Games that include a maze you would describe as 'hey, actually fun' - an IFDB Poll
by Jeremy Freese
RSS FeedEverybody always dissing mazes in IF. What are the games that prove them wrong?
| Photopia, by Adam Cadre 11 votes "Short, sweet, sad and very clever" [+]"Short, sweet, sad and very clever: The mazes in the game serve less to obstruct the player and more to further the story. There's a sequence on Mars where the path you take will always lead you to your destination; this sounds easy enough on paper, but the environment is actually built around the player's movements. The second "maze", and by far the more famous one, has a wonderfully nonstandard (and thoroughly fantastical) solution; to say more would be to spoil it." --Ryusui... "A-mazing" [+]"A-mazing: Not any traditional maze in any sense, but so well done" ( - Full review) --Aintelligence... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Juhana... (No comment) [+](No comment) --maxporter... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Dominic Delabruere... (No comment) [+](No comment) --SP... "The maze puzzle..." [+]"The maze puzzle in Photopia is special. Not what it seems, and unlike any other I've met. I can only describe it as beautiful." () --Felix Pleșoianu... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Edward Lacey... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Karl Ove Hufthammer... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Reeah...  Vote for this game | |
| Byzantine Perspective, by Lea Albaugh 7 votes "A novel take on mazes." [+]"A novel take on mazes." ( - Full review) --Felix Larsson... "That *click*-moment." [+]"That *click*-moment." --Rovarsson... "A single-gimmick..." [+]"A single-gimmick maze, occupying the sweet spot between frustration and triviality." --Sam Kabo Ashwell... "Despite being all..." [+]"Despite being all about a maze, the entire genius of Byzantine has nothing to do with mazes at all." --Softbagel... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Ray Leandro... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Max Fog... Vote for this game | |
| Hunter, in Darkness, by Andrew Plotkin 5 votes "Putting the "cave" in "cave-crawl."" [+]"Putting the "cave" in "cave-crawl.": Much of the game is, functionally, a maze - and a very evocative one." ( ) --Ghalev... "You are in a maze, ok. But you can feel the creepy wet air of it, ok?" [+]"You are in a maze, ok. But you can feel the creepy wet air of it, ok?: You are in a maze. In some parts you can't even choose where to go, except by going further. You get lost. Ok. But you actually can feel on your chin the wet air of the cave, and the creepy sound of the bats around you. This game gives you the chill." ( ) --Fra Enrico... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Dave Chapeskie... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... "A maze where you..." [+]"A maze where you need to find something that will guide you." --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| Leather Goddesses of Phobos, by Steve Meretzky 3 votes "No trouble, plus kweepa." [+]"No trouble, plus kweepa.: The maze's solution (including the odd behavior necessary) is included in the documentation, making the maze copy-protection rather than puzzle. As a payoff for the player, the process of breezing through it is rewarded with some amusing and atmospheric writing that furthers the sense of space-pulp adventure, which is a fair bargain if I've ever seen one." ( ) --Ghalev... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Fredrik... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Max Fog... Vote for this game | |
| Blue Lacuna, by Aaron A. Reed 3 votes "It isn't really a maze, but Aaron Reed commented that the Rainforest rooms are "more or less a maze homage"." [+]"It isn't really a maze, but Aaron Reed commented that the Rainforest rooms are "more or less a maze homage"." --J'onn Roger... "Involving bees" [+]"Involving bees" ( ) --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Divide... Vote for this game | |
| Zork I, by Marc Blank and Dave Lebling 1 vote "The thief adds an extra challenge" [+]"The thief adds an extra challenge" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| The New Castle, by Dan Gahlinger 1 vote "A massive maze where each room has a pithy quotation to amuse and enlighten you." [+]"A massive maze where each room has a pithy quotation to amuse and enlighten you.: Many wise and downright hilarious sayings lie in wait for you as you thrash around in the game's maze." ( - Full review) --Canalboy... Vote for this game | |
| Mortlake Manor, by Ben Chenoweth 1 vote "Not one but two mazes appropriate to the context" [+]"Not one but two mazes appropriate to the context: There are two mazes in this game: an attic with boxes blocking your path (and movement is 'linear') and a hedgemaze (and movement is 'non-linear'). But there are two clues for the hedgemaze hidden elsewhere, and if you find something suitable you can scratch messages on the ground which makes solving the mazes quite easy." --Ben Chenoweth... Vote for this game | |
| Castle of Riddles, by Peter D. Killworth 1 vote "Both mazes allow you to keep your inventory firmly in your grasp" [+]"Both mazes allow you to keep your inventory firmly in your grasp: Two out of left field mazes by a company that usually bucked convention. No need to drop items to map them - the solutions are far more innovative than that." ( - Full review) --Canalboy... Vote for this game | |
| Augmented Fourth, by Brian Uri! 1 vote "The way you..." [+]"The way you escape from the one-way maze is really quite funny." ( ) --Edward Lacey... Vote for this game | |
| Ekphrasis, by FibreTigre 1 vote "I actually liked..." [+]"I actually liked the maze-like garden towards the end, it's not unfair and makes perfect sense in context. Also contributes beautifully to the mood of the game." ( ) --Felix Pleșoianu... Vote for this game | |
| Adventure, by William Crowther and Donald Woods 1 vote "The Fog Maze in..." [+]"The Fog Maze in later versions is a genuinely clever puzzle." --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| A Flustered Duck, by Jim Aikin 1 vote "The Maze of Crystal." [+]"The Maze of Crystal.: Much like most of the IF community, I don't like mazes. I do, however, have great respect for mazes that are original and well-designed, and this is a really good design. Difficult but logical. A clever reimagining of the classic, "confusing exits" maze problem." --Lance Campbell... Vote for this game | |
| The Jewel of Knowledge, by Francesco Bova 1 vote "The Gypsum Flower Gardens maze" [+]"The Gypsum Flower Gardens maze: It is rare that I enjoy a Maze Puzzle, but Gypsum Flower Gardens maze is my favorite puzzle in this game. Also, one of the best Maze Puzzle ideas I have ever seen." --Lance Campbell... Vote for this game | |
| Fyleet, by Jonathan Partington 1 vote "This has a novel rotating maze where you can pre-empt compass directions." [+]"This has a novel rotating maze where you can pre-empt compass directions.: A completely unique why of mapping this maze. Think 90 degrees clockwise each movement." ( - Full review) --Canalboy... Vote for this game | |
| A Fable, by Stan Heller 1 vote "The room descriptions mask the fact it's all just a maze" [+]"The room descriptions mask the fact it's all just a maze: Most of the rooms depict scenes from a man's life as you wander through a stream of consciousness." --mjhayes... Vote for this game | |
| vale of singing metals, by foresthexes 1 vote "The entire game..." [+]"The entire game is essentially a bite-sized maze, navigated with the help of dream-logic hints." ( - Full review) --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| Sorcerer, by Steve Meretzky 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Drew Cook... Vote for this game | |
| The Tiny House, by Dan Doyle III 1 vote "There is a..." [+]"There is a randomized maze, but a way to "cheat" to skip it. " ( - Full review) --tggdan3... Vote for this game | |
| Anchorhead, by Michael Gentry 1 vote "A simply outstanding game." [+]"A simply outstanding game.: The mazes are rather tiny and sometimes avoidable, but what makes them stand out is how they're described. The maze sections of the Verlac Estate are portrayed as conforming to a non-Euclidean, Lovecraftian geometry, which makes them at least more fun to navigate than your bog-standard maze of twisty little passages." ( - Full review) --Jim Kaplan... Vote for this game | |
| Savoir-Faire, by Emily Short 1 vote "A technically fascinating twist on old-school IF." [+]"A technically fascinating twist on old-school IF.: I think the wine cellars in the mansion would qualify as a maze, requiring a decent memory or some detailed maps to properly navigate. The good side is that there is a non-random and non-arbitrary logical method underlying your navigation related to the Lavori d'Aracne." ( - Full review) --Jim Kaplan... Vote for this game | |
| Curses, by Graham Nelson 1 vote "There's a hedge..." [+]"There's a hedge maze, which can be a little cumbersome to work with, but the solution to getting to its central area is clever and satisfying." ( ) --Emily Short... Vote for this game | |
| T-Zero, by Dennis Cunningham 1 vote "A maze with a twist" [+]"A maze with a twist: The topiary maze featured in T-Zero quite a brain-twister by the 'traffic rules' as well as including a cunningly hidden key. It also fits seamlessly with the wordplay/literary themes of the overall game, which is just plain fun for a bookworm like myself." ( - Full review) --Dark-Star... Vote for this game | |
| Zork III, by Dave Lebling, Marc Blank 1 vote "the royal puzzle" [+]"the royal puzzle" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Hoist Sail for the Heliopause and Home, by Andrew Plotkin 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Ghalev... Vote for this game | |