Theseus and the Minotaur
Encyclopedia
Theseus and the Minotaur is a type of logic maze
designed by Robert Abbott. In this maze, the player acts as Theseus
, the legendary king of Athens who is attempting to escape the Labyrinth
. The main difference between this and the standard type of maze, beyond the fact that it's set on a grid
, is the fact that the maze is not empty. The minotaur
is also there, hunting the player down, taking two steps for every one the player takes. While he is faster than the player, he's also quite stupid. His moves are always determined by checking to see if he can get closer to the player by moving horizontally
, then he checks to see if he can get any closer by moving vertically. If neither move places him closer to the player, he will simply skip his turn. Theseus has an unusual option of not-moving.
The board described at logicmazes is variously 8x8 and 9x9. There are at least 88 levels created. The various mazes are more accurately described as a quantity of blocks or fences rather than a continuous line as might be expected.
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.
Logic maze
Logic mazes, sometimes called 'mazes with rules', are logic puzzles with all the aspects of a tour puzzle that fall outside of the scope of a typical maze. These mazes have special rules, sometimes including multiple states of the maze or navigator...
designed by Robert Abbott. In this maze, the player acts as Theseus
Theseus
For other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...
, the legendary king of Athens who is attempting to escape the Labyrinth
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...
. The main difference between this and the standard type of maze, beyond the fact that it's set on a grid
Grid (spatial index)
In the context of a spatial index, a grid is a regular tessellation of a manifold or 2-D surface that divides it into a series of contiguous cells, which can then be assigned unique identifiers and used for spatial indexing purposes...
, is the fact that the maze is not empty. The minotaur
Minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...
is also there, hunting the player down, taking two steps for every one the player takes. While he is faster than the player, he's also quite stupid. His moves are always determined by checking to see if he can get closer to the player by moving horizontally
Horizontal plane
In geometry, physics, astronomy, geography, and related sciences, a plane is said to be horizontal at a given point if it is perpendicular to the gradient of the gravity field at that point— in other words, if apparent gravity makes a plumb bob hang perpendicular to the plane at that point.In...
, then he checks to see if he can get any closer by moving vertically. If neither move places him closer to the player, he will simply skip his turn. Theseus has an unusual option of not-moving.
The board described at logicmazes is variously 8x8 and 9x9. There are at least 88 levels created. The various mazes are more accurately described as a quantity of blocks or fences rather than a continuous line as might be expected.
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.
External links
- A Java applet version of the maze
- The article from Games & Puzzles
- Robert Abbott's notes on this puzzle
- Official download version for Windows and Mac
- Official download version for the iPhone and iPod Touch
- Free implementation of the game, solver, and random generator; sources in C++ with wxWidgets and Windows executable.