Maze
A maze level is a type of level found in the floors before the Castle and in Gehennom. As the name states, it is set up like a maze, with narrow passages and dead-ends. There are zero, one, or two Minotaurs, H, generated on each maze level.[1]
Contents
Strategy
Some form of magic mapping is a good idea when in a maze. Maze walls are diggable, so a wand of digging or pick-axe can be handy to navigate and to make a clearer path between the stairs.
Note that traps in a maze are always generated in specific spots in a "roster-like" pattern. Suppose your maze looks like this in the top left corner:
----------------- | | | --- ----- | --- | | | | | |-- |-- | ----- | | | | | | --- ----- ----|
then traps can only be generated on the spots marked ^ below:
----------------- |^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^|^ ^ | --- ----- | --- |^ ^|^ ^|^ ^|^ ^| |-- |-- | ----- | |^ ^|^ ^|^ ^ ^ ^| | --- ----- ----|
When you realise this, it is easy to see why it is important to walk diagonally whenever possible:
----------------- | .,. .,.,. | .,. |.---.-----.|.--- | . | | . | . | |--.|-- |.-----.| | . | | . .,. | |.--- -----.----|
If you avoid dead ends and the corners of passages as much as possible (follow the dots and comma's), the chance of you hitting a trap is reduced significantly (only the spots marked with a comma are really potential trap spots; the dots are safe).
History
"Maze"-type levels appeared as far back as Rogue, although not in any set location.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, mimics found on a maze level are more likely to mimic a statue than a mimic found elsewhere in the dungeon.