Added February 2021
This is the second of my divisor mazes but was actually the first I constructed chronologically. Despite fitting within a 9x9 grid, it is devilishly complex. For an easier maze with the same rules, try Divisor Maze 1, which is restricted to a mere 5x5 grid.
Maze rules:
- Get from the 6 at the top-left to the 8 at the bottom-right, following a valid sequence of numbers.
- As you move through the maze, a running total is kept of the sum of all the squares visited so far.
- Moves are made one square at a time in a horizontal or vertical direction (not diagonally), provided that the number in the square moved to is a divisor of the running total thus accumulated.
- In mathematics, a divisor is one number that divides into another number an exact number of times.
- For example: 1, 2, 3 and 6 are all divisors of 6.
- There are a lot – possibly an infinite number – of ways to get to the goal. If you blunder about aimlessly, then you may even reach one of these solutions eventually!
- However, the challenge is to find the shortest solution, both in terms of the number of moves made and – more importantly – keeping the running total as small as possible.
- The best way to tackle this maze is to think several moves ahead and consider what sequence of divisors will be needed to make progress toward to the goal. Random clicking will result in you getting hopelessly lost very quickly!
- Trying to work backwards from the finish is often a good strategy when solving a logic maze, and this maze is no exception. Such tactics can be very beneficial, especially if you're struggling to get close to the goal, but you may have to make an educated guess as to what the final running total might be.
If maths isn't your forte, then you can turn on lazy mode by using the checkbox to the right of the maze grid. This will highlight all the possible legal moves in yellow, allowing you to make faster progress and forget about the maths. Unfortunately, I've found that using this mode encourages speculative clicking, which can ultimately make the maze harder, rather than easier, to solve. In my opinion, having to concentrate fully on each move is more efficient in the long term because it allows you to develop a more detailed mental map of the paths running through the maze.
Having trouble? You can view the if you are really struggling. This will ruin the puzzle for you, so I would strongly advise against giving up too early!