Mazes and Labyrinths

EluZions.com Puzzles Mazes : About, Applet, Gen, Java3d • Books, Games

Aerial of Corn maze in Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, U.S.A. Buy this Print at AllPosters.com

Mazes are a simple kind of puzzle, where the goal is to find a path from a starting point to a finishing point, through a series of 'walls', usually drawn or printed on paper. They entertain young and old alike. Mazes for young children usually ask them to guide some character through the maze to some relevant reward - e.g. "Can you help Bunny the Rabbit get to the Juicy Carrot?". Mazes for older people are more complex, sometimes covering several pages. Labyrinths are unicursal. They have one well-defined path that leads into the center. There are no tricks to it, no dead ends or cul-de-sacs, no intersecting paths. Mazes, on the other hand, are multicursal. They offer a choice of paths, some with many entrances and exits.

Learn about the history of mazes and labyrinths - and what's the difference between them, and how to solve them. Links to further resources. Continued.

3d Java Maze

This Java applet presents a 3d walk-through maze with 10 skill levels. Navigate with the arrow keys. You may need to click in the applet first.

Directions for Maze

The object of the game is to move from the entrance to the exit. The exit is located on the outer edge of the maze, as far from the entrance as possible.

MazeWork's MazeGen

See a Java applet create and solve mazes! The program generates mazes using three standard algorithms: Depth-first search, Prim's algorithm, and Kruskal's algorithm.

Eric Harshbarger's Maze Applet

This applet randomly constructs a 'perfect' maze, where 'perfect' means that not only is the maze solvable, and well-connected such that any point within it is reachable from any other point, the maze also contains no loops. In other words, the solvable path between any to points is unique. The user begins at the start (S) position, and should use the Arrow Keys to navigate through the maze (note that before the Arrow Keys will work, you must mouse-click in the applet once). The HOME key positions your dot back at the 'S'; the END key positions the dot at the finish (F) point (but does not show the solving path).