Answer: Maze 157

Here is the way through Maze 157. The orange line shows Beep’s route from the top-left corner to the gold star.

The route as arrow code

Each arrow is a direction and each number is how many squares to move. The whole route is 42 moves long and has 26 turns.

↓ 4  → 4  ↑ 1  → 2  ↓ 1  ← 1  ↓ 1  ← 1  ↓ 1  ← 1  ↑ 1  ← 1  ↓ 2  ← 1  ↑ 1  ← 1  ↓ 2  → 3  ↑ 1  → 2  ↓ 1  → 1  ↑ 2  → 1  ↑ 1  → 1  ↓ 3

Show the route step by step

1. Go down 4 squares.
2. Go right 4 squares.
3. Go up 1 square.
4. Go right 2 squares.
5. Go down 1 square.
6. Go left 1 square.
7. Go down 1 square.
8. Go left 1 square.
9. Go down 1 square.
10. Go left 1 square.
11. Go up 1 square.
12. Go left 1 square.
13. Go down 2 squares.
14. Go left 1 square.
15. Go up 1 square.
16. Go left 1 square.
17. Go down 2 squares.
18. Go right 3 squares.
19. Go up 1 square.
20. Go right 2 squares.
21. Go down 1 square.
22. Go right 1 square.
23. Go up 2 squares.
24. Go right 1 square.
25. Go up 1 square.
26. Go right 1 square.
27. Go down 3 squares.

A trick you can use: the hand-on-the-wall rule

Here’s an old maze trick. Put one hand on a wall at the start and keep it touching the wall as you walk. Never let go! In a maze like this one, where all the walls are joined together, you will always reach the end. It isn’t always the quickest way, but it never gets you lost.

Robot vacuum cleaners use a similar idea to follow the edges of a room. Following a simple rule over and over is a very computer-ish way to solve a problem.