# Number maze with a twist

I have created this number maze for you to solve, but I have added a twist:

If you pass through the secret passage then every number on the maze will reduce by one:(9 will become 8 and 8 will become 7 and so on... Any zeros will stay as zero, no negative numbers) You can only travel the passage in the direction of the arrows - from the bottom right corner.

You can only move the number of squares that is shown on square that you are on, (For example, the starting square: 5 will only allow you to travel to square 7 or 4 and so on... if you land on a zero then you cannot move any further)

You can only move vertically or horizontally, not diagonally.

You can visit a square as many times as required and also go back in the direction in which you came.

      ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│   <----- Every number reduces by one when you travel this │
│   ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
├   ┼───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐       │ S │
Start > 5 │ 2 │ 5 │ 5 │ 2 │ 7 │ 5 │ 5 │ 6 │ 3 │ 3 │ 0 │       │ E │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤       │ C │
│ 5 │ 6 │ 4 │ 6 │ 4 │ 9 │ 2 │ 6 │ 2 │ 4 │ 5 │ 8 │       │ R │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤       │ E │
│ 0 │ 4 │ 9 │ 8 │ 6 │ 7 │ 8 │ 4 │ 8 │ 3 │ 5 │ 7 │       │ T │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤       │   │
│ 2 │ 8 │ 3 │ 0 │ 9 │ 2 │ 2 │ 3 │ 4 │ 4 │ 7 │End│       │ P │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤       │ A │
│ 7 │ 5 │ 5 │ 5 │ 2 │ 6 │ 4 │ 6 │ 5 │ 6 │ 3 │ 2 │       │ S │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤       │ S │
│ 4 │ 3 │ 4 │ 6 │ 2 │ 4 │ 5 │ 5 │ 2 │ 7 │ 3 │ 8 │       │ A │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤       │ G │
│ 0 │ 1 │ 2 │ 9 │ 4 │ 4 │ 7 │ 2 │ 7 │ 1 │ 2 │ 5 │       │ E │
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤───────┘   │
│ 4 │ 7 │ 6 │ 3 │ 6 │ 3 │ 2 │ 7 │ 7 │ 2 │ 4 │ ---------->   │
└───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───────────┘


As I created this number maze, I have what I believe is the shortest route, or if I made a mistake when creating the maze you may find a shorter route.

What is the shortest number of steps you can find to get from the starting square to the exit square? (you have to land on the exit square and to use the secret passage, you have to land on the secret passage square.)

Give the route you took with directions? The number on square followed by the direction to get to the next square, for example (7R, 2D, 5U, 6L)

• If you land on a zero do you have no movement capabilities? Also do you have to get the exact number to land on the secret passage or just get to it (i.e. if you were 6 blocks away and had a movement of 7 would you not be able to get to it) – gabbo1092 Oct 18 '18 at 12:29
• @gabbo1092 I will add to the list of rules to clarify any uncertainty, If you land on a zero then you cannot move, and you have to land directly on the secret passage to access it. – 5202456 Oct 18 '18 at 13:09

I think this may be the solution:

5R,7D,3U,6R,2D,5U,8L,6D,3L,4U,2R,3R,2R,3D,2R,1D,2R (secret passage)
4R, 1R, 6D, 3U, 1R, 1R, 2R, 3U, 2D, 2L, 3L, 5D, 5R, 1L, 6U, 1D, 7L, 3D, 2U, 7R, 3R, end

Steps:

132 steps in 37 moves

• Congratulations! This is exact path I had designed, along with the number of steps taken. I had spent hours and hours designing this puzzle for it only to be solved in a couple of hours... – 5202456 Oct 18 '18 at 15:29

The one that I've found is

5R,7D,3U,6R,2D,5U,8L,6D,3L,4U,2R,3R,2R,3D,2R,1D,2R (secret passage) 4R,1R,6D,3R,6U,5D,1L,4U,5D,5R,1L,6U,1D,7L,3D,2U,7R,3R
EDIT: I made a mistake somewhere, sorry

Depending how you count steps this needs

35 or 134 steps

My way of thinking:

I quickly realized that we cannot enter the secret passage the second time (there is no 2 in a distance of 1, or a 3 in a distance of 2, etc. from its entrance). So I assumed we got to 'End' after all the numbers have been decreased by 1. Then worked backwards from there.

• Not sure if its a typing error or what but when I followed your steps after the secret passage you said 4U, 5D, 5R but 4U, 5D leads to a 2 turned 1 – gabbo1092 Oct 18 '18 at 14:32
• @elias getting close but you may have taken a wrong turn somewhere... I also like your comment on the number of steps taken, I was thinking the number of squares you use, but still interesting to see the number of squares that are traversed. – 5202456 Oct 18 '18 at 15:09