Theseus and the Minotaur has recently (December, 2007) been published in a new version. It is a download that has 87 levels, most of which have never before been seen. Here is what level 55 looks like at its start:

The Theseus download is published by Kristanix Games (I had previously recommended their game Zamby in my Links section). Here is their page about Theseus. The price for the download is US $14.95, but you can download the entire game for free, then play it for a while before you decide whether to buy it.

Other features of the game are an unlimited undo facility, solutions for the levels, and the ability to create your own layouts. I’m having a lot of fun with that last feature. I’ve already created two more layouts, which were made a part of the latest release of the game. By the way, when you buy the game you are entitled to all further releases for free.

Here is what the Theseus program used to look like on this page:

Keys:

Cursor keys = Move Theseus
D = Delay (choose not to move)
R = Restart maze
N = Next maze
P = Previous maze

If you haven’t played this game yet, you can give it a try here. First, double-click on the diagram to get the program started. Then, use the arrow keys to move Theseus (the red circle). The idea is to get Theseus to the exit without him being eaten by the Minotaur (the black circle). For each move that Theseus makes, the Minotaur makes two moves. He always tries to get closer to Theseus. It he can move one square horizontally and get closer, he will do that. If he can’t move horizontally, then he will try to move vertically.

The fact that the Minotaur chooses a horizontal before a vertical move is his weakness, and you can exploit that weakness as you move through the maze.

The first three mazes are just training mazes, then 4 through 10 get to be interesting.

Big hint for maze 1: move left, then move right.

Hint for maze 2: go right 4, up 1, down 3, left 1.

Hint for maze 3: at one point Theseus must delay. To do this, type D.

I wanted to present a history of this maze, which is now almost twenty years old. However, before I started writing the history, I discovered (while idly Googling on “Theseus and the Minotaur”) that there is a column by Tony Delgado which already gives the complete history. Not only that, but he has insights I don’t have, since he knows more about puzzles on the Internet. And finally, his writing is better than mine (I hate to admit that).

So, instead of me writing the history, I thought I would send you to Delgado’s column. It was posted back in February of 2007, so when you return here, you can read the later updates on the maze.

Here, then, is Tony Delgado’s column on the Theseus maze.

Delgado wrote about mazes 14 and 15 in Toby Nelson’s applet. These are no longer in the applet. Maze 14 is my original maze, which first appeared in my book Mad Mazes. A print version is here and it is the second-to-last maze in the Kristanix download. Maze 15, the dread maze 15, is Toby’s most complex maze. A print version is here and it is the last maze in the Kristanix download.

Currently, the Kristanix program has 87 layouts. Of these, 61 were created by Toby Nelson’s program, 13 were created by a program written by Claude-Guy Quimper, and 13 were created by me, the only human creating layouts.

There is one minor point about Toby’s applet that I didn’t mention above. When you solve one of the mazes, the program outputs a code that looks something like: Code=GKLX. The code means nothing to the program, but it was used in contests. Those who solved a particular maze could e-mail the letters that followed Code=.

This site has two other sections about the Theseus mazes. The first is further notes, which was posted in 2000. It has the early history of the mazes, and it has a discussion with Toby Nelson about the workings of his program that generated his layouts.

The other section gives a long mythology that explains how Theseus got into a maze with a mechanical Minotaur. The publisher of Mad Mazes thought it was too long and boring, so he didn’t include it in the book. Most people agreed with that assessment, but some thought it was great, so I was able to get the mythology published in a British magazine. I also included it here.

Note, March 14, 2008:  The latest release (1.03) of the Kristinix program has just appeared. (If you bought an earlier release and want the new one, click here to start the download. The program will know that you’re entitled to free updates.)

I created two new layouts that appeared in this release. They are layouts 20 and 85. I am very proud of layout 85. It is different in various ways from the other Theseus layouts. Unfortunately, layout 85 is extremely difficult, and no one may be able to solve it. Another problem is that it takes about a minute for the layout to load. That is because of a quirk in the Kristinix program, which solves a layout before it loads it. Layout 85 really confounds the solving program. We will probably do things differently in the future to get rid of that delay.

If you enjoy solving the Theseus mazes, would you like to create a layout yourself? If so, go to the Editor section to put it together. If it works well, you might send me a screen shot of it. My e-mail is

If I like your maze, I’ll probably be able to have it included in a future release of the Kristinix program. This will bring you fame (but no fortune). The Kristinix program now gives the name of the designer of each level (you see the name in the lower-right corner of the Select Level screen when you click on a level). I don’t know if anyone will actually send me their maze, but if enough do, then Kristinix will add a function to their program that will allow others to submit levels (and it will be more convenient than sending a screen shot).

Note, August 12, 2008:  Theseus and the Minotaur now have their own entry on Wikipedia. Pretty neat! I have no idea who wrote this.

The Theseus and the Minotaur game system is copyright © 2000 by Toby Nelson and Robert Abbott. If you are interested in programming this game for a different device (PDA, cell phone, video game controller), please see my terms of use.

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