Daedalus Versus Minotaur

Daedalus was a handy guy in Greek mythology. Father of Icarus, he made those famous wings. He also invented carpentry and many of its tools? Like the axe, the saw, and glue. GLUE. He invented masts, and sails for ships. He also helped create the Minotaur (don’t look that part up) and was tasked by King Minos with building a labyrinth to imprison it. Later, Daedalus and his son Icarus are imprisoned in that same labyrinth, and that’s where the wing invention came in. Like all mythology, these tales are 100% true and not metaphorical or anecdotal.

Anyway, Daedalus Versus Minotaur from Orange Thief focuses on the “building and escaping the labyrinth” part of the Daedalus mythos. There is a free, asynchronous two-player only version, or a $1+ “full” version where you can also play against the computer. Basically, the first player has 30 seconds (or however long you want from 10-90 seconds – the options menu lets you customize the time limit) to build a labyrinth. False paths are key!

Then, the other player has that same 30 seconds (also adjustable) to escape the labyrinth! The kicker is that the escaping is done in a three-dimensional, first-person view, like one of my old favorites from my younger days, 3D Maze on the VIC-20. A Pulp first! You can use first-person tank controls with A/B for strafing, or swap those for “modern” controls. There’s a lot of customizability here!

In the one-player mode, you only play as the escaping Minotaur. The difficulty level is very adjustable, and it will give you fun map ideas to use when you play against your friends. The computer loves to use two very different routes right off the bat – if you pick the wrong one from the start, you’re not going to escape in time! It keeps track of your score at the end, too, so you can see who’s winning.

There’s not much more to the game besides this, but it is fun, fast, and very frantic. I haven’t ran this fast through a first-person Playdate game towards a possible-but-not-likely exit since Under the Tree. Trap your friends, if you can!

(Released April 12, 2023, on Itch. Two-player mode free; one-player mode $1 or more. Copy provided by developer.)