I have made multiple versions of the Alamo Mission Maze. An initial kids version and then my original maze of the week in both black and white and later color. Today we get a full improvement redux - I hope you like it! So Maze of the week #10 also becomes MOTW #158. You can read the original blog post here:

Maze of the Week #10 - The Alamo Mission Maze

And now the redux. I have been using the same program (Inkscape) to make my mazes for many years and I am still learning how to use it. It is free software and I use an old version so everything new I learn is self-taught and by experimenting. I recently found better ways to do things and I decided to go back and revise some mazes.

Here are the enhancements I made to improve the maze:

1. Changed the maze size from 34 x 22 to 34 x 19.5. Originally I made the size 2x a tabloid size sheet of paper for easy printing. Now I adjusted the size to reflect the actual maze with printing a secondary concern.

2. Added background details. The maze was floating on the page and I wanted to fix that…

The first thing I added was the state flag/pole on left side
I added the ground on each side and extended it off the page.
I added a small building to the right side and a wall on the left
Each of the above got textures to reflect the stone they are made of.

3. Added a textured lawn.

4. Changed the font size. The title increased while the location was reduced and moved to the 2nd line.

5. Changed Start & Goal colors. Previously the black lettering was difficult to see so I changed it to blue.

6. Newly Colored Stones. I added some color to a variety of stones on the front of the building to better reflect how it actually looks, including adding some water stains. Previously the building was one consistent color.

7. Added Shadows. I added some shadows to the windows.

8. Added a Sky.

And here are the old and new versions:

The Alamo Mission Maze in Color updatesv2-1.png

I really like the new version !

Some data: The new file is 6224MB from 1480MB.

I will be replacing the homepage with the new maze going forward. You can find the maze download there !

If you like this type of content check out all of my case studies:

A Collection of Maze Design Case Studies to Improve your Mazes

Happy maze-ing !

I have written 2 blog posts featuring a total of 20 mazes that I abandoned for one reason or another. You can read them here:

Why I abandoned these 10 mazes - Mistakes in Maze making

10 More Abandoned Mazes - Mistakes in Maze Making

I took the time to evaluate the mazes and see why they did not work and try to determine - could they be salvaged ? Today I present a case study for improving one of those mazes, the Tiki Totem Maze which ended up becoming Maze of the Week #86. Here is my analysis from the previous blog:

“Abandoned Maze #4 - Tiki Totem Maze

I thought this would be a good idea. Tiki totems are so cool. I can’t quite put my finger on this. It just isn’t good enough to be on the site as a weekly featured maze. I think it MIGHT be able to be fixed. Add color to the totem, and to make it more interesting - SHADOWS. I would also try a more complex maze structure vs the current kids level format. But I can’t be sure that will be enough…so it will not get done ….or it will. We’ll see. Mistake made: Not enough details / interest”

And I must say, for a maze to be recoverable, the mistake made of not enough details/interest is a giveaway that the maze is salvageable with some additional work. Now let’s look at that original maze, also known as the ‘before’:

And here are the changes I made to (hopefully) improve the maze:

1. Color - The actual tiki is not black and white (nor does it have brown accents as the initial maze pathways imply. I went with the weathered grey color of the tiki. I switched the color of the walls to a complementary charcoal color.

2. Shadows added - It is a tiki on a beach so it is in the sun. I went with lots of shadows ! This really shows the shape of the tiki better, especially the eye area. I took the extra time to shadow the nose, neck, and under the pecs.

3. Maze placement - The tiki is full length and sits in the sand on a beach, but I only made the top portion. It is also surrounded by a sea of white nothingness. After considering adding the full totem, I instead decided to place the totem against the bottom of the page which allowed for….

4. Beach scene added - By moving the totem forward there is a large background to fill. That was a perfect place to add a background that included a beach, a palm tree and the sky. I spent 70% of the time improving this maze working on the leaves of the tree, then used a gradient color to accurately color the trunk. I did my best to add foam to the break of the water at the shore.

5. Start and Goal changed - The placement also meant a change from arrows to an internal Start and Goal using lettering.

6. Sky addition - The white sky felt like empty space. Might as well finish the color. I went cloudless like a great day at the beach (with sunscreen).

7. Lettering and branding - Add the name of the maze and my branding both of which were previously missing.

Also considered but not updated:

I decided to not change the actual maze beyond minor moves. It remains easy for kids but looks a lot better for everyone; Something on the water like a boat or a shark fin, or the sky like the sun or some birds; The full totem poll (as mentioned above).

And now the “After”. The new maze: