Mazes

The Labyrinth is one of the most ancient and widespread games that combine elements of a task for logic, spatial orientation and luck. Since ancient times, people have pursued completely different goals by creating labyrinths. It could be both entertainment and punishment, in some cases labyrinths were used as simulators.

History of the game

The first labyrinths appeared in ancient times. So, for example, information about the appearance of the first system of passages, resembling a labyrinth in structure, dates back to 2300 BC. We are talking about the famous Egyptian labyrinth (located near Lake Karun in the vicinity of Cairo), whose area was about 70 thousand square meters. This system included at least one and a half thousand rooms, some of which were located above the ground, and some went underground - these were, in fact, tombs. The color of the ancient Egyptian labyrinth was added by the fact that its rooms were immersed in darkness, and the doors in them, when opened, made eerie frightening sounds. It is noteworthy that this labyrinth was intended for sacrifice to the god Sebek (the god of water and the flood of the Nile), who in Egyptian mythology was represented in the form of a crocodile.

Another famous labyrinth from history is Knossos. It was here, on the island of Crete, according to ancient Greek mythology, that the terrible Minotaur, the legendary monster with the head of a bull, lived. According to legend, young boys and girls were sacrificed to the Minotaur. The first person who managed to overcome the labyrinth of the Minotaur was Theseus, to whom his beloved Ariadne gave a ball of thread. The thread was supposed to help Theseus get back - it was from there that the expression "Ariadne's thread" came from, meaning the ability to find a way out of a difficult, confusing situation.

Some researchers claim that there are labyrinths even on Mars. Indeed, in some images from space stations, elements of the terrain are visible, reminiscent of a labyrinth in their configuration.

Modern labyrinths have lost the spirituality that they were endowed with in the distant past, and have turned into an ordinary, beloved game.

The maze was resurrected as a video game in 1982. The platform for the game was the Atari 2600, a popular American console in those years. The developers of the new game, Entombed, were Paul Allen Newell and Duncan Muirhead.

At present, various interpretations of the maze game can be found on a huge number of platforms and operating systems, whether it is an OS for computers, smartphones or tablets. Popular characters of films, cartoons, games act as heroes of games, and unfamiliar characters are also encountered.

The tasks of labyrinths are always the same: find the way to the exit, get to an important item, or save another character by showing him the way to the exit.

Interesting facts

The Longleat Hedge Maze is the longest maze in the world. He is in Britain. About 16 thousand yew trees were planted to create it. The corridors of the labyrinth stretch for a distance of at least three kilometers.
The labyrinth that occupies the largest area (4 hectares) is the French Reignac-sur-Indre Maze.
There is a belief that children under seven years of age and old people who are seventy or more years old should not enter the labyrinth - it is believed that the process of passing the labyrinth takes their souls.
In ancient Rome, the labyrinth was used as a punishment for delinquent youths, who were left there overnight. After passing the ordeal, the boy received forgiveness. Otherwise, the young man could be torn apart by wild animals, of which there were many in these labyrinths.
About 30 labyrinths were discovered on the Solovetsky Islands (White Sea, Russia). There are also more than a thousand burial mounds, as well as unusual stone patterns. The territory on which these structures are located belongs to the category of the most mysterious places on our planet, and all because animals avoid it, and the plants and trees planted there die.
In China, there is a belief that evil spirits can only move upright. It turns out that evil forces will not be able to enter a house with a broken corridor in the form of a labyrinth.
According to the popular version of scientists, one of the pyramids of Egypt hides a labyrinth left to mankind as a legacy from representatives of ancient civilizations. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is a kind of energy portal that can move people through time.

Despite the fact that people have lost interest in many games that were popular among our ancestors, the classic maze model remains an excellent basis for creating many modern games.

The labyrinth of our time is undergoing significant changes. What remains unchanged is the attachment of players of different generations to this simple, but incredibly useful game for brain training.

For a long time, the passage of the labyrinth was considered one of the most difficult tasks, for which logic alone was not enough to solve. No one denies that there is always an element of luck in finding a way out - choosing the right direction in certain areas often decides the outcome of the event.

Still, relying entirely on luck when trying to get out of the maze is not rational. The young men and women who found their death from the mythical labyrinth of the Minotaur would confirm this theory.

Such speculation has led people to develop special rules and methods that allow you to pass the maze with a guaranteed good result.

Methods of passing the maze

The passage of the maze is, in fact, a task, and in order to solve it, a person must find a way out of the intricate corridors. To solve a problem of any nature, certain methods are used. Our task is no exception, it is also solved using proven methods, and the most effective of them: the “one hand” rule and the Luc-Tremaux algorithm.

One hand rule

This method has proven to be highly effective when passing labyrinths in which all the walls are connected to each other, and there are no intersections and loops. Keep in mind that the "one hand" method will not work where the beginning and end of the path are in the central part of the maze.

Let's describe the algorithm that must be followed if you decide to follow the maze using the "one hand" method:

When entering the labyrinth, touch with your hand (right or left, depending on the direction of movement you have chosen) one of its walls.
Keep moving while keeping your hand in contact with the wall.
Move in this way until you exit the maze.

It is very important to remember that the rule will not work if you touched the wall not at the very beginning of the path, but in the process of moving. Here you run the risk of running into a free-standing wall, thus falling into an endless trap - you will wander in a vicious circle around the same wall. In this case, you will need to somehow mark the starting point so that when you return to it, you can switch to another wall near which you have not yet moved.

Luc-Tremaux algorithm

There is an algorithm for passing labyrinths, which we can call universal. The thing is that, unlike the “one-handed” method, it is suitable for passing labyrinths of any complexity. A detailed description of such an algorithm was given in his book by French mathematician Francois Edouard Anatole Luca. The book is called Recreations matematiques, and its first edition was published in 1882.

In his writings, Edouard Lucas relied on the research of another mathematician, compatriot Charles Piero Tremaux. As a result, the method of passing the maze, which embodied the works of two French mathematicians, went down in history under the name of the Lucas-Tremaux algorithm.

The sequence of actions of the person who got into the labyrinth in accordance with the Lucas-Tremo algorithm is as follows:

When entering a labyrinth, mark its starting point, for example, draw a cross.
Follow in a random direction until you reach an intersection or dead end.
In the case of an intersection, it is necessary to mark the beginning of the path in the selected direction with the same cross, and move on. If you find yourself at this intersection again, the cross will show you in which direction you have already moved, and this did not bring results. Accordingly, you continue to move in another direction, not marked with a cross.
In the case of a dead end, you return, and put a second cross at the beginning of the path - this means that you went through this path twice. Then move in the other direction.
Gradual movement along the corridors of the labyrinth with strict observance of the above rules is guaranteed to lead you to the exit from it.

The Luc-Tremaux algorithm has one drawback - it will definitely get you out of the maze, but your path will not necessarily be the easiest and shortest. This moment will depend solely on your luck.

Of course, the above methods of passing are not always applicable to modern labyrinths made in the format of video games. So, for example, putting marks on which the Lucas-Tremo algorithm is based will not work in video games. However, knowing the basics of how to navigate the maze without error will help players develop their own effective technique.

Congratulations!

You are done.

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