How to Use the "Mazes" Group of the Time Savers Add-in for PowerPoint
Please note: Some changes may have been made to the Time Savers Add-in for PowerPoint since the making of this video.
The “Mazes” group is part of the “TS Create” tab (previously called “Time Savers 2”) of the Time Savers Add-in for PowerPoint.
The tools in this part of the Time Savers Add-in make it possible for you to:
Quickly and easily create a wide variety of custom mazes in PowerPoint.
With just a few clicks, you can:
- Create classic mazes with walls
- Build obstacle mazes with false paths
- Design text mazes using words, letters, or numbers
- Generate mazes inside shapes, letters, numbers, or your own custom designs
- Add one or two paths, each with their own start and end points
- Include stop points that learners must pass through
- Adjust the maze’s path width, length, and difficulty to suit your needs
Settings:
Path width:
- Choose between 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 points.
- Note: 10 points is not recommended when creating text mazes.
Path length:
- Choose between shortest possible, short, medium, long and extra long.
- Note: Path length may be restricted by the space available in the maze.
Difficulty:
- Choose between easy, medium, difficult and very difficult
- Difficulty is based on the branches. The more difficult the maze is, the longer and more complicated the branches are.
- Note: Difficulty may be restricted by the space of the available in the maze, after the path has been created with your chosen length.
Style:
Gates:
- Maze path passes through to and from the start- and end-points, as well as any stop-points in the maze.
Points:
- Start-points, end-points and stop-points are all marked with dots.
- Start: green
- End: red
- Stop: blue
Type:
Classic
- Mazes with clear walls and winding paths.
Obstacles
- Mazes with multiple possible routes where students must avoid obstacles to find the correct path.
Text
- Mazes where the path is formed by letters, numbers, or words that students need to follow.
Maze shape:
Provided shapes:
Basic Shapes (e.g. circles, stars, rectangles)
Numbers (0–9)
Uppercase and Lowercase Letters
Want to use a different shape?
Use a PowerPoint shape:
Draw or insert any shape you like.
Select the shape, then click Use Shape for Maze to build your maze inside it.
Use a custom image:
Click Insert Custom Image to add your own image (e.g. SVG, PNG, JPG).
SVG images: Right-click the SVG and choose Convert to Shape to make it editable for maze generation.
PNG or JPG images: Trace the image with the Freeform tool to turn it into a shape. Then select your traced shape and click Use Shape for Maze.
Cutouts:
Create a maze AROUND a shape or a group of shapes using cutouts:
- If the ‘Cutout’ checkbox is checked, any maze shape you insert will be inserted as a cutout instead of a maze shape.
- Place the cutout shape(s) over a regular maze shape.
- When you click ‘Create Maze’, the maze will be generated around the cutout shape(s).
Add points:
Creating Dual-Path Mazes
You can design mazes with two separate paths in two ways:
Single End Point: Add a second start point so two different paths lead to the same end point.
Separate Paths: Add an additional start and end point pair to create two completely separate paths through the maze.
Creating Mazes with Stop Points
Add up to three stop points that learners must pass through on their way from start to end.
Important: Stop points can only be added to single-path mazes, not dual-path mazes.
Creating Mazes with False Start-Points
Add up to three false start-points that do not lead to the end-point.
Learners must choose a start-point—only one will lead to the correct solution.
Important: False start-points can only be added to single-path classic mazes.
Moving and Customizing Points
Start points, end points, and stop points can all be moved and positioned freely to suit your maze design.
Each point marker consists of two shapes grouped together:
A dot, showing the exact location of the start, end, or stop point.
A rectangle, which creates an empty space in the maze next to the point. This allows you to insert images, icons, or other visual elements into the maze layout.
Chambers:
Add Chambers with dedicated entrances and exits to your mazes:
- When you click the ‘Add Chamber’ button, a group of shapes will be added on top of your maze.
- The orange rectangle is the chamber space.
- The green dot is the chamber entrance.
- The red dot is the chamber exit.
- Resize and position the chamber where you want it on your maze. You can also move the dots to suit your needs.
- When you click ‘Create Maze’, the maze path will split into sub-paths, automatically routing from the start point through each chamber’s entrance and exit sequentially before reaching the final end point.
Create your maze:
Once you’ve chosen your settings, selected your shape, and added any extra start, end, or stop points you want, you’re ready to generate your maze.
- Click the “Create Maze” button to build your maze.
- After the maze is created, it will automatically be selected, and the Format Shape panel will open on the right.
- To ensure smooth lines and joins in your maze, set the Join Type to “Round.”
Convert to Picture:
Easily turn your completed maze into an image with one click.
The original maze will be replaced with the unsolved version.
A solved version will be inserted as a separate image next to it—ready for you to move wherever you like in your presentation.
This helps avoid printing issues that some users have experienced when printing complex maze shapes.
