Maze mechanics

See also: Level Design, Architecture

"And wow, I should say, I do hate mazes right. It was the one rule that I was trying to get across in the first game when we were working with the level artists was don't make mazes, because they just confuse people and people get lost and frustrated." - Toby Gard, Tomb Raider: Anniversary Designers' Commentary

STANDARD MAZE DESIGN:
 * If I know roughly which direction I'm headed, it's possible to orient the turns in a maze around that focus.
 * One of the first things to figure out is whether the game uniformly treats Manhattan distance as the "speedrun" path and hides secrets in convoluted paths - such a practice is common
 * A way "forward" that seems to spiral out is enticing and indicates progress; a way "to the side" that spirals out balloons the player's internal map and suggests (though doesn't necessitate) backtracking
 * I try to clear out the "section" I'm in before moving to the next one


 * When given a choice between the closest route to the exit (Manhattan distance) and a more convoluted path, the more convoluted path is the way forward (ONE LEVEL OF DECONSTRUCTION/CHALLENGE)
 * If a maze has loops; I personally would do the left-hand trick and try to mentally catalogue each loop as I encounter it - if the loop has branching paths that dead end, this process can simply be repeated by nesting loops
 * the only significant factors here are the number of branching paths, and that the hubs that connect these paths appear distinct (either aesthetically or spatially)
 * Trémaux's algorithm, essentially, but with mental chalk
 * However, if a maze has loops that intersect with one another, relying on relative orientation won't suffice - I would need to build a mental (or even physical) map of the entire maze

The grammar of visual language, "Pragnanz": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology#Pr%C3%A4gnanz

Pledge algorithm: works for trying to escape a maze, but not for finding something inside it

"The labyrinth, like a mandala, is based on ‘organic sacred geometry’ that departs from the principle ‘the shortest distance between two points is a straight line’, recognising the acceleration found in curvature of vortices."

Early History

 * Mouse in the Maze (1959) - https://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com/tag/mouse-in-a-maze/
 * Maze War (1973)
 * Gotcha (1973)
 * The Amazing Maze Game (1976)
 * Maze Game (1978)
 * Space Chaser (1979)
 * Head On (1979)
 * Heiyankyo Alien (1979)
 * Berzerk (1980)
 * Pac-Man (1980, Atari)
 * Pacman Ghost AI
 * Ms Pac-Man (1982)
 * Differences Between Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man
 * The Making of Ms Pac-Man
 * Pac 'n Pal (1983)
 * Pac-Mania (1987)
 * Ms. Pac Man: Maze Madness (2000)
 * Pac Man: Adventures in Time (2000)
 * Pac Man Battle Royale (2011)
 * Pac-Man 256 (2015)
 * Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 (2016)
 * Wizard of Wor (1980)
 * Bomberman (1983)
 * Devil World (1984)
 * Labyrinth (1984)
 * MIDI Maze (1987)
 * Raimais (1988) - http://gaming.moe/?p=1794


 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokoban
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocks%27n%27Diamonds
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_(video_game)
 * Snake (Nokia)
 * Tron Light Cycles
 * Mu-cade
 * http://slither.io/
 * https://www.pippinbarr.com/games/artgame/ArtGame.html
 * Snake Pass
 * Snakeybus
 * https:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frogger / https:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossy_Road
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clu_Clu_Land
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qix (also Disco No. 1 & Quantum) / https:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_Eyes
 * Blockade/Quoridor (Board Games)
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromouse

unsorted

 * T-maze and Y-Maze
 * Fractal maze
 * Infinite empty space outside the border of the maze
 * Unreachable areas


 * Passages/corridors
 * Corners
 * Dead-ends
 * Crossroads
 * Cul-de-sac checkpoints/rest areas
 * Islands
 * Loops
 * Spirals
 * Overpasses/underpasses
 * Transparent walls/windows
 * Low/high walls
 * Shortcuts/hidden passages
 * Elitism (how much ground do you have to cover to solve the maze?)
 * Unicursal labyrinth comprised of multiple circuits


 * One-way doors????
 * 4-D Backtracking????
 * Marathon: 5-D Space
 * Lunatic Fringe (Duke Nukem 3D)
 * http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/simple/index.htm#spiral
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Fontana_(engineer)
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiyang_Lou
 * http://www.geomancy.org/index.php/mag-e-zine/mag-e-zine-1997/no-6-summer-solstice/dowsing-labyrinths

--


 * creepy hidden locations like the Ratman Dens from Portal


 * “Look at you, hacker: a pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors."