The Crazy Maze Games

"The Amazing Labyrinth"

• The goal of this labyrinth board game is to move pieces around tunnels, with players attempting to collect a bunch of treasures before their rivals do. This simplistic game was released in the 1980s, and led to a number of sequels, which took the basic format of the game and evolved it in some way. "The Amazing Labyrinth" features an unusual game board, which contains several maze tiles held permanently in place. Other tiles are slotted into the maze during the game by the players, with each participant inserting a tile into the board and pushing another out during her turn.

"Master Labyrinth"

• This board game, released in 1991, takes the basic concept found in "The Amazing Labyrinth" and makes it a little more complex. In this version, each player takes on the role of a student wizard and must collect a set of ingredients, in a precise order, from within the maze. Each ingredient is represented by a chip, which is numbered to indicate when it should be collected. Players can alter the labyrinth by sliding tiles in and out of the game board to create mutations. Players use these sliding tiles to their advantage by changing the maze to allow their passage to each ingredient.

"Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Crazy Maze"

• This console game, available for the Sony PlayStation gaming system, is based on the kids TV show, "Inspector Gadget," about a private eye equipped with a number of amazing inventions. In this maze game, the player controls Inspector Gadget and must collect several powerful crystals, found in four areas of the world, to prevent the evil Dr. Claw from gaining control of the whole planet. To reach the crystals, the player must get past Dr. Claw's devious henchmen who stand guard.

"Atari Maze Craze"

• This simple game for the Atari 2600 system was one of the earliest console games, and consisted only of one screen, which was reconfigured for each level. The idea of the game was to guide a police officer through the orange and green maze in an attempt to get to the labyrinth's end. Each maze features several twisting routes, though, and dead ends get in the player's way. "Atari Maze Craze" also includes several variations, including a mode where robbers chase the player's character, and a choice of game speeds.