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Start at 1 (bottom left), and visit all the numbers in order, finishing at 9 (top right).

Give yourself a special prize if use 257 steps or less!

I'm still working on all methods... There's some more interesting mazes to come.

A maze

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  • $\begingroup$ I don't seem to know how to attach a text file, otherwise I would add the network if required. Also, I am not sure I know how best to format such a text. Advice is always welcome! $\endgroup$
    – Konchog
    Dec 22, 2021 at 23:02
  • $\begingroup$ One slightly confusing thing for me here is that the only arrow pointing to 6 comes from 3. Does this mean we have to visit 3 twice (as in 1,2,3,4,5,3,6...)? $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Dec 22, 2021 at 23:45
  • $\begingroup$ @hexonimo, yes - this puzzle may previsit and revisit checkpoints… It’s something I will try removing! $\endgroup$
    – Konchog
    Dec 23, 2021 at 11:29

1 Answer 1

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Well it gets a bit messy, but here is the solution:

enter image description here
I have colour coded it to make it easier to follow:

1 -> 2 = red
2 -> 3 = dark blue
3 -> 4 = green
4 -> 5 = orange
5 -> 6 = light blue
6 -> 7 = pink
7 -> 8 = yellow
8 -> 9 = purple

Step count:

(Split by the colours):

33 + 19 + 55 + 31 + 30 + 38 + 18 + 33 = 257 steps

Exactly 257 steps as required! I don't believe it is possible in less, unless I am missing something obvious


Bit of feedback:

I like the concept, but this was slightly messy. There is no real easy way to display an answer, and even with colour coding we get cases where 4 lines are parallel and you cant even see the arrows. I would recommend trying to not place checkpoints where you have to go over the same path or it does get messy.

Another confusing thing here, is to visit the numbers in order we actually have to visit them out of order. For instance, to visit 5 we have to pass through 8 and 3 gets passed through multiple times. Would also recommend checkpoints which only should be visited once, and perhaps even enforcing this as a rule.

Keep going though! Mazes are a light, fun challenge to complete.

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  • $\begingroup$ A one-turn improvement: from the top of the first tiny red "spike" on the bottom, go right 3, then up-left, right, down-right, right, up-right. This gets you to the point where the blue trail intersects the red in 8 moves instead of 9. $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi
    Dec 22, 2021 at 23:59
  • $\begingroup$ @Deusovi every turn counts! I've noticed the major issue, I assumed yellow and orange would follow the green path, when there is a much much shorter route, will probably save the 10 - yet to count. Will also add the red improvement though! $\endgroup$ Dec 23, 2021 at 0:01
  • $\begingroup$ Never mind, not as much saved as I thought it would... $\endgroup$ Dec 23, 2021 at 0:06
  • $\begingroup$ Hey thanks so much for the feedback - I will def. Looks at not ‘pre-visiting’ checkpoints! It might be hard with this sort of design to avoid re-using tracks though … because the elimination of existing paths will make it too easy… I will think more on this!! $\endgroup$
    – Konchog
    Dec 23, 2021 at 9:31
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @Konchog believe I found it, saved 2 with the purple top left to get 257. I'll admit I was somewhat lazy with some of the stages by assuming they would automatically follow lines in other stages when there were often shorter ways $\endgroup$ Dec 23, 2021 at 14:17

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