First, let's look closer at maze. Wikipedia's definition for maze is:
"A maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route."
(To clear the confusion with labyrinth, labyrinth has only a single route with more twists and turns without branches.)
There is a long history about maze. The oldest known maze is the Cretan labyrinth in Knossos. In ancient China, maze was used in military and fishing. There is even a small town named Mihunzhen (Chinese: 迷魂阵, means maze) in Shandong because it was the ancient battlefield for the famous fight when Sun Bin defeated Pang Juan in 342 B.C.. The street of the town was built with specific angles in order to make people inside confused both about space and time. The town was built according to the Eight-Diagram tactics.
 |
| Eight Diagram Tactics |
To make an iOS maze game, the first thing came to me is to search for available maze game in iTunes.
 |
| Maze games in iTunes |
According to the different features of these games, there are several categories as following:
1. Action:
- Tilt
Example: Labyrinth
It is a vivid simulation of a real labyrinth with a marble steel ball and wood board. The players tilt the device to move the steel ball and avoid falling in to the wholes.
 |
| Labyrinth in iTunes |
- Race of time
Example: Super Maze 3D Race
A game in 3D. More graphically attractive. It could also be categorized as racing game.
 |
| 3D Maze Race |
- Accurate Move
Example: Scary Maze Game
http://themazegame.org/
It is a flash game. The map is easy at the first sight, but to get through it is very hard. Players control the avatar by moving the mouse inside the maze. If the avatar touch the wall, the players will lose. And a scary lose scene with a ghost face and loud sound would pop out, as a punishment of losing.
 |
| Don't touch the wall... |
2. Logic Puzzle:
Another kind of maze game is a tease for players' logical thinking. The player is informed of the goal and current state of the game, he/she needs to make a series choices to reach the goal state of the game, that is, the winning conditions, although different in each game, all reachable by correct combinations of decisions in common.
Example: Rail Maze
In this game, the player control the directions of trails to make the train reach the destination. This one could also be categorized as puzzle game.
 |
| Rail Maze in iTunes |
In this game, players have to tilt to send all three balls to the destination.
 |
| Cycle Maze in iTunes |
3. Adventure
Unlike the games that require players to use logical thinking to solve, adventure maze games have more randomness. Players have to explore the maze by luck, and the result of each decision is unknown.
Examples: Minotaur
http://www.freeonlinepcgames.net/play/minotaur-explore-the-minotaur-s-dungeon-mazes-f/flash-game/
It is a flash game online. Players explore the maze with many possibilities, such as encountering enemies, collecting weapons, losing a life...
 |
| Minotaur --- a flash game |
Another kind of maze game may not look like a maze from the first sight. It could be some implicit elements of the game that ask the players to find the way out.
Example: Façade
In the AD372 class on 18th, Mar, we played the game Façade. It could be a derivative maze game in that players explore the plot branches by typing sentences to communicate with the NPCs.
http://www.interactivestory.net/#facade
 |
| Façade |
