Yesterday I received an email from Mike Reilly who invents puzzles. The latest one is called Number Maze and can be found via his website at a special Number Maze website. As Mike calls it, Number Maze is a Sudoku-like maze puzzle that uses the number pattern from a clock face, one through twelve.
Players must link these numbers in either direction – clockwise or counter clockwise – through the maze to solve the puzzle according to the rules.
1. Place any number, from 1 to 12, in each square of the maze.
2. Numbers must run in some sequence from 1 to 12 or 12 to 1, like on a clock face.
3. Each number’s ‘neighbor’ — any square above or below, to left or to right, NOT separated by a maze wall (diagonals are not neighbors) — must be one of the two numbers nearest on a clock. For instance, a 6 can only be next to a 7 or a 5. The number 12 can have either an 11 or a 1 as neighbors, and a 1 can only have a 12 or a 2 next to it.
4. In a 12×12 maze, you must use twelve of each of the numbers to complete the puzzle. In other words, you must us a total count of twelve ‘sets’ of 1 through 12. However, they do not have to be in twelve continuous ‘runs’ of 1 through 12.
5. In each maze, the grid size determines the solution requirements, as all mazes are multiples of twelve. For instance, in a 6×6 maze (36 squares), you would have to use three of each of the twelve numbers of 1 through 12 (12×3=36) to solve that puzzle. Again, they do not have to be in three continuous ‘runs’ of 1 through 12.
The rules are not as short as the rules for Slitherlink or Sudoku, but the are easy to use and also hints and a so called path strategy are available on the website. Free sample puzzles are available and if you like Number Maze you can also buy a Number Maze puzzle book. To be honest, Number Maze is not really my cup of tea, but maybe it is yours. Happy Puzzling