Build and share Chess Maze levels

Chess Maze includes a full level editor in the browser. You draw a board, drop pieces and gadgets, set a finish flag, then playtest the maze yourself. When it feels fair, you share a link or submit it to the community pool so other players can try to beat your move count.

Open the editor from play.chess-maze.com after you have a feel for official levels. Building is more fun once you know why a knight ignores holes and why a plate is not a key. The mechanics guide is the rules companion for this page.

What you can place

• Board squares and holes — paint the maze shape. Holes block sliders; knights jump them.
• Pieces — any of the six chess types, white or black. Pawns remember a starting square for the double-step.
• Coins, gems, and letters — pickups. Letters need a spell word configured before they validate.
• Keys and locked squares — four colors. Each color uses a key or plates, never both.
• Pressure plates — hold a color open while occupied. Multiple plates per color are allowed.
• Transform squares — change a piece type on landing. Max five per level, and they cannot share a square with other gadgets.
• Finish flag — required. The reach objective is created from this square.

Adding the first coin usually turns on “must collect before finish,” so the flag is not a shortcut around the pickup path. A move limit is optional. If you set one, playtesters fail when they go over it.

A good first maze

1. Draw a small connected shape with one or two holes for flavor, not a labyrinth.
2. Place one piece you understand well — a rook on a corridor, or a knight on islands.
3. Put the flag far enough that the obvious path takes a few moves.
4. Add two or three coins on squares the piece can actually reach.
5. Playtest until you can finish, then try to steal moves from your own solution.

If you cannot beat your level, players will bounce. If the only solution is a trick the UI never hints at, add a key color, a visible plate, or a shorter board. Official tutorial levels teach one idea at a time; community levels that do the same get more plays.

Locks that stay readable

Pick a color and commit. A blue key means “find blue, then the blue gates stay open.” Blue plates mean “someone has to stand here.” Mixing a blue key and blue plates on one level is rejected on save, because the solver would not know which rule is in force.

Same-color locks on the finish square are allowed. That can be a clean climax: collect the key, then step onto the flag. Putting a piece on the finish square is not allowed — the flag has to be a destination, not a spawn.

Share a link or submit to the pool

A shared link is the light path. Send it to a friend, Discord, or yourself on another device. The other player opens the maze without rebuilding it.

Community submission puts the level in the public pool after review. Submissions can be rejected for policy or quality reasons — offensive names, broken validation, or mazes that cannot be finished. You keep a license for us to host and show the level inside Chess Maze and related promotion. You should only submit boards you have the right to share.

Logged-in completions on community levels can still count toward leaderboards when the run is verified. Design with a honest best-move in mind; if a shortcut exists, someone will find it.

Playtest checklist

• Every coin is reachable with the pieces you placed.
• Every lock color has a key or at least one plate.
• The flag is reachable after objectives.
• No piece starts already stuck on a closed lock.
• Transform tiles list at least one allowed type.
• You have finished the level yourself at least once.

When the maze is ready, share it, then go solve someone else’s. The strategy page is written for solvers; many of those habits are also how you spot a cheap unintended skip in your own board.