Quickstart

Install it, carve a maze, walk it, and print the way out. Everything else is elsewhere.

1. Get it

py_maze needs Python 3.10 or newer and nothing else.

cd py_maze
pip install -e .

No install? Run it out of the checkout instead, from the folder holding the py_maze package:

python -m py_maze

Every command below works either way. Swap py_maze for python -m py_maze if you skipped the install.

2. Play a maze

py_maze

A maze is drawn, and you are asked whether you want to play. Press y.

• Arrow keys or WASD move your character, the o
• Start at the top, finish at the bottom
• h lights up the next step when you are stuck
• q quits, and prints your time and move count

3. Pick a size

py_maze -d easy          # 6 by 6 cells
py_maze -d hard          # 16 by 20 cells
py_maze -w 20 -H 12      # or say it yourself

The short flag for height is a capital -H. Lowercase -h is the help.

4. See the way out

py_maze --solve

The shortest route is drawn over the maze as a trail of . markers. Add --animate to watch the solver find it a wave at a time.

5. Keep a maze worth keeping

Every run prints the seed it carved from:

seed: 2024

Pass it back with the same size, and the same maze comes out again:

py_maze -d easy --seed 2024

Or write it to a file and play it later:

py_maze --save maze.txt
py_maze --load maze.txt

That is the whole of it

Six commands and you have used most of py_maze. What is left: