given a defined two dimensional area, ie 8x12 rooms, what would be the most efficient way to generate a labyrinth within that area with one clear path from point a to point b, and offshoots and herrings elsewhere?

This is more of an intellectual excercise that was stimulated by another project i am working on, but its one that could be totally useful for other things too...

This is very informative, showing how to build a mazes such that there is exactly one path from every point a to every point b.

When I had a similar problem, I used a maze generator. You can find some online or some downloadable programs. The one I used was this one:


Of course though, you'd probably want to donate or at least give credit. If you didn't want to do these, finding some freeware would probably work out fine. I copied the maze into Windows Paint, zoomed in and used the grid to work out the rooms. It took a bit of adjustment but once thats done, the rest is relatively easy.