Maze box art

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Maze

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Maze

Dec 31, 1973

Main game

2.88 average rating based on 8 ratings

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Maze originated or disseminated a number of concepts used in thousands of games to follow, and is considered one of the earliest examples of, or progenitor of, a first-person shooter. Uncertainty exists over its exact release date, with some accounts placing it before Spasim, the earliest first-person shooter with a known time of publication. Gameplay is simple by later standards. Players wander around a maze, being capable of moving backward or forwards, turning right or left in 90-degree increments, and peeking through doorways. The game also uses simple tile-based movement, where the player moves from square to square. Other players … More
Maze originated or disseminated a number of concepts used in thousands of games to follow, and is considered one of the earliest examples of, or progenitor of, a first-person shooter. Uncertainty exists over its exact release date, with some accounts placing it before Spasim, the earliest first-person shooter with a known time of publication. Gameplay is simple by later standards. Players wander around a maze, being capable of moving backward or forwards, turning right or left in 90-degree increments, and peeking through doorways. The game also uses simple tile-based movement, where the player moves from square to square. Other players are seen as eyeballs. When a player sees another player, they can shoot or otherwise negatively affect them. Players gain points for shooting other players, and lose them for being shot. Some versions (like the X11 port) had a cheat mode where the player running the server could see the other players' positions on the map. Occasionally in some versions, a duck also appears in the passage. Less
Developers
Publishers
Platforms
Imlac PDS-1, PDP-10
Genres
Shooter
Themes
Action
Release Dates
1973 (North_America)
Imlac PDS-1, PDP-10
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User Stats
21
In Collection
9
Wish Listed
0
Playing
3
Backlogged
How Long Is Maze?
No playthrough data yet
scoopings
scoopings gave Oct 30, 2021
scoopings gave Oct 30, 2021
Finally, An Early Network Game I Was Able to Play With Others

Look: 8/10 I feel they did well with the execution of the 3d, and thank goodness for the map at the bottom. I wish I could play the true original, but this Xerox Alto version is super fun.

Sound: -/10

Play: 9/10 How fun! What a brilliant concept, especially for its time. It seems, like I was hoping, these early "first person shooter" games will help me overcome my aversion to the genre. Cuz this was great fun. Simple, with a map, playful, innovative. I'd like to try the single player version that I believe exists. I love the map at the bottom too. I can see the huge influence on basically all maze action and adventure games after this, but this as a self-contained multiplayer game is still as fun and fresh today as ever. I would argue that Maze War's controls are tighter than modern games, so it's just the fundamental gameplay of first person shooter -- turn corners and shoot first -- without frames-per-second issues, etc.

Feel: 9/10 We only played for like 30 minutes, and while I recognize its importance in gaming, it is more so getting me excited to engage better with later maze action …

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Look: 8/10 I feel they did well with the execution of the 3d, and thank goodness for the map at the bottom. I wish I could play the true original, but this Xerox Alto version is super fun.

Sound: -/10

Play: 9/10 How fun! What a brilliant concept, especially for its time. It seems, like I was hoping, these early "first person shooter" games will help me overcome my aversion to the genre. Cuz this was great fun. Simple, with a map, playful, innovative. I'd like to try the single player version that I believe exists. I love the map at the bottom too. I can see the huge influence on basically all maze action and adventure games after this, but this as a self-contained multiplayer game is still as fun and fresh today as ever. I would argue that Maze War's controls are tighter than modern games, so it's just the fundamental gameplay of first person shooter -- turn corners and shoot first -- without frames-per-second issues, etc.

Feel: 9/10 We only played for like 30 minutes, and while I recognize its importance in gaming, it is more so getting me excited to engage better with later maze action games, first person shooters, and first person RPGs that are coming up in my chronology. It really probably deserves a 10 but because we didn't play it for hours, and tbh there's no maps or adventure progression etc., it's chilling at a solid 9.

Attachment: 8/10 Even though we had a blast, I can't say with complete certainty I'll have many chances to have a friend figure out how to connect for this early network game. I'm sure as I move along my chronology this may fall aside, but I can't deny its importance, innovation, and surprising fun.

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scoopings
scoopings updated their status Oct 30, 2021
scoopings updated their status Oct 30, 2021

I'd really like to find a way to play one of the 70s versions of this, if any one knows how I can. Thanks!