Maze Puzzle Book as Conceptual Art: The Metaphors in Labyrinthos

SEATTLE - Oct. 13, 2013 - PRLog -- While treating the maze, any maze, as a journey, or a "life" journey, is an obvious metaphor, I wanted to expand and amplify this metaphor using the book format. I wanted to expand the expressive potential of the maze puzzle and develop it into an art piece.

The Labyrinthós book (28 pages, hardcover) consists of three major parts (these parts are also in the booklet and the folded card versions of Labyrinthós. The only thing different between the three formats is the length of the maze): the front cover, the interior maze, and the back cover. Each has a specific meaning but together they suggest a somewhat different gameplay from the traditional maze puzzle.


THE FRONT COVER

The front cover symbolizes the birth. That is the reason it is black. You, as the player, are going through the birthing process, coming out of the darkness of the womb into the light of the world which is the interior of the book.

THE INTERIOR MAZE

The inside of the book, the maze itself, is the metaphoric journey through life with all the trials and tribulations that each one of us goes through individually.

THE BACK COVER

The back cover symbolized death, the passing away of life. Many of you may be surprised by this metaphor because it means that the goal of this game is death! This certainly is NOT a typical gameplay destination. Of course, you can play this puzzle without seeing the goal as death but simply as the finish line. But in metaphoric terms of the book, the back cover symbolizes death.

It is important for me to stress that my intention is not to express death as something bad or evil or morbid but death as something very important and even welcomed: death as a completion of a life, a completion of a game, a completion of a story, a completion of a movie, etc.Death as something good. Of course, that goes against the traditional Western cultural view of death as bad or even evil, something to be avoided at all costs. But not all views see it as such.

That is why the back cover is white and uses minimal of graphics. If you are religious you can imagine it as something like heaven. If you are not, you can imagine it as a place of peace. To me the color white implies peacefulness.

GAMEPLAY IMPLICATIONS

I think that seeing the puzzle book through its metaphoric meaning suggests a different gameplay than the traditional maze puzzle gameplay. I think it opens up new possibilities and richness in a maze.

In this gameplay, the goal is not just to get to the end as quickly as possible. That would mean that you are essentially rushing to your death. Rather, the goal of the game is to enjoy of the journey. Metaphorically, the goal is to live as satisfying and rich a life as you can. So rather than rushing to solve the puzzle, the goal is to explore the puzzle. To explore all the spaces and paths before you reach the end.

But there is a complication that also has metaphoric meaning. While the goal is to explore the maze book, you cannot repeat your path. You cannot go over the same path twice. You cannot "retrace" your steps. The game ends once the player gets himself/herself stuck into a corner.

This ending also symbolizes death. But a different kind of death. The bad, evil kind. It represents an early death such as one that is caused by a tragic accident, a suicide, a murder, a disease. It is a death that is not a "completion" of a life but a tragic "tearing off" of a life.

(It may sound ridiculous, but Labyrinthós, in some ways, can be used to introduce children to the meaning of life and to the meaning of death.)

COLORING AS PART OF GAMEPLAY

Part of the metaphor that refers to the life journey is the coloring of your book. To lead a satisfying, full life, you play the game by exploring the spaces, by taking many different paths, by collecting as many points and as much treasure as you can and by coloring your journey. That is the metaphoric expression of "living life to the fullest."

So that even if you get stuck in the middle somewhere and the maze part of the game is over, you still have the coloring aspect of the game. You could potentially get yourself stuck in the beginning pages of the puzzle if you don't pay attention. This would be VERY frustrating if you are playing the puzzle by these rules. But that is part of a powerful expression that is intentional and that cannot be expressed with a video game or a board game. In those formats, you simply start the game over, no big deal. In this book, in which you are supposed to mark only one time, it is a BIG deal. It is the end. And you, as the player, may feel cheated and unfulfilled. But that is how people who die young feel. They feel cheated and unfulfilled. They feel like they have not been given the opportunity to live a full life.

But even then, you could make the "best of what you have" by coloring, as beautifully and as richly as you can, the parts of the book that you did get a chance to explore. And once you have done so then you are done. The game is over and you have a permanent record of YOUR journey through Labyrinthós.

CONCLUSION

Labyrinthós represents the culmination of my work with mazes. At least up to this point. This maze is the richest visually. It is the richest in philosophical expression. And it is the richest in gameplay opportunity.

My goal has been to take the simple idea of a maze puzzle and create something that has depth of meaning. My goal has been to take the maze puzzle and make it into ART while at the same time keeping the game aspects and improving the gameplay.

I hope that I've succeeded. But that is something that you will tell me once you get Labyrinthós and play it.

Labyrinthos is available through October 20 for a pledge via Kickstarter at:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/maciekjozefowicz/laby...