Maze of the Week 64 Redux - Leeds Castle (MOTW#173)

I revised another maze of the week with new details to (hopefully) improve it. One of my better mazes is of the Bodiam Castle where I tried some new things (like water reflection) when I colorized the maze. Even though the starting point for this maze was in color I wanted to give it a shot. I ended up making more changes than I thought I would. Here is my original post:

Maze of the Week #64 - Leeds Castle Maze

Here are the enhancements I made to improve the maze:

1. Added Textures. I added new textures to the grass, the pathways, the hedges and the horizon. All look more realistic.

2. Reduced the Size. I resized the maze from 11x17 to 9x17 to reduce both the lawn and the sky size.

3. New Title. I reduced the font of the location vs the font of the title which increased.

4. Shifted the castle. Made a minor shift of the maze to the right to center the castle better on the page.

5. Window Details. For the slim windows have panes added in grey. There were no panes before. For the regular windows the windows were darkened and color of the windowpanes was changed from black to grey. Each of these is a more accurate depiction

6. Added Barriers. I added the short barriers between the lawn and the walkway with a hard to see chain between the black metal poles.

7. Pathway Width. The original pathways were thin, so to make solving easier I doubled their size.

8. Mortar Change. I changed the mortar color between the stones from black to brown to more accurately reflect the castles color. Ideally they could be even lighter, but then the pathways and bricks get lost.

9. Added Background Details. I added stones to the wall on the right side to define what it was (and changed the color). I also added the horizon on each side of the building with textured surface to reflect the plants/hills in the distance.

So a lot of changes. More than I thought when I sat down.

Here is the before and after:

I like the new version.

Some data: The new file is 1520MB from 548MB.

I will be replacing the homepage with the new maze going forward. You can find the maze download there !

If you like this type of content check out all of my case studies:

A Collection of Maze Design Case Studies to Improve your Mazes

What I've Learned Making Mazes

Happy maze-ing !

5 Unexpected Places Where You Can Find Mazes

Mazes. The word conjures images of towering hedges, winding paths, and the satisfying click of a puzzle solved. But what if I told you they're lurking in far more places than you might imagine? My lifelong fascination with mazes has led me down some unexpected paths, from the familiar twists and turns of botanical gardens to the surprising corners of everyday life. Join me as we explore the hidden world of mazes, uncovering their secrets in the most unlikely of locations. Every time I find a maze in an unexpected place, it puts a smile on my face. Before I get to some of those examples, I want to start with places I fully expect to find mazes.

5 Places I Expect to Find Mazes:

1. A Botanical Garden - Some of these might actually be labyrinths, especially if the Botanical Garden is next to a church, but if there is a botanical garden I am never surprised when I encounter a hedge maze. There are plenty of famous ones around the world. There are even some new ones thank you to an apparent fan of mazes, King Charles at the Balmoral Gardens! The 10 Most Famous Labyrinths from Around the World ; Discovering 7 of the World's Most Interesting Mazes

2. A Cornfield - In the Fall when the corn stalks are nice and tall I expect to see signs for corn mazes. Corn maze design has become very high-tech recently and you can find corn mazes in the shape of famous people, animals, and buildings. Each year they seem to become more complicated and nicer. How Corn Mazes are Made - A Collection of Corn Maze Videos

3. Museums - Mazes are common in both science and art museums. They are a fun activity that can become a teaching moment. I have seen mirror mazes, and regular mazes in museums before. There is even a very cool outdoor glass maze at a museum if you know where to look !

4. Maze Books - This is the least shocking place to find mazes I hope. I have created over 30 maze books, some available for free on this website. If you want to use a pencil instead of your feet to solve a maze, this is the format for you ! Free Maze Downloadable Books

5. Cave systems - Nature does a wonderful job creating mazes in cave systems around the world. Some occur naturally, while other underground tunnels are man made. Some examples are the Arab Caves in Spain and the Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. I also recently wrote a piece about Sandland, an ongoing tunneling project in Wisconsin that features a maze.

Lucluckies, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

5 Places Where Finding Mazes Might Surprise You:

1. The Cereal Aisle - Maybe this should have been expected, but if you look on the back on cereal boxes you typically find games for kids (unless you are eating the healthy stuff - which is actually a great idea !). I have found multiple mazes on cereal boxes the last few years and each time it makes me smile. Lost in the Snack Aisle: Grocery Mazes spotted !

2. Video Games - Maze games are not as common as they were in the 80’s, when Pac-Man was the king of maze games. But classic titles like Dig Dug, Rally-X, and Gauntlet are also maze based games that I spent quite a few quarters on back in the day. The 12 Most Important Retro Maze Video Games to Lose a Day With

3. Movies - I have watched and reviewed over 100 maze and labyrinth movies. They are a common plot device in horror movies and make for an interesting element. There are some all time great movies that have mazes as part of the plot. This article proves it: The Top 12 Best Maze / Labyrinth Movies of all time.

4. The Subway - Yes, the subway, metro, whatever you want to call it might just contain a maze. For example if you are ever in Alby, Stockholm the underground station on the Red Line 13 features a painted maze. And of course you may be familiar with the artwork in the London Underground, including a tile maze in the Warren Street station. Many of the works are of labyrinths from a 2013 project by artist Mark Wallinger.

5. The Mall - This is certainly not a place I would expect to find a maze, but the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN contains the Amazing Mirror Maze. a 2500 square foot mirror maze. You can plan a visit to the maze on the website. This short video confirms my suspicion that I would get lost!

Sandland: Wisconsin's Secret Underground Labyrinth

Sandland is a hidden underground labyrinth in western Wisconsin. Where exactly ? Well, since it is not open to the public, that is a bit of a secret. Doesn’t that make it more interesting ? I stumbled across this one day and went down a rabbit hole (or maybe more appropriately a sandstone path) online for a few hours.

What is Sandland ?

Sandland is a maze of tunnels that are being dug into Jordan sandstone bedrock, a type of rock that is native to Wisconsin. The tunnels are being created by a man named Eric Sutterlin with a group of volunteers. The goal is to create a unique attraction for visitors to explore and discover. Here is a portion of the brochure where you can see the tunnels being built, and the map of the dig:

Brochure: courtesy of Eric Sutterlin and J. T. Sobie; Brochure includes photos from Jon Sobie, Summer Anderson, Micah McMullin, Eric Sutterlin, Chris Daniel and Ana Smrekar

Tell me about the Tunnels

The tunnels are about three feet tall, so visitors have to crawl through them. The only light you have inside the tunnels comes from headlamps. The tunnels have horizontal layers of white, orange, and grey stone. The goal in the maze is place called Gabe’s Bar, made by a volunteer named Gabe.

Is it complete ?

No, there are still plans to dig and expand the complex that you can read about on the Sandland website. The digging started in 2011 and is still ongoing. There are extensive future dig plans (some of which you can see on the map above.

I like my information in video form. Show me your favorite videos on Sandland:

Sure, here is a quick 2 minute overview that explains Sandland and shows the location:

And here is a interesting video with an interview with Eric Sutterlin, the creator of Sandland, exploring why he is making the tunnels.

And here are some of the most common questions answered about the digging, including about tunnel collapse.

I want to do some digging and volunteer !

• You can reach out for volunteering information at digsandland@gmail.com

• Or send a message on the Facebook page which also includes tunnel updates.

If I missed something, check out the about page to fill in the gaps !

Similar content:

5 Interesting Mazes from Around the World that are Made from Plants:

Maze Comic Book Cover #68 - Sloth Life

Issue #68 in my comic book cover series is called Sloth Life and features the maze of a Sloth. I hope you like the smile on the sloth’s face. Imagine that it is on the way to a full smile and it will take a bit of time to get there (that is what I imagine).

My comic book cover mazes can be found in 2 places:

Comic Book Cover Mazes - Year 1 (Issues #1-53)

Comic Book Cover Mazes - Year 2

To receive a book of my first year of comic book book mazes (Volume 1 with mazes #1-53) you can sign up for my book alerts - any time I launch a free maze book, or paid book (on Amazon), I will send you a note about the new book launch.