Mazes and labyrinths in games

Labyrinths and mazes

Games use mazes and are used in games all the time. They are sometimes used as filler to make the game artificially longer, or used as a gameplay mechanic. Games are not usually set in a maze of a labyrinth, but are laid out like one. Games like LoZ and Dark Souls have a labyrinth layout and are designed to encourage exploration. In Dark Souls you are not given a map, so it adds to the sense of being lost and the feeling of hopelessness.  Because there is no map, the game feels more like a maze. This design choice also makes the player more attached to the visuals and environment because the player needs to learn the game world in order to remember where to go.

Above are maps from Dark Souls and LoZ. As you can see, they are both very complex, and are designed to send the player in lots of different directions.

Skyrim is a game that uses maps, labyrinths and mazes very well. You can tell that cartography and map exploration will play a huge part of the game when a map of the world comes inside the games box. Skyrim uses a large open world with a highly explorable map, alongside many caverns with maze/labyrinth layouts in the hope to get players lost.