Theseus and the Minotaur

Overview

Theseus and the Minotaur is a type of logic maze designed by Robert Abbott. In this maze, the player acts as Theseus, the king of Athens who is attempting to escape the Labyrinth. The main difference between this and the standard type of labyrinth, beyond the fact that it is set on a grid, is the fact that the maze is not empty, but also contains a Minotaur who hunts the player down, taking two steps for every one the player takes.

This type of maze was first published in 1990 in Robert Abbott's book Mad Mazes. The idea was later published in the British magazine Games & Puzzles.

Theseus

Minotaur

Exit

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Javascript version by L.F.Estivalet - October 2020

Theseus and the Minotaur

Instructions

First, 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 key to solving these mazes is to realize that the Minotaur follows a rigid program. He doesn’t do what you would do if you were a Minotaur. He doesn’t look ahead more than one turn. And, most importantly, he will choose a horizontal move before a vertical move.

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 wait. To do this, type W.

UP ARROW - Move Theseus up

DOWN ARROW - Move Theseus down

RIGHT ARROW - Move Theseus right

LEFT ARROW - Move Theseus left

W - Make Theseus wait and lose the round

N - Next level

P - Previous level

R - Restart current level