A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead unambiguously through a convoluted layout to a goal. The term "labyrinth" is generally synonymous with "maze", but can also connote specifically a unicursal pattern. The pathways and walls in a maze are typically fixed, but puzzles in which the walls and paths can change during the game are also categorised as mazes or tour puzzles.
Obludiste - hedge maze Czech republic
A hedge maze at Longleat stately home in England
Circular maze type: Find a route to the centre of the maze.
Traquair House Maze, Scotland
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at the Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the hero Theseus. Daedalus had so cunningly made the Labyrinth that he could barely escape it after he built it.
Silver coin from Knossos displaying the 7-course "Classical" design to represent the Labyrinth, 400 BC
A Roman mosaic from Zeugma, Commagene (now in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum) depicting Daedalus, his son Icarus, Queen Pasiphaë, and two of her female attendants
Theseus in the Minotaur's labyrinth, by Edward Burne-Jones, 1861
Carving showing the warrior Abhimanyu entering the chakravyuha – Hoysaleswara temple, Halebidu, India