colley). Maze is considered a revolutionary game for many reasons. It is believed to be the first 3D first person game ever made, and it is the very first first person shooter game. We can thank Maze for Doom, Call of Duty, Wolfenstein, Halo, Call of Duty and all of the other shooter games you know and love. Video games exploded in popularity in the 1980’s with the expansion of home consoles like the Atari 2600 and the booming of arcades based on Space Invaders (1978), Pac-Man (1980), and Donkey Kong (1981). This is when the flood of new maze games were developed as the popularity of maze game Pac-Man led to many games with similar gameplay.

Definition of Maze Video Games

I think we should define what we are talking about. So, what is a maze video game ? Well it is a game that where the playing field is a maze. This can mean solving a maze within a time limit, outracing your opponent, and outrunning enemies chasing you thru the maze. There are 4 main types of maze games:

1 - Overhead maze games

2 - Maze chase games

3 - First-person maze games

4 - Grid capture maze games

Let’s define each and give some examples of the best games of each type.

Overhead maze games

This is just what it sounds like. As a player you have an overhead view of most/all of a maze playing board that your character does not have (because they are in the maze).

Examples of this include the aforementioned Mouse in the Maze (1959) and Gotcha as well as these important games:

Tank Battalion (1980) - the first game that combined the popular tank video game theme with the overhead maze view. Gameplay involves the player destroying 20 tanks per level that are trying to destroy the players base. You can also use your tank to change the mazes by blowing up a wall.

Dig Dug (1982) - One of the top grossing games when it was released, it started a fad of “digging games’ based off of it’s gameplay. The player must dig his way thru the board and defeat all his enemies to move to the next board. Digging around the board essentially creates a maze that can be used by the other characters. Personally I love to play this game and will never pass it by if I see it.

Bomberman (1983) - The main character, Bomberman, a robot, must find his way thru the maze while avoiding enemies. Standard stuff, but it was the start of a series with over 70 titles that continues up to today. Besides the standard gameplay of avoiding enemies while reaching the exit you have the ability to use bombs to find hidden doors that lead to new portions of the maze.

Gauntlet (1985) - When this 4 player cabinet showed up in arcades my friends and I spent pockets full of quarters trying to defeat this. You could play as one of 4 characters each with their own strengths and weaknesses: A warrior, wizard, valkyrie or elf. I was always the elf. I loved trying to solve the maze and get to the exit while trying to avoid/kill the enemies, but it was always the ghosts that got me.

Maze Chase Games

You may have been thinking, wait how did you speak about overhead maze video games and never mention Pac-Man ? Well, because it became so popular, easily the most popular game in the maze genre that it created it’s own sub-genre of overhead maze games, the maze chase games. You get the overhead view but the gameplay includes being chased or doing chasing by enemies. Any discussion of this must start with Pac-Man.

Pac-Man (1980) - Simply put one of the greatest video games of all time. Made to appeal to both men and women at a time when many games were directed at males (with war and sports themes). You know the gameplay, so no need to describe it, but the game is significant historically for many reasons: The first video game with power-ups; the first successfully licensed game; the first game with cutscenes; the first game with a widely recognizable character to become a mascot.

Rally-X (1980) - A formula one racing game that takes place on a large scrolling maze (it scrolls in 4 directions) while you are being chased by evil red cars. The goal is to collect 10 yellow flags per level while avoiding the red cars, and boulders placed in your way. Historically significant for having a bonus round, believed to be the first while slso one of the first games to feature continuous background music.

Lady Bug (1981) - Gameplay was based on Pac-Man with the significant upgrade being the use of gates which when crossed would change the layout of the maze. Instead of ghosts you need to avoid one of 8 different types of insects and instead of dots you eat flowers, letters and hearts.

Ms. Pac-Man (1981) - This sequel to Pac-Man is considered by many the best version of the game because of a few tweaks to the gameplay - 4 different mazes, multiple warp tunnels on some levels, and fruits that move and appear differently. Argue amongst yourselves.

First-person maze games

A game where the player has the same view as the character in the game.

Maze (1973) - Mentioned above as the first 3D first person game ever made, and the very first first person shooter game. Developed and played at MIT it was continually updated and and improved - adding additional players, map views, and scoring among them. The name changed multiple times as it was developed. Eventually it was developed into a separate game called Mazewar (1977) developed by Jim Guyton for the Xerox Alto.

Capture the Flag (1983) - Important because it was one of the first first person games to allow 360 degree movement, and also one of the first 3D games that was multiplayer. This game is the sequel to the game Wayout (1982) that added the second player. Gameplay was themed so that one player was trying to capture the flag while the other is defending it. Interesting in this game is that it can create an infinite number of different mazes for the players.

Grid capture maze games

In a grid capture maze game the goal is for the player to visit every post in the maze/grid/level to move on to the next level. This is mostly done by traveling on the grid (much like an on-line type maze) rather than between the walls in the pathway.

Amidar (1981) - The original game that launched the genre. Gameplay is similar to Pac-Man in that you complete a level while avoiding enemies that are chasing you, however you travel ON the lines instead of in-between them. Once you complete a section by touching all the area surrounding it, the section colors in (see the purple blocks below). Every other level is played either as an ape collecting coconuts while being chased by headhunters, or a man with a paint roller being chased by pigs. Sounds weird, it is.

Although over 20 grid capture games were developed in the 5 years following the release of Amidar, none are recognizable to me.

final thoughts

Each of the 12 games above helped make gaming what it is today and make up the core foundation of maze video games. While most of these games came out in the 1980’s, we still have new Pac-Man and Bomberman titles coming out 40 years after their initial game releases. Maze video games include the all-time video game classics Dig Dug, Gauntlet, and Ms. Pac-Man. The easy to understand gameplay make maze video games easy for anyone to play. If you want to go retro and waste a day playing some fun games, try a few of these classics - I think you’ll like them !

You might like these other posts:

A Tribute to Pac-Man

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) Movie Review

Dungeons & Dragons (2000) Movie Review

Clayton Theatre Maze Art - Maze of the Week #13

Maze of the Week #74 - Templo de Sangre de Cristo Maze

May 29, 2023

Maze of the Week #74 concludes our run of religious building mazes with the Templo de Sangre de Cristo (Temple of the Precious Blood of Christ), a church located in the centro of Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca. It was consecrated in 1689 and is not as famous a church compared to it’s very impressive neighbor down the street, the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán or the Catedral Metropolitana de Oaxaca (which opened in 1573).

Very short, YouTube short link.

Photo: Taken by me

I went back a few times to get some additional photos of details of the church to help in my making of the maze. Hopefully this additional detail helps make the maze more interesting. Here is a collage of some of those photos:

Templo de Sangre de Cristo photo collage

The Maze: There is not a lot of color in this building, but I went with a mostly black and white version with a few detailed items in color. It is medium difficulty.