Dead Ends

In an Orthogonal maze a dead end is a cell where three of the four walls are present. The solver can not continue when a dead end is reached, they most go back the way they came.

There are no dead ends on the solution path. The solution path consists of only: passages (cells with two opposite walls), corners (cells with two wall that touch), forks (cells with 1 wall) and crossroads (cells with no walls). If the solver runs into a dead end they know they have gone down the wrong path.

Mazes without dead ends are called braid mazes or purely multiply connected Maze. Braid mazes are harder to solve then simply-connected Maze -- because it is harder to figure out when you are lost. With simply-connected mazes you will know you have gone down the wrong path when you hit a dead end.

It is analogous to driving down a dead end street. If you reach the end of the street and you are not at your destination, you know that you have gone the wrong way.