Mazechase

Mazechase is a term used to describe a class of pursuit-evasion puzzles and games in which a pursuer attempts to capture an evader within a maze. The environment may be static or dynamic, with walls that shift, doors that open and close, or teleporters that relocate players. The goal for the runner is typically to reach an exit or to avoid capture for a set period, while the chaser seeks to force capture.

Origins and scope: The phrase emerged in puzzle and game design communities in the late 20th century and has since appeared in academic discussions of pursuit-evasion on graphs and grids. It denotes a family of scenarios rather than a single canonical game, applicable to both classroom exercises and game design.

Rules and variants: Most mazechase formulations feature two agents—runner and chaser—moving in discrete time steps on the nodes or cells of a maze. Movement can be simultaneous or alternating, and visibility may be full or partial. The maze itself may be fixed or subject to changes triggered by time or actions, introducing dynamic strategy. Capture occurs when the chaser occupies the same cell as the runner, or when the runner is blocked from escape. Some variants introduce multiple pursuers or evaders, or probabilistic elements affecting perception.

Analysis and applications: Mazechase problems intersect pursuit-evasion, graph search, and autonomous planning. They are used to study strategies such as containment, patrolling, and path prediction, and have practical relevance in robotics, surveillance, and AI education. Related topics include pursuit-evasion, maze generation, and graph search.