A game about communication
Minotaur's Labyrinth
Two players, one maze. One sees the whole plan and gives directions; the other walks it nearly blind and must trust every word - a pure exercise in clear instruction and active listening.
What is the Minotaur's Labyrinth game?
Minotaur's Labyrinth is a two-person cooperative game. You generate one maze for the whole group - choosing its size, how many distinctive landmarks (a statue, an altar, a chest, a well, a skeleton…) to scatter and a time limit. Every pair plays the same maze from the same start.
Within each pair, Ariadne sees the entire plan - the walls, the exit, the landmarks and a slowly roaming Minotaur - but not where her partner is. Theseus sees only the cells immediately around him and moves one step per turn on Ariadne's spoken directions. Reach the exit to win; get caught by the Minotaur or run out of time and the pair is out.
Features
Key capabilities
Two complementary views
Ariadne gets the full top-down plan; Theseus gets a small fog-of-war window - they must talk to win.
Shared landmarks
Scattered objects give both players a common vocabulary: "head for the well, then left past the statue."
A roaming Minotaur
A slow beast wanders the corridors each turn - Ariadne has to steer Theseus around the danger she alone can see.
Live monitor and ranking
You watch every pair's maze, turn count and a ranking by escape time - and can set a time limit or end the round.
Coloured doors
Pairs of coloured doors teleport Theseus across the maze - the shortcut works only if Ariadne sends him through the right one.
Step by step
How it works
Create a session
Choose the maze size, the number of landmarks and a time limit; one maze is generated for everyone.
Participants pair up
They join with the code, then one starts a pair and shares its short code while the partner joins it in the other role.
They guide and walk
Ariadne describes the route by voice; Theseus moves one cell at a time, dodging the Minotaur toward the exit.
Debrief the communication
Compare escape times and discuss what the fastest pairs did - usually a shared reference system agreed up front.
Use cases
What it’s good for
- Training precise instruction-giving and active listening
- An icebreaker that forces a pair to build a shared vocabulary
- A debrief springboard on remote collaboration and briefing under pressure
- A pairs exercise in giving precise instructions
- Show how hard it is to describe something the other person cannot see
- An exercise in active listening
Training by Octigo
Want this run as a full training?
You are free to run our games and simulations on your own. But if you would like us to deliver a complete training, with a professional debrief and the concepts behind the “Minotaur's Labyrinth” simulation explained in depth, get in touch. Octigo is a professional training company with 20 years of experience and many awards for its simulations.
- 20 years of experience in corporate training
- Award-winning training simulations
- A professional debrief and takeaways after the session
- A programme tailored to your goals and your team
Prefer to write to us directly? szkolenia@octigo.pl
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