First from above, then inside
Before each run, a short flight shows you the whole maze. After that you only see what is in front of you.
Magic CamelotMerlin’s Maze
Remember the way. Then find it.
Merlin builds mazes, and no two are alike. Before each run you fly over it and memorise the way, then you dive in and find the exit in first person: past traps, through gates that only a puzzle opens, against the clock.
Like in the good old 80s, everything is made of code: every maze, every wall, every sound and all of the music.
What makes Merlin’s Maze
A maze that is never the same
The idea is as old as any hedge maze: in, find the exit, out again. What Merlin makes of it is new.
Every maze new
A number becomes a maze, always the same one for the same number. Almost a million are possible.
Gates and puzzles
Barred gates block the way. The puzzle of the same colour lies in a dead end before it: levers, gears, brains.
Traps that warn you
Crumbling floors, steam vents, laser grids. All of them announce themselves, to see and to hear. With the right timing you get through.
Privacy from the start
No account, no tracking, no cookies, no third-party servers. What you play stays on your device.
Free and honest
No ads, no in-game purchases. If you like it, a little support helps the next world.
The worlds
Four worlds, one builder
Each world has its own walls, its own light and its own music. All they share is Merlin, and that the exit is always where you don’t expect it. Some mazes he builds as street canyons: narrow lanes between houses three or four storeys high, with fire escapes, neon signs and steaming manholes. Others he cuts into the rock as canyons.
Neon Alleys
- Rain
- Neon signs
- Cables
Wet cobbles mirroring the neon, concrete panels, cable bundles and signs humming in the fog. With synthwave.
Brass Works
- Gears
- Gas light
- Clockwork
Old bricks, warm gas light and gears turning in the walls. The music ticks like a pocket watch.
Steam Canals
- Copper
- Pipes
- Steam
Riveted copper with verdigris, pipes on every wall and shafts with steam rising. Footsteps ring on chequer plate.
Data Core
- Glass
- Circuits
- Lasers
Smooth glass tiles with glowing circuits, cool light and laser grids in rhythm. The music is clear as ice.
Made of code
Built like in the 80s
Back then a game had to fit on a floppy disk, so much was generated by the program instead of stored. Merlin’s Maze does the same: mazes, walls, light, music and every sound come into being the moment you play.
0
image files
No texture and no 3D model in the game. Bricks, copper, cobbles, gears and the city on the horizon are calculated by your device.
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audio files
No MP3, no sample. Music and sounds come from oscillators and noise, like the sound chips of home computers.
≈ 2 MB
download for the whole game
Compressed, physics engine and fonts included. Less than a single phone photo.
Mazes from a number
A generator builds corridors, squares, loops and dead ends, and checks every maze: it can always be solved, and no gate can be walked round.
Walls, castle and city
Walls with plinths, neon strips and posts, a castle wall with towers and a city with blinking antennas: all built while loading.
Music that plays along
Each world has its own key. The closer you get to the exit, the denser the music; when time runs short, it presses on.
Every sound synthesised
Footsteps on cobbles, metal or tiles, the hiss of the steam vent, the rattle of the gate, the echo in the corridors: all made live.
Hear the way
Gears tick, lasers hum, the exit sounds warm. Everything comes from the left or the right, depending on where it is.
Light and steam
Glowing neon, light rays through the fog, steam clouds and Merlin’s portal are small graphics programs that paint every frame anew.
Gates, puzzles and traps
What waits in the corridors
Merlin doesn’t just let you walk through. This is what holds you up, and some of it helps.
Barred gates
They block the only way. They are opened by the puzzle of the same colour, which lies in a dead end before them.
Gear lock and lever row
Three gears that turn each other, or levers that switch their neighbours too. Always solvable, never at once.
Crumbling floor
Cracked plates give way shortly after the first step. Run, and you make it.
Steam vents
First a hiss, then a blast across the corridor. In the pause you get through.
Laser grids
Three beams in rhythm. Just before they switch on again, they flicker.
Merlin’s help
A golden puzzle gives you time or a short look from above. And at arcade machines in the dead ends, a mini game wins you time or a hint.
Organ pipes
Listen to the melody and play it back on four pipes. One wrong note and you start again.
Word and memory puzzles
Rune stones with the signs from the gate, letter drums for Merlin’s magic word, an anagram, and three doors of which only one carries the right answer.
Hints and chalk
A glow beetle flies ahead, a compass points the way, a map piece gives the view from above. With chalk you draw arrows on the floor.
Logic puzzles
Mirrors steer a beam of light, pipes carry steam, tiles want ordering, a scale balancing and a number lock cracking from its clues.
Canyons
Some mazes are cut into rock: gorges with layered stone, crystals and rope bridges, table mountains all around.
Halloween haunting
In October there is a Halloween maze every day: pumpkins, bats, a full moon and ghosts. If a ghost catches you, you lose three seconds.
How to play
In the maze within seconds
No download, no sign-up. Open the page, pick a journey, the daily maze or a single maze, and go.
On PC
WASD or arrow keys, Shift to run, the mouse to look around, E to use, 1 to 3 for hints, F for chalk, Esc to pause.
On the phone
Put your left thumb down: that is your stick for walking, push it all the way to run. Drag on the right to look, the “Use” button for puzzles, own buttons for hints and chalk.
With a gamepad
Left stick walks, right stick looks, A uses. Set the sensitivity on the title screen.
Tips for your first runs
Remember the way in the flight
Where is the exit, where are the gates, where the puzzles in their colours? Remember three turns and you save a lot of time.
Trust your ears
The exit hums warmly, traps hiss and whine before you see them. With headphones you hear which side they are on.
Practise in training first
In training the clock only counts up. Try traps and puzzles in peace before going for a best time.
Privacy, honestly explained
We don’t want to know anything about you
At Magic Camelot, privacy is not small print but part of the design. This is exactly how Merlin’s Maze handles it:
No account, no tracking
No sign-up, no analytics, no cookies, no ad networks. We don’t know who plays, and we don’t want to.
Nothing from third-party servers
Fonts, physics engine and everything else are part of the game. While you play, Merlin’s Maze asks no outside service for anything.
Your data stays in your browser
Language, volume and sensitivity are remembered only by your browser. The Top 100 only gets what you enter yourself: nickname, time, date.
Feedback only if you send it
The form goes to our own server, not to an outside service. Our script stores no IP address; the email address is optional and only for a reply.
Even fully offline
Installed as an app, Merlin’s Maze runs offline. Then nothing at all leaves your device.
Free, no catch
No ads, no in-game purchases, no data as payment. Support is voluntary.
To be honest: Game and website live on our own web space at IONOS, with no third-party services in between. Like every web server, it briefly needs your IP address to send you the page; we don’t analyse it. Installed as an app, even that goes away after the first start.
Free
Just play
Price
€0
Merlin’s Maze is free and will stay free.
Ads and purchases
None
No ads, no in-game purchases, no “pay for time”.
Account
None
Settings stay in your browser. We don’t know who plays.
If the maze brings you joy
Merlin’s Maze is made on the side, for the love of games. A little support helps the next world come to life.
Feedback and wishes. Something is off, or you have an idea for a trap or a puzzle? In the game there is the button “Feedback & wishes”. Every message reaches us directly, and we reply if you leave an email address.
Questions
Good to know
Does Merlin’s Maze cost anything?
No. The game is free, without ads and without in-game purchases. If you like, you can support us voluntarily.
Do I have to install anything or sign up?
No. Merlin’s Maze runs right in the browser. There is no account.
How do I open a barred gate?
With the puzzle of the same colour. It lies in a dead end before the gate; in the flight you see both glow. Standing at the gate also gives you a hint.
What is the daily maze?
Every day there is one maze that is the same for everyone, with its own Top 100. In the same way, every week there is a journey of five mazes that is the same for everyone.
Can I share a maze with friends?
Yes. Every maze has a number. Type it in on the title screen and you walk exactly the same maze.
Does it run on my phone?
Yes, on current phones and tablets with a current browser, upright and sideways. On weaker devices the game switches off some effects itself to stay smooth.
How do I install it as an app?
In Chrome, Edge and on Android the title screen shows an “Install as an app” button. On iPhone and iPad, tap “Share” in Safari and then “Add to Home Screen”. After that Merlin’s Maze also runs without internet.
Is the game available in German?
Yes. The game follows your browser’s language; on the title screen and in the pause menu you can switch between German and English.
What data does Merlin’s Maze collect?
None. There is no account, no tracking and no cookies. Settings stay in your browser. Only what you send yourself reaches us: a Top 100 entry (nickname, time, date) or your feedback, both without IP address.
Ready?
Merlin is waiting
Open the game in your browser and start walking. And remember: what you see from above looks very different down below.
What you need
- A current browser: Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari
- A PC, tablet or phone from the last few years
- An internet connection on first start, offline afterwards as an app
- Headphones: you hear traps and the exit before you see them