That’s how the cool kids call it!
To be fair: Those weren’t mazes.
But they looked like they were and their “logic” had me puzzled me a long time.
Transcript Podcast #9
Well, either way, they did a great job at getting lost in them. So to be fair, they were evil and unfair mazes. I think I even never figured out their logic. It was only when David Fox mentioned the key to getting through them on the blog/podcasts, it finally made sense.
Did you also use to believe you´d eventually get eaten by lions or tigers or something when you got lost long enough?
No. By something more otherworldly, judging from Zak’s reaction. I liked that the source of that noise wasn’t revealed, allowing your imagination to fill in the blanks. At one time I was pretty sure it was part of the solution to find a way out.
I discovered quite soon the logic of the jungle mazes, because only if you went back, Zak said “I get lost”.
Every real (normal) maze had something to let you check which door you went through:
- the geroglyphs inside the Sphinx
- the torches inside the Maya pyramids
- the colours around the doors inside the Mars’ face
…while in the jungle, no clues.
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That´s the part I love about the keeper of the sphinx. What is it? I know people have suggested a mummy but to me it was more like an animal. Like if the sphinx was an actual animal that roared like a lion or something.
@David what kind of being is the keeper of the sphinx supposed to be?
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I took that as an explanation why you were ending up in another room when backtracking. It usually took me 5 minutes or more to get through any jungle. It probably fed the illusion what a HUGE game this must be. Always saved my game directly afterwards!
I always imagined it as a very large animal. Maybe a sphinx, or a lion, or it transformed itself to whatever your worst fears were.
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I would have really liked to be able to die in Thimbleweed Forest™! They could have reused the berry picking animation…
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Zak was one of the first times teaching me about Egyptian history. Zak and Asterix.
Egyptian mythology is one of my favourite tropes in games. Did I mention I like mazes?
In real life they may not be so glamorous and interesting as in my imagination (spoiler alert: pyramids are just giant graves for giant egos).
Still they are always good for another surprise.
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Hands up who´s already been inside the great pyramid of giza. 
Spoiler alert: There´s no yellow crayon at the sphinx´s feet.
Then I’m not interested to visit it.
Spoiler alert #2: The most unrealistic thing in Zak by far is the severe lack of masses of japanese tourists in the great pyramid.
That’s probably true for every location in Zak!
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Owkay… by far… sure! 
Probably the last one drawing with a yellow crayon on the sphinx was put in jail for vandalism of historical monuments.
Considering the current state of egypt, jail would be the nicest option.
The confusing thing is that he was put in a jail in Nepal. Strange.
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That’s why I don’t leave the house without my visa exit codes!
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Did they also put those fun mine carts in it?
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