2023 Maze of the year voting results

I ant to thank everyone who took the time in December to vote on the maze of the year for the site. In 2022 the winner was the Rock n Roll HOF Museum Maze. I like to see how people vote, and the results always surprise me. This year was no different. There were 10 mazes that were eligible to vote for and all of them received votes. 7 of the 10 received a first place vote and 6 mazes got most of the votes. Here is the video showing the maze finalists:

Out of the 52 mazes of the week I made this year let’s look at the top 5 based on your voting!

ALMOST - Museo Soumaya Maze - this maze has my best solution, and got a lot of votes, but just missed out on the top 5!

5. Templo de Sangre de Cristo Maze

Based off of a picture of the church I took.

Templo de Sangre de Cristo Maze

4. Chicago Theatre Sign Maze

I always have sign in the top mazes, and this year it is this Chicago theatre sign.

Chicago Theatre Sign Maze

3. Bodiam Castle Maze

This maze was one of my first case studies. It is also the first maze where I did a reflection in the water.

Bodiam Castle Maze

2. Taj Mahal Maze

Not surprised that this double maze of a famous building got a lot of votes. The first maze is from tower to tower and the second is within the central dome.

Taj Mahal Maze

And now the #1 vote getter for the year. This maze took me the longest to make and has the most detail so I was not surprised it won…

1 - Santo Domingo Maze

Santo Domingo Maze

So that concludes the year. Thanks again for your votes. All mazes are available for download on the site.

Maze of the Week #105 - The Snowman

Welcome back to another year of weekly mazes. This years theme is comic book style mazes if you missed the announcement. Each of the 53 mazes will be in a comic book style and come with an alternative color (just like comic book covers). Then on Tuesday of each week I add an actual comic book cover version of the maze. The first maze of the year then is Maze of the Week #105 - The Snowman. Did you guess correctly based on this preview?

outline maze Preview

Here is the original maze:

Snowman Maze

And now the alternative color version. I used some snowflake mazes to decorate the background.

Snowman Maze Blue background

Downloads are available on the homepage. I have also added 4 new versions of my previous comic book mazes to the page. Evil Pumpkin, Reindeer, Krampus and Santa Klaus now reside in the NEW comic book style maze section !

Come back tomorrow to see what the comic book cover looks like !

Next weeks Maze Preview: What do you think the maze is ?

Maze Preview #2

My 2024 Website Outlook

For 2024 I will continue to post a new maze every Monday launched with a blog post. I will also be making weekly YouTube videos showing these mazes being made. We will have a new theme for the year, and I am going to try a new blog posting schedule.

What type of mazes will I see on the site ?

  • I really liked the comic book style mazes I made, so I am going to make a full year of them ! You have seen these the last few weeks starting with the Evil Pumpkin I made for Halloween.

  • The mazes will all be free hand drawn mazes walls so the look will not be as polished as a building maze, but the style fits the mazes I believe !

  • Overall, these mazes will be good for kids and not very difficult (with a few exceptions)

What will be new ?

  • Each maze will have a preview outline the week before that gives you a hint on what the next maze will be. Here is the first preview for our first maze of the week - What do you think it is ?

Maze Preview #1

  • Since comic books are known for having variations you will get variations of each maze. On Monday I will give you a second colored version of the maze, while on Tuesday I will give you a special comic book cover of the maze, unveiled in a blog post. Collect all 53 comics !

  • I have used starryai to make some backgrounds for the comic books. It is my favorite AI text to image generator.

  • Also, all Mazes of the Week will sit in one block on the homepage with all maze downloads there. Same for Comic Book Covers - they will all be in 1 block.

What will the subject matter be ?

  • Lots of animals to celebrate national and international holidays.

  • A few other subjects that make for good comic book covers and fit the style of artwork.

Will there be videos on YouTube again ?

  • Yes, but they will be much shorter in length and will not include solutions since they are easier mazes than I typically make.

  • Because they are shorter they will be called Quick mazes instead of One Minute Mazes.

  • I also shortened the Intro and Outro and changed the music.

What about blog posts ?

  • Monday - A post to launch the Maze of the Week, including a variation version. Will include a preview outline of the next weeks maze (as shown above).

  • Tuesday - Comic Book cover version of the maze

  • Thursday - General blog post - various maze/labyrinth topics

  • Saturday - Labyrinth finding blog posts (by US state)

Anything else ?

  • I am working on a slight re-design to remove or hide old content that is not popular. My hope is this does not hurt the SEO of the site and allows it to load faster. Some pages will only be available if you find them in search as they will become unlinked to the site from the menus. Overall I have made the site “lighter” to load faster.

  • I started a Pinterest account / page. Still learning what I’m doing and how to utilize it. Maybe it becomes something. Either way it is something new for me to learn !

  • By the end of the year I should have a blog post for every state in the US about publicly available labyrinths. All will sit in one section on the Homepage. If I enjoy it, and people read them, I will continue to make similar content ! If it is a bust, I will stop creating the blog posts early (sorry Wyoming, etc.)

Let’s have a great 2024 ! I hope you enjoy the mazes and the new content !