Maze generator Choose a route, follow the turns

Pick the width and height independently

Set each dimension from four to forty cells. A wide rectangle and a tall rectangle occupy different shapes on paper even when they contain the same number of cells. Start with a modest grid for learners who need to practise following a corridor without crossing a wall, then review a larger board before assigning it.

This is an ordinary path-finding activity. The tool does not attach arithmetic questions, claim curriculum alignment, assign an age band or measure a learner’s concentration. You decide how to use it: a quiet table activity, a discussion of planning, or a short puzzle break. If you want a written explanation, add space beneath the maze.

Compare four passage styles

Winding passages stretch into twisting routes; branching passages spread through scattered junctions. Row-run passages join horizontal corridors through openings above each run, with an open corridor across the top row. Partitioned passages use long walls to divide the board into smaller regions, leaving one opening through each dividing wall. All four styles connect every cell without loops.

The style names describe the construction rule, not guaranteed easy and hard modes. Two boards from the same style can have different solution lengths, turns and dead ends. Generate a few seeds, look at the reference metrics and select a useful example. Do not treat a high branch count as proof that every learner will find that board more difficult.

Choose row-run passages when you want the horizontal structure to stand out, or partitioned passages to follow openings between regions. The left-to-right and top-to-bottom settings control entrance and exit edges; they do not rotate the row-run corridors. Switching style is a content change: generate again to update the preview, answers and saved puzzle together.

Place entrance and exit gates on opposite edges

Choose left-to-right or top-to-bottom travel. Corner positioning uses the top-left cell for the start and the bottom-right cell for the finish, opening the corresponding edges. Varied positioning uses seeded positions on the chosen opposite edges. The solid start dot and outlined finish diamond are kept outside the wall openings.

These gate markers remain distinguishable without colour. Explain that the route must stay inside passages and may not jump over a wall. The answer path starts at the dot, passes through the correct cells and ends at the diamond. On a paper student copy no solution route is drawn, so the learner has an unmarked board to explore.

Review a batch and replace just one board

Request one to 24 puzzles. The version seed reproduces the same boards under the same generation rules, and exact repeated wall-and-gate layouts are omitted within a batch. Each accepted maze passes a graph check: every connection is reciprocal, all cells are reachable and the internal connection count is one fewer than the cell count.

The item editor replaces one maze using its own local seed while keeping the overall dimensions, style and gate settings. It rebuilds the walls, solution and metrics together and creates a content revision. This is not a freehand wall editor or an arbitrary maze-image importer. Other puzzles keep their existing data, so you can improve a set without discarding every board.

Set the paper density without losing the corridors

Request one to six puzzles per row, one to twelve rows and zero, four or eight millimetres of extra space. The layout estimates each diagram from its width and height, preserves a minimum passage-cell size and reserves room for labels. It reduces actual columns or rows when a large grid would become too cramped.

A small four-by-four maze can fit densely, while a forty-cell width needs a much wider board. Tall grids may use fewer rows even when several fit across. Student and teacher estimates are separate because the reference always carries measurements. You can optionally show those measurements on student pages too. Read the capacity summary instead of assuming a six-column selection will force every grid into six tiny drawings.

Save the exact walls and keep the reference version

Print student pages, answer pages or both. Each maze number and content identifier connects a student board with its reference even if the outputs have different page counts. The dashed solution is a simple route without backtracking; it does not describe every exploratory move a learner might make.

Download JSON to preserve the exact passages, gates, local seeds, answer routes and layout. Import validates the stored graph, recomputed measurements and regenerated board before restoring it. Browser saving is local and may be cleared. A layout-only change preserves the content version, while replacing a maze creates a revision. Choose the intended A4 or Letter paper in the print dialog, inspect the final output and test a copy before classroom use.