Maze of the Week #213 - Tokyo Tower

January 26, 2026

Maze of the Week #213 features the Tokyo Tower located in Minato City, Tokyo, Japan. I made this maze with colored walls rather than coloring the actual tower because I thought it was easier to solve the maze. The tower was completed in 1958 and is 332.9 m (1,092 ft) tall. You can learn about the tower on Wikipedia or watch this great informational video:

The maze: The actual tower color is white and orange. I used an outline to contain the maze. Start and Goal is written in Japanese.

If you enjoy this maze, come back tomorrow for a special surprise !

Download is available on the home page.

Other blog posts you may enjoy:

What I've Learned Making Mazes

10 of the Most Frequently asked Questions about Labyrinths, with Answers

What I Use to Make My Mazes

January 25, 2026

Today I want to give you some background on how I actually make the mazes you see on this site. I touched on this in Part 2 of my Maze conversion project, but wanted to expand upon it a bit here since it is something I am often asked about. This isn’t a How To Make Mazes post, which I have written about extensively, but rather the tools I use and my thoughts on them and mistakes I made in the past.

Some Background - What I used to use to make mazes

When I first started making mazes in high school I drew with pen or markers on paper in Mead art sketch pad books. I mixed the mazes in with other random artwork that I did, switching things up to stay interested. Eventually I decided I liked making mazes and would do many in a row. Then I got hooked and kept making mazes over the years, Eventually I wanted to make more complex and started using the computer to make them. I first used Microsoft Excel. Yes, Excel. Not ideal looking back, but it did give me a grid pattern to work from, but really NO flexibility in design. See the original Microsoft Excel maze below, “Lost in The City”.

a maze of a city skyline — “Lost in the City” Maze made in Microsoft Excel

I actually did a few more in Excel that are on this site. I wonder if you can you find them ? There is an Excel maze in the fan art section. See if you can find it ! I will say that as along as you only need right angles, Excel works better than you think, although the creating is painstakingly slow.

Eventually I got tired of making maze walls by selecting each individual cell and placing the appropriate grid outlines in them. Next I moved on to Microsoft Paint. This gave me the ability to use color and to create much more interesting mazes. I also didn’t need to fit everything into the same grid if I didn’t want to ! The mazes I made in Paint were much better than my Excel ones IMO, but because I was building these mazes a pixel at a time they took months. Yes, MONTHS to make. There is also not an ability to create any grid guidelines to help you draw a maze in Paint - and believe me this is important! Here is an example of one of my Paint mazes:

So The Empire State Building Maze took months to complete as it was done to scale and created a pixel at a time. As you can see from how small the pathways are on your screen, this maze is shrunk down significantly from actual size. When printed it is 3 feet wide and 9.5 feet tall in full resolution. Yes, it is solvable. You start in the arrow below the A, reach the top point and return back to the start. Brutal. But, Paint is not a vector graphics program. And all of these mistakes I made are all to get to me saying this: To Make Digital Mazes use a Vector Graphics Program. Now, what I use today.

Why Vector Graphics ?

Vector graphics are made up of pathways that can be resized without losing resolution. Non-vector programs use Raster graphics (like png, jpeg, gifs) where the picture is made from individual pixels. That means if you resize the picture you will lose resolution. Making a Vector Maze means you can size it larger or smaller and it will still look good. That isn’t the case for Raster Mazes. The first circle below is raster (PNG) and it looks ok. Check out what happens when you increase the size by 400%. See the pixilation ? (those of you reading this on phones are saying not really)

And now the direct comparison between the two types of files which clearly shows why vector is the way you want to design ! The larger I made this the more the Raster would pixelate.

Circle made in Raster vs Vector example — Raster vs Vector Example at 400%

What I Use to Make My Mazes

Inkscape. I do all of my maze making in Inkscape. Inkscape is a free open source vector graphics editor, but you can use a similar product if you already have the needed skills in that program. I found, that like most programs, Inkscape basics can be learned quickly playing around in the program. You can learn a bit more from YouTube videos, and to finally master it so you aren’t frustrated all the time (While muttering why can’t I just do XXXXX) that will just take time and practice. The Inkscape website also has a forum and the majority of the questions are under Beginner’s Questions, so you are not alone! I have also upgraded my initial download if Inkscape once and was frustrated for 2 weeks trying to find the things I used to know how to do. (And to be honest I still struggle to find things on occasion).

When I started making comic book cover mazes I also started using AI for the comic backgrounds. Typically I use Gemini, but a few have starryai or Bing Image Generator. It just saves me a lot of time not having to create a background of a a farm/space/city/jungle that would take me days when AI can do it quickly even if it isn’t perfect ! I have no idea what the animals are below, but that background of a savannah took less than a minute !!

And finally, I had the idea to make comic strips that are maze and labyrinth themed. I used Google Gemini to create the comic panels based on my idea (they aren’t all perfect but good enough to show the idea). Here is my daycare comic:

Time to make some mazes (or labyrinths). If you want to see step by step instructions, I have over 70 different sets to choose from !

Animal Mazes - A look at various wild and exotic Animal Mazes

January 25, 2026

Previously I showed you a collection of some Barnyard Animal mazes. Lots of fun animals you would find on a farm and also designed to be solved by children. Today I take you through the other animals that are more commonly found in the wild. Animal Mazes are some of my most popular and always get a lot of downloads. Some are realistic pictures while others are cartoonish so you’ll see a variety of maze styles . Let’s take a look !

In total we have 40 mazes !

18 Interesting Exotic Animal Mazes:

We start off in the ocean with this Walrus Maze. I really like the whiskers on the face of this guy.

Our next maze, the Quail maze highlights the wonderful feathers of the quail ( as best I could make them).

We go from the ocean to the sky to the ground with this Iguana Maze. Unlike other mazes this was made using a free drawn construction.

And then there is this Newt Maze, also free drawn and perfect for kids.

And now one of my former daily mazes that won some voting contests, The Bald Eagle Maze. I revised this maze to make it for kids. I originally made this as a difficult maze if you are interested.

Another daily maze that became a winner as Maze of the month, the Hippopotamus Maze (Thank you spell check). This Hippo maze was remade to be easier, but if you prefer a hard version…

I really like this Penguin Maze. It is one of the few mazes that only uses an internal section to create the maze surface, using this penguins nice white belly !

A Bird Maze that has a bit of a cartoon look and is a bit more challenging for most kids. I also have a new, easier version available in the Animal Maze Section of the site.

We return to the plains of Africa for this Rhinoceros Maze. I don’t know about you, but I would not want to make this guy mad !

And we can’t forget the real big guy, the beautiful elephant ! Here is an Elephant Maze for you to enjoy !

Let’s return closer to home and an animal that I see all the time where I live. Here we have the Rabbit Maze. Also a nice maze for Easter.

There are some animals I have never seen but I would like to, like a Lemur. Enjoy this Lemur Maze.

How about we go back to the water for this cartoon Octopus Maze

Never get between a racoon and it’s food. Instead try this Raccoon Maze !

Aaaannnnnddddd aaaa sssslllllloooottttthhhh mmmmaaaaazzzzeeee. Or a sloth maze when said at regular speed !

And we of course have a Monkey Maze. I don’t remember what kind of monkey this is…

This one has a bit of a different look than most of my mazes with a background to better show the jumping dolphin. Dolphin Maze

But the maze we end with has to be the Vulture Maze. A bird you do not want to see, especially if it seems to be following you !!!

22 Exotic Animal Mazes in comic book style:

I also started making Comic Book style mazes - many of which include new animal mazes ! Here is a gallery of 1 color, although each has an alternative color. All 44 maze downloads are available at the link above (plus many additional non animal mazes).

Since I made this blog post I have transitioned to making maze art, including an animal (with more to come in the future) !

Giraffe Maze

Convert a Hand Drawn Maze to a Digital Maze in 3 steps

January 24, 2026

I used to make all my mazes by hand but now I prefer making digital mazes. Today’s post on converting a maze from a paper drawn maze to a digital maze has 3 parts: Part 1 is the 3 step process to do a maze conversion on your own (with a note on using AI). Part 2 is the story of how I decided to do a particular project with a completed example. And Part 3 shows you some maze conversion examples I mention in Part 2.

Part 1, Option 1: HOW TO CONVERT A DRAWING TO A DIGITAL MAZE

This is not a magic solution. You will end up drawing the maze again using this process.

Use a scanner to get the mazes in digital form. (alternatively you can take a picture if you have a steady hand). Now I am assuming this is not a one step process that you want (although it could be for some of you). I am assuming you want a digital vector drawing of your maze that also allows you clean up any stray marks made during the initial drawing. If like most people you do not have a scanner, I used the scanner for free at my local library ! Hopefully you can do the same !
Open the File in Inkscape (or a similar design program)
I do all of my maze making in Inkscape. Inkscape is a free open source vector graphics editor, but you can use a similar product if you already have the needed skills in that program. I found, that like most programs, Inkscape basics can be learned quickly playing around in the program. You can learn a bit more from YouTube videos, and to finally master it so you aren’t frustrated all the time (While muttering why can’t I just do XXXXX) that will just take time and practice. I just found something a few days ago than I needed for a year. Time and practice are your friend.
Draw the Maze over the Scan
Here is where the skills come in. Use Inkscape to draw the vector maze on top of the original scan (it will become the background). You can decide if you want to make changes/fixes as you go (as I did for my Alien Mazes above). When you are finally finished, delete the original scan, leaving only the new vector based maze. Now it is easy to write make the maze, and if you do not think you have the confidence, practice and read some of these How to’s. Yes, in reality, Step 3 can actually be broken down into approximately 6 parts for the actual maze construction.

PART 1, Option 2: USE SKETCH TO IMAGE AI TO CONVERT

I am currently working through this option. If you do a search for sketch to image conversion there are dozens of websites available - none of them currently have any name recognition. I have been using all of the free ones and have yet to find one that does the conversion I want better than the above method. But, I think it will exist soon maybe ? Or possibly it already does and is just in the paid version I haven’t accessed yet. Every once in awhile I try this again…but so far nothing. Drop me a note if you find one that works and I will feature it here.

Part 2: THE STORY

For fun I also created my own cartoon character who I would put in funny comic strips, well I thought they were funny. His name was Oscar and he was an alien who lived on Earth. Maybe this was influenced by the tv show ALF. I must have also been inspired by Where’s Waldo when I made the picture below I call An Alien Circus. Check out the great ruled paper ! Good enough to be in an art gallery - NO ! Bad enough to be in an bad art gallery - definitely closer ! But, it was fun to make and made me have to think about different shapes for different characters like the alien elephant and many alien circus clowns.

Well, after drawing a variety of mazes of various things I decided to combine the two with a maze of my alien character Oscar. Below is his face in maze form, although he does have a full body. I liked how it came out and filled a book with hand drawn Alien mazes, with 44 in total.

a hand drawn maze of the face of an alien

Looking back they were ok. Most of them look like amoebas more than aliens, but who are we to say what aliens really look like ? (if you are an alien - how did I do?) One thing I do appreciate is that I picked a theme and a particular look and I expanded on it. Since I can’t publish the 3-ring binder of that initial work I decided to do my best to publish it now in a better form. First, I scanned all the files (thank you public library !). Next, I had to split the files into individual files (oops!). Then I opened, named and centered each maze.

I’m going to be honest I was doing a bit of a Marie Kondo when I started this project, trying to rid myself of old papers by digitizing my art, and discarding the papers. Now, in most cases I did discard the paper and digitize the art. But for this, I still have the original hand drawn book of mazes.

This is when I decided I needed to create 2 books. One of the original artwork, with added covers (front and back), and numbered pages, and a second book converting and updating the maze artwork.

To create the conversion book I decided on a few rules:

Make the size of the new maze the same as the original.
Put the entrance and the exit to the maze in the same place as in the original.
Use a simple grid pattern for the maze, not the original pathways. While this changes the look of the mazes, it does make them much more solvable for younger solvers and standardizes their look even more.
Change the color of the walls from Blue ink to black.

How did it turn out ? Well I’ll leave that up to you to decide in Part 3. I think they came out ok. I certainly enjoyed making the digital conversions and hope to do more.

Here is a download for the converted version of the book called The Wild and Wacky Aliens Maze and Coloring Book. Obviously, as I mentioned I changed the mazes to be for Kids though I don’t have a specific age. Enjoy !

When I tried to create a book of the hand drawn mazes, but the file sizes where too big to create a book with the resources I have.

Enjoy the free downloadable kids maze book !!

download digital conversion

So that was the story, now let’s look at some examples.

Part 3: 5 MAZE CONVERSION EXAMPLES

Each from the above downloadable book, The Wild and Wacky Aliens MAZE Book. Again, during my conversion I changed the maze pathways from hand drawn medium difficulty to a standard maze construction made for kids. I did this to make the maze difficulty more congruent to the subject matter (aliens).

Example #1:

And after our first example…do you prefer the perfect circle from digital or the uneven hand drawn ? Notice how I used different pathway widths in the conversion. The mouth is more narrow to give it a darker look.

Examples #2&3:

Much easier version in digital. I like these guys, or uh aliens. Examples #4&5:

Once you have a good handle on how to use a vector design program, converting a maze from hand drawn to digital will become second nature. Good luck !

More posts you may like:

The 10 Most Famous Labyrinths from Around the World

Discovering 7 of the World's Most Interesting Mazes

What I learned using AI to make maze art