How to Make a Hidden Message Trail Maze

In a series of posts I will show you how to make a maze in a wide variety of design constructions. The 21st example with look at the Hidden Message Trail Maze construction. It is one of the most enjoyable maze constructions to make. Let’s define what I mean by the Hidden Message Trail maze, then get into the example. Every example will use the sample basic outline (the state of Ohio) to better illustrate the differences between each maze type. At the end of the post I have a 2 free downloadable Hidden Trail Maze Books !

Here is an outline for this blog post with jump links if you want to skip ahead to a section:

HIDDEN MESSAGE TRAIL MAZE DEFINITION

THE 5 RULES OF MAZE DESIGN

HOW TO MAKE A HIDDEN MESSAGE TRAIL MAZE

ADDITIONAL HIDDEN TRAIL MAZE EXAMPLES

ADDITIONAL HIDDEN MAZE TRAIL OPTIONS

FREE DOWNLOADABLE HIDDEN MESSAGE TRAIL MAZE BOOKS !

HIDDEN MESSAGE TRAIL MAZE DEFINITION:

Hidden Message Trail Maze - A combination of the Hidden Message Maze and a Letter Maze. Movement through the maze takes you over letters and by solving the maze you spell out a secret message.

THE 5 RULES OF MAZE DESIGN:

These 5 rules apply to any maze you make so we start with them !

1. Always keep an open pathway for the solution

While drawing a maze you will need to juggle multiple open pathways each of which could become the solution. One of them will become the solution. Keep track of it. This is especially important if you are designing pathways in both directions (from the start and from the goal).

2. Clearly mark the start and goal, or the objective of the maze

A maze should have a start and a goal that you can assess just by glancing at it. There are many ways to start and end a maze I review in this blog post: Options for Starting and Ending a Maze

3. Ensure the difficulty matches the intended audience

Most people want to solve a puzzle/maze that is just slightly below or slightly above their skill level. Many things help determine the difficulty of a maze. Size, number of branches, the length of dead ends, the number of choices, the complexity of the rules (if the maze has them).

4. Ensure your maze has a solution

When your maze is complete, solve it to determine the difficulty level and to ensure it is a real, solvable maze. Depending on the complexity of the maze you may want to do this right away or wait so you can properly assess the difficulty.

5. Explain anything that needs explaining

Some mazes have rules or conditions. Explain them with directions. If it isn't obvious, make it so.

HOW TO MAKE A HIDDEN MESSAGE TRAIL MAZE

Step 1 - Draw the Outline / Choose the Clue

The outline of the maze makes the outer wall of the maze. It can be anything from a simple shape like a square, to a complex picture. In the example below I chose the state of Ohio. You can also use the outline as a clue for the maze to help the solver. I like the outline or shape to be a clue to the solution to the maze (more examples below).

Step 2 - Choose the Start (with the Goal optional now)

For the below example I chose the start in the top right corner and the goal of Cincinnati. Because this maze is made letter by letter I typically choose only the Start as the goal will be where it ends up when my message is complete. The only thing to keep in mind is the goal should end at a border.

Step 3 - Start the Construction

Begin drawing walls and using letters to fill out the maze. I suggest creating possible turns by using real words to start. So below, “There are” moves on the up and to the right path. “The b…” moves to the left. As you create the walls try to make breaks where a new word would start or where the second letter of a word is. The more real words you use, the more difficult the maze will be !

Step 4 - Create the correct message

I find it is easiest to create the correct path and then fill in around it. This is because depending on the length of your message and the size of the grid system you are using this could easily become complicated….uh, I need more room or to add another word because I can’t reach the goal at the right time…..for example. Notice I had to add an exclamation point to get there in my example. At least it fits !

Step 5 - Complete the Maze

Fill in the false letters. Using actual words on false paths will make things more difficult, so create paths that fit your audience.

Step 6 - Make the Solution

Highlight the solution for the solver.

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ADDITIONAL HIDDEN TRAIL MAZE EXAMPLES

Below is an additional example of a Hidden Message Trail Maze in a more traditional square grid form. With no clues this one can be difficult for some people to solve. Clues ? Let’s get to that !

I also did a mixed version of this trail maze. Using the shape of the state I created a word finder that also includes a hidden message trail maze of the state motto. Here is South Dakota word finder of the largest cities and the state motto. You can find all US States done in this version for free in the US State Maze section.

ADDITIONAL HIDDEN MAZE TRAIL OPTIONS

Give the solver some clues to help them solve the maze. I have 3 common clues I like to use - 1 - Make the object that contains the maze a clue. 2 - Tell the solver what type of saying you are using for the puzzle (idiom, quote, saying). 3 - Give the solver a guide that shows the length and number of words. In the example below you have these 3 clues: 1) Smiley Face 2) Saying and 3) 7 words with their lengths shown. Can you solve it with those clues ? Scroll down for the answer below.

Answer: I AM JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE

A second option is to give a more obvious answer, but more difficult maze solution options, including false pathways. The idiom below has an obvious first word, PENNY, with 4 different options the solver can move through to make it. So the challenge is not what is the word which will be obvious to anyone who has heard it SPOILER: (PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS), but which path should I move through. Then you get to the second word, FOR and you have even more options for pathways to make the word. Eventually all of these paths but the correct one leads to a dead end (or more accurately to incorrect or jumbled words).

Both of the above examples are part of a free downloadable book I made with 29 different Hidden Trail Message mazes.

FREE DOWNLOADABLE HIDDEN MESSAGE TRAIL MAZE BOOKS

The first message you need to solve is the name of the actual book ! This is also a great time to discuss a third option which is a message maze that does not contain any walls. If you look at the 3 previous examples above none of them are fully ‘walled’, but some use walls to hinder or encourage movement in certain directions. The book maze below is completely unwalled, allowing more movement and more possible combinations of words.

THE HIDDEN MESSAGE TRAIL MAZE BOOK

28 pages, 29 Hidden Message Trail mazes

File Size: 445 KB

Features daily mazes from February 2021. Each maze has a hidden message with up to 3 clues: 1 - The maze object, 2 - The type of saying and 3 - The length of the words.

Download the trail maze book

And a second book of US states I also did.

The US Trail Maze Book

51 pages, 50 trail mazes

Age: Kids

Size: 1530 KB

Maps of each US state, each with 2 activities: Solve the Trail maze from start to goal of the states official motto, then find the hidden scrambled words ! Mazes are in black and white.

download the book

Interested in learning how to make or draw other types of digital mazes ? I have step by step instructions on how to make over 40 different maze types.

If you prefer making labyrinths, you can find step by step labyrinth making instructions.

How to Make a (drawn) Laser Maze

In a series of posts I will show you how to make a maze in a wide variety of design constructions. The 20th type of maze construction is the Laser maze. Let’s define what I mean, then get into the example. This particular maze type was brought to my attention on the reddit maze page by user naveedurrehman. It is a puzzle type drawn maze and unique in that the pathways are invisible initially and created by the maze solver !

Here is an outline for this blog post with jump links if you want to skip ahead to a section:

LASER MAZE DEFINITION

HOW TO MAKE A LASER MAZE

ADDITIONAL LASER MAZE EXAMPLES

ADDITIONAL LASER MAZE DESIGN DISCUSSION

FREE LASER MAZES TO SOLVE

LASER MAZE TEMPLATE

LASER MAZE DEFINITION:

LASER Maze - A type of PUZZLE maze where THE SOLVER USES PHYSICS TO DETERMINE WHERE A LASER beam WILL BOUNCE in order TO SOLVE THE MAZE.

I want to mention there is a physical version of this maze type, and it may make you think of the movie Entrapment starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Also, Mr. Beast featured one on his channel.

And there is also a physical kids game version of this maze made by Thinkfun where you use mirrors to solve challenges. The game was the winner of the Good Housekeeping Best Toys Award !

How to Make a LASER Maze (DRAWN)

Step 1 - Draw the Outline and Possible Goals

The outline of a laser maze includes 3 sides with an opening for the initial laser to move through. It is possible to do multiple shapes but the most basic is 3 sided for this example. Goals, or possible goals line the outside of the walls. I suggest nothing less than a 4x4 grid, meaning 8-12 possible goals around the border. I like using pink blocks to highlight and guide where mirrors can be placed during maze creation. I could have added goals on the bottom had I chosen.

Step 2 - Draw the Initial Laser and Mirror

Draw a laser, at the top reflecting off the first mirror/wall. This is essentially your “START”.

Step 3 - Draw the Solution

Add mirrors (walls) that the laser will bounce off of to make the maze solution. In my example below, I fill most of the maze.

Step 4 - Add the Unused Mirrors (walls)

If the solver followed the physics of the laser and bounced in the correct directions, any walls you add will never be used. Be mindful to not block any used pathways that would re-direct the solution. I also deleted my pink block guides. PRO TIP: The block guidelines can be kept, and probably should be for larger versions. The blocks help make it easier to solve on screen.

Step 5 - Add the Directions

This is a type of maze that needs instructions to solve. Add them to the maze. I used simple directions.

Step 6 - Create the Solution (OPTIONAL)

Make the solution to the maze.

ADDITIONAL LASER MAZE EXAMPLES

Each laser does not need to bounce 1 level or block, it can move across larger distances. There is no need to fill each block with a mirror, gaps are interesting ! Here is a 5x5 version that includes gaps:

For my next example, I used some comic book characters I had made mazes of to make a Halloween version. The goals can be fun and are only limited by your imagination !

ADDITIONAL LASER MAZE DESIGN DISCUSSION:

Do they need to be square/rectangular ? No. But the use of right angles makes solving easiest. There is no question which direction the bounce is going to go to. A triangle, hexagon, and other geometric shapes would also work, with some complications to work through.

How big can they be ? As large as you can imagine.

Only right angles ? You can use other angles, but they complicate the design for both the creator and solver.

Ready to make your own laser maze ? Good Luck !

FREE LASER MAZES TO SOLVE

I have a section of 10 free laser mazes that you can solve on screen. I also made the Largest Laser Maze with 159 possible goals if you want a challenge. If you click on the largest you will notice there are many large gaps in the maze - not so many mirrors, so the laser can bounce across larger distances. I also left the background cubes to help you solve the maze easier on screen. I also mix these in with my Christmas, Halloween and other themed mazes.

LASER MAZE TEMPLATE

I made this free downloadable template to help you make your first drawn laser maze. Drawn items in the boxes, or number/letter them. Draw the mirrors. Enjoy !

Interested in learning how to make or draw other types of digital mazes ? I have step by step instructions on how to make over 40 different maze types.

If you prefer making labyrinths, you can find step by step labyrinth making instructions.

Weekly Hard Maze #34

Each Saturday I post a new hard maze with all of them sitting in the Hard Maze Archive. I will try to post a variety of maze types to keep things interesting.

Weekly Hard Maze #34 - Conditional Maze

Solution will be in the archive. Download is below.

If you solved that maze quickly and want to try some of my archival hard mazes, these posts should do the trick:

• 6 difficult maze puzzles to challenge adults

• The 5 Hardest Mazes on this Website - Part 1

How to Make a Pipes Maze

In a series of posts I will show you how to make a maze in a wide variety of design constructions. The 19th type of maze construction is the Pipes maze. Let’s define what I mean, then get into the example. This example will use the basic outline of the state of Ohio, but it can be made in any shape !

Here is an outline for this blog post with jump links if you want to skip ahead to a section:

PIPES MAZE DEFINTION

THE 5 RULES OF MAZE DESIGN

HOW TO MAKE A PIPES MAZE

ADDITIONAL PIPE MAZE EXAMPLES

FREE PIPE MAZE SECTIONS

THE PIPE MAZE BOOK

FURTHER DESIGN READING - WEAVING MAZES

PIPE MAZE DEFINTION:

Pipes Maze - A maze where the pathways are represented by pipes. The use of pipes allow the maze to take on an extra dimension beyond the paper as the pipes can weave around one another.

THE 5 RULES OF MAZE DESIGN:

These 5 rules apply to any maze you make so we start with them !

1. Always keep an open pathway for the solution

While drawing a maze you will need to juggle multiple open pathways each of which could become the solution. One of them will become the solution. Keep track of it. This is especially important if you are designing pathways in both directions (from the start and from the goal).

2. Clearly mark the start and goal, or the objective of the maze

A maze should have a start and a goal that you can assess just by glancing at it. There are many ways to start and end a maze I review in this blog post: Options for Starting and Ending a Maze

3. Ensure the difficulty matches the intended audience

Most people want to solve a puzzle/maze that is just slightly below or slightly above their skill level. Many things help determine the difficulty of a maze. Size, number of branches, the length of dead ends, the number of choices, the complexity of the rules (if the maze has them).

4. Ensure your maze has a solution

When your maze is complete, solve it to determine the difficulty level and to ensure it is a real, solvable maze. Depending on the complexity of the maze you may want to do this right away or wait so you can properly assess the difficulty.

5. Explain anything that needs explaining

Some mazes have rules or conditions. Explain them with directions. If it isn't obvious, make it so.

HOW TO MAKE A PIPES MAZE

Before we get into the step by step process I want to note that this is one of the longer maze types to make. Even a short, easy maze takes a good amount of time to complete. It is also the maze type (along with it’s sister type the Weaving Maze) that is most likely to have design problems that are difficult to catch.

• Step 1 - Draw the Outline (optional)

Because this is a Pipes maze there is no requirement to make any outline, in fact 99% of the time there will not be an outline as the pipes naturally make a self contained border. However, to be consistent with my project I have included my standard Ohio outline for comparison which I will use to guide the shape of my pipe maze (then delete).

• Step 1.5 - Draw a Guide Grid

To help give your Pipe maze some structure add a picnic blanket grid to guide the drawing of your pipes. Add a start location on the edge of your outline with an arrow (optional) and a turning knob. This grid will guide where you can and can’t draw pipes. Do not draw any pipes in the white grid of the “picnic blanket”, while filling the colored portion (in this example pink) with piping.

• Step 2 - Start Drawing Pipes

Starting from the entrance, begin drawing pipes. As you create the pipes remember you can loop and weave the pipes around one another. As you draw if you want to loop a pipe back you will need to stop a path (it will look like a dead end) and start it again leaving a gap for the future crossing. You can see an example the initial the gap will have a pipe thru it as the pipes continue to be drawn ! Also, I color the pipes grey as I go so they look like pipes !!

IMPORTANT RULES : Never end a pipe under another pipe. Never split a pipe under another pipe. Basically, anytime a pipe goes under another pipe it must come out the other side to avoid confusion !

• Step 3 - Add Shadows to the Pipes (timing optional)

I add shadows to the end of any section of pipe that will go under another pipe in the maze. While you can do this at the end of the mazes construction also, I find it is easiest to do this as you draw the pipes (it is VERY easy to miss some!).

• Step 4 - Keep Drawing the Pipes

Weave your pipes around one another, occasionally splitting the pipe into different sections. I believe that compared to other maze constructions this is the easiest one to lose track of your open pathways during the design. You also have the challenge of filling in all the gaps you have made along the way,

• Step 5 - Finish the Pipes and add the Spigot

End the final pipe you have chosen as a solution with a spigot (with an additional arrow and water drips optional). Notice that the dead ends get capped just as a pipe would, although this maze has many loops versus dead ends ( see below for additional examples with more dead ends! )

• Step 6 - Delete Your Guides

The Final Pipe Maze !

• Step 7 - Make the Maze Solution

Highlight the correct path in the final version of the maze to create the final maze solution (shown here in red). One other thing I have noticed when creating this type of maze is that while the making of it has a lot of complexity, sometimes the solve does not. Just look at this example. It really is a bit of an easy maze, or at least a maze that if you take a wrong turn you can still solve quickly,

ADDITIONAL PIPE MAZE EXAMPLES

Below is a more typical version of a Pipes Maze, but with no outline used (notice the large gaps without the guide to help), and a start and goal that are befitting of a pipe maze ! Also, there are lots of dead ends in this version vs loops.

I made a second Ohio Pipes maze below. Without context you might not know it is Ohio, but you could easily add a title or similar to convey that. Anyway, instead of an outline I used dead end pipes to make a kind of outline of Ohio, just to see how it would turn out.

My fourth example is a large size poster version of a Pipes Maze. I did not use any shadows so this looks a bit more bland than the other examples. IMO this also makes it more difficult to solve, but not necessarily in a good way, only because it is more difficult to see the crossings.. This also features more false pathways and crossing pipes. I think this is a fun maze to solve. Try it !

FREE PIPE MAZE SECTIONS

I start with a link to the largest pipe maze in the world (probably) if you want to challenge yourself. It has no dead ends (pipe caps) and uses loops throughout for the wrong pathways. Definitely a challenge.

I spent some time to make multiple pipe maze sections on the website. The beginner section, Kids Pipe Mazes features 10 mazes on screen and a free book to download of 40 different pipe mazes !

THE PIPE MAZE BOOK

And if you really like this type of maze and want more of a challenge, I made a book of 100 Pipe Mazes that I sell on Amazon. Clicking on the cover will take you to my Amazon author page.

FURTHER DESIGN READING - WEAVING MAZES

To go deeper on this subject I suggest the following. Explore the 10 different types of weaving maze styes, including pipes mazes and see which you prefer:

What is Your Preferred Weaving Maze Style ?

I also created a method to help create a complicated weaving maze that I found very helpful when making this maze type for adults. It applies for Pipe Mazes.

Creating a complicated Weaving Maze - an updated method