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Mazes, pt. 1

If you’ve followed me for any length of time (especially on Twitter) then you probably know that I really enjoy making mazes. While this is a true statement, it doesn’t quite capture the whole scope. After all, I’ve been doing this for over a decade now.

I do not claim to be a photographer.

The story starts with my father, who one day made for me a little 9×9 maze. As he drew it, he explained in detail about the different paths; one that’s a short little diversion and ends quickly, one that goes almost all the way but doesn’t quite make it, and of course the real solution that leads to the end. For some reason this completely fascinated my nine-year-old mind, so my parents got me some graph paper, and I hit the ground running.

Being an avid gamer, I infused many of my mazes with elements from my favorite video games. Hidden gems from Rayman 3. Collectable items a la Chip’s Challenge. “Mazes” that played out more like Sonic the Hedgehog levels. Of course, few of these were actually mazes in the traditional sense - which, while not necessarily a bad thing, is a point we’ll be coming back to a bit later.

Fast-forward a few months to a clearance sale at a local book store. Here, my mom found a couple of Calvin and Hobbes compilations that would become a staple of my childhood. But more importantly, I found a book simply titled The Big Big Book of Mazes.

This book was not your ordinary kids’ activity book. You know those little 24×32 mazes (if you’re lucky) in those coloring books sometimes, and maybe that one “inside out” maze that was in like every activity book ever? Throw all that out the window. These mazes were the hardcore kind - expansive, tricky, and nearly works of art by themselves. There were 100 mazes total across 12 different themed sections ranging from patterned grids to distortions, freehand drawings to optical illusions. The best part was that each section had an introduction with tips on how to make similar mazes.

Newly inspired at having solved each and every maze, I went back to making my own. In fact, I spent all of my free time for many years just making mazes like a madman. I consumed graph paper like it was food - literally a dozen books of graph paper in five years. 

Normally I’d be sprinkling pictures of these old mazes in, but sadly, very few of them are actually worth the paper they’re on. Not all of what I was making was just mazes, however - I was also making the Sonic-style levels, as well as some drawings and pixel art. It was all hit-or-miss in terms of quality, but I wouldn’t say any of that time was wasted (everyone starts somewhere!).

The other issue was of completion. Many of the things I was trying to make were simply too large in scope. I would often get bored from lack and progress and turn the page to start something new. So when I actually finished something, it was either rushed (and always bad), or it was a passion project (many of which are still good).

It wasn’t until I got a little black graph paper journal that things really started picking up.

(continued in pt. 2)

Mazes, pt. 2

(continued from pt. 1)

In 2008-ish I found a pocket-sized graph paper journal. As an avid filler of pockets, I decided that I must have it.

Poor thing has been used so much that its cord is broken.

My other graph paper notebooks were too clunky to carry around on a regular basis (though I certainly tried), so having this one literally on my person allowed me to make mazes whenever I wanted. Car rides, waiting in line at the store, during my father’s sermons... no matter where I was, when inspiration struck, I always had a way to jot it down.

It was also around this time that I got a Nintendo Wii and DSi, easily my two most-used systems growing up. Thus, video game references were quite numerous. I copied down my many Mario Kart DS avatars so I could switch between them at will, and even wrote a list of Super Paper Mario recipes that spanned multiple pages!

All in all, this notebook was my sketchbook, my journal, and my portfolio. I have no idea how many dozens of people I’ve shown it to.

The maze on the top has been digitized already, but perhaps I need to do the second one as well.

The mazes in this notebook simply blow the older ones out of the water. Not only was I able to actually finish more of them (because they were smaller), I was also coming up with more original ideas. I drew one of my first 3D mazes in this time, but as the pages were too small, I couldn’t flesh it out as well as I’d hoped.

By this point, I knew I wanted to be a game designer, but I had little access to tools made for that purpose. I had no computer and no reliable internet access, after all! There were a couple of games with level editors (like Mario vs. Donkey Kong), and while I used them to death, they never really scratched that itch. So I continued making those Sonic-like level things - and the ones in this book are probably the best ones I have.

Mad props if you can actually understand these.

There was just one issue, albeit a major one - I could make as many as I wanted, sure, but it’s not like anyone else can read them. All these animations and gimmicks and ideas are still stuck in my head, because without interactivity, it’s just a bunch of hieroglyphs on a page. No one would know that in the second picture (for example) hitting the volume switches changes how some of the level elements work. Heck, can anyone even point out which ones are the volume switches?

This was my best way of making a game, however, until I went to gifted school, where I learned about Mari0 and my life changed for the better. Now, graph paper is purely about mazes; I haven’t touched these levels since.

Of course, my story doesn’t end there. I have one more notebook to cover before reaching the present.

(concluded in pt. 3)

Mazes, pt. 3

(continued from pt. 2)

Sometime in late 2010/early 2011, just before I went to gifted school, I found a larger graph paper journal similar to the one I just covered. However, this one had a number of advantages:

While I could no longer carry it in my pocket, it’s still fairly compact and suited for travel in a backpack or satchel.

The grid is quite small, allowing for larger mazes. Even my large notebooks at 5 squares per inch aren’t this spacious.

It’s really thick. Like, college textbook thick. I’ve had it for five years and filled half of it.

Luckily, by this time I had already filled the other notebook cover-to-cover and needed a new one, so I convinced my mother to get it for me.

Thick like a one-pound burger. The used half is kind of visible.

Suddenly I found myself somewhere at the intersection of larger mazes, more patience, and actual technical skill. As a result, this book (especially the second half) has what I easily consider my finest works.

Some of the more technical designs. If they look a little strange, it’s because the full grid isn’t entirely erased.

And then... I just stopped. One day I realized I hadn’t touched it in months.

I guess I just took a hiatus. Mari0 was scratching my design itch, and that was taking up what little free time I had in between bucketloads of schoolwork. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; I probably needed the break anyway. Besides, during this time, I was learning about image and vector editors. This means that while I only produced one maze in my second year of gifted school, I was also able to digitize it immediately.

I’ve been told this one hurts people’s eyes.

It’s important that I stop here and take a moment to go back in time again, back to The Big Big Book of Mazes. All of those design elements that I learned from that book so long ago are still at play here - the only thing that was really different was the fact that mine were all still hand-drawn (and maybe smaller). Now that I can make them on a computer, I have finished my ascension. I’ve reached their level, the level of the masters.

Their website, megamazes.com, is still up at the time of this writing. While you need an account to view most of the mazes available there, four mazes are available for all to view, and those four still give a very good glimpse at what my inspirations have been all this time.

———

Lately I’ve found myself interested in mazes once again, but for a slightly different reason: all of my old notebooks are falling apart. Luckily, I know how to give them the vector treatment very quickly now, and I’ve been spamming Twitter with the results.

Looks a lot better now, doesn’t it?

I’m really happy with all the positive buzz I’ve gotten from this! At least one person has been solving each one as they come (you know who you are), and a bunch more have been liking/faving/retweeting them. Thank you all so much! I’m still putting them up on Twitter and may occasionally post several at once here. I also update this Imgur album with each new maze. Y’know, just in case you want to follow my progress.

And since you’ve made it all the way through, thanks for reading. Without you, I wouldn’t be writing all this.

Arven from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (that I almost called Pokemon SVU today)