The Maze

The Maze

Find a way towards the co-player of the same colour

Find a spot in the Maze where you can meet

Find a way towards the co-player of the same colour

Find a spot in the Maze to meet and drive into each other

Game description

In brief

Learning objective

To succeed, the players must work together at finding each other in the Maze. This requires good communication between the players. In the versions of the game where players have to find boxes with identical images or words, the players will also train their vocabulary and reading abilities.

Game objective

The objective of the game is for each player to find the co-player in the Maze who either has the same colour forklift truck or who has picked up a box with identical content.

Attributes

Age 3+

10 Minutes

Language

Logic

Collaborative

Detailed description

Gameplay

The game contains three different game modes that the players can choose from: Find each other, Picture Pairs, and Word Pairs.

Find each other

In this game mode, the game begins with each player’s forklift being located in one of the four corners of the Maze. Two of these forklifts will be one colour (e.g. yellow) and the other two forklifts will be another colour, for example, green. In order for the two players with the yellow forklifts to find each other, they will first have to study the Maze and agree on a location inside the Maze where to meet. To get the forklifts to move in the wanted direction, the players simply need to press their forklift and then drag the finger along the route that they want it to go. Once the player lifts the finger from the touchscreen, the forklift will start to move. A dotted line will indicate to the players which way the forklift will go when the player lifts his or her finger.

Picture Pairs

In this mode, the four forklifts start in their own corner of the Maze. Several boxes are randomly scattered across the corridors of the Maze. These boxes look identical, but as soon as a forklift picks up one of the boxes, the box will reveal an image to the player. This image is displayed to the player in the small window in his or her corner of the screen. Since each forklift is only able to pick up one box at a time, the player will have to wait for the other players to pick up the other boxes. Once one of the other players has picked up another box with the same picture inside, the players need to get their forklifts to meet somewhere in the Maze. If the players manage to get the forklifts to meet, the boxes will disappear. When all boxes in the Maze have disappeared, the players have completed the level.

Word Pairs

In this game mode, the boxes that are randomly placed in the corridors of the Maze contain words. Before the game begins, the players can choose which languages the words should derive from. The boxes that are randomly scattered across the corridors of the Maze look identical from the outside, but as soon as a forklift picks up one of the boxes, the small text field in the player’s corner will display which word the box contains. If the player doesn’t know the meaning of the word, they can get a depiction of the word if they move the forklift carrying the box to one of the two scanning areas. In the big square in the middle of the two scanning areas, a depiction of the word will be shown.
Since each forklift is only able to pick up one box at a time, the player will have to wait for the other players to pick up the other boxes before the player knows where the other identical word is located. Once one of the other players has picked up another box with the same word inside, the players need to get their forklifts to meet somewhere in the Maze. If these players manage to get the forklifts to meet, their boxes will disappear. When all boxes in the Maze have disappeared, the players have completed the level.

Obstacles & Limitations

In all three game modes, the players’ forklifts are not able to drive past other forklifts that they might encounter on their way. If another forklift is in the way, either this forklift needs to move away from the path of the first forklift, or the player simply needs to find another way through the Maze. Furthermore, a forklift is only able to transport a box when moving forward. If a forklift is carrying a box and the player directs the forklift to move in reverse, the forklift will automatically leave the box behind on the floor of the Maze.

Completing a level

Once the players have completed all tasks of a level, the game will ask them if they want to replay the level or if they wish to play the game again on a higher and more challenging level.

Detailed description

Settings

Maze Level

The players can choose the size of the Maze. The players can choose a maze level from 1 to 10. The higher the number, the more corridors the Maze will have. Choosing a higher maze level will increase the difficulty.

Boxes

Here, the players choose the number of boxes in the Maze. They can choose between 2 to 20 boxes. Choosing a higher number of boxes will make it more difficult to complete the level.

Enemies

If the players choose to add enemies to the game, enemies in the shape of saw blades will appear in the Maze. If a player’s forklift is hit by an enemy, the forklift will become inactive and automatically be returned to its starting point. If the forklift is carrying a box when getting hit by an enemy, the box will stay at the location of the collision. Adding enemies to the game will increase the difficulty level.

Speed

This setting determines how fast the forklifts and the enemies move around the Maze. Selecting a higher speed level will increase the difficulty of the game.

Game mode

Below these settings, the players can choose which of the three game modes the settings should apply for. A selected game mode is always marked with a green checkmark. Not all of the four above-mentioned settings are available for all three game modes. If a particular setting is not available for the chosen game mode, this setting will be greyed out.