Oskar's Belgian Maze ☕
A Belgian maze is a maze without any loops or forks. Maze experts call such maze a labyrinth. Mathematicians call it unicursal. English might call it Irish. Would you think that you never could get lost in a Belgian Maze? Think again!
This challenge by Oskar van Deventer shows that even Belgian mazes can be hard to solve. The trick is to keep track of what are the forward and backward directions. When you get confused you may inadvertently start moving backward until you discover your error, or until you get confused again.
Aim
Move from the blue start to the red goal. At every green "confusion point" you will be spun around a multiple of 180 degrees. The number of 180 degree rotations is deterministic (nothing random in this puzzle), but you do not know whether it is an even number or an odd number. And the number is different for every confusion point.
Controls
Use Start to start with the easiest challenge
Use Reset to restart the current challenge
Use Drop-list to select a challenge
(the level is the number of green confusion points)
Or you can use Next & Previous
Use Slider to adjust the animation speed
Movement
Use LEFT & RIGHT to move accordingly
You can also click the mouse at the left or right half of the maze
Or the left and right arrow keys
The Belgian Maze puzzle is related to the mechanical Mysterians puzzle by Oskar van Deventer. Mysterians is a puzzle of three-layers. Each layer has a single curved groove. The three layers interact with each other through two pivots. The object is to take it apart. Even though the problem has no loops or forks, it is quite confusing as the pivots run forward and backward through the grooves. At many points moving forward feels like moving backward, so you are inclined to turn around.
Mysterians - © Oskar van Deventer 2002
applet & puzzle design - © Oskar van Deventer 2004