Scary Maze: How This Flash Game Became Feared

Scary Maze: The Internet’s Classic Jump-Scare Prank

Scary Maze was a deceptively simple Flash game that turned an ordinary maze into one of the internet’s most memorable jump-scare pranks. Players guided a dot through narrow paths without touching the walls. The challenge—especially the third level—made them concentrate intensely. Just before the finish, a frightening face appeared with a shrill scream.

Created in 2003 by Jeremy Winterrowd, the game took off a few years later. In 2006, a home video of a boy being tricked into playing it was uploaded to YouTube, inspiring countless copycat prank videos. Friends and relatives would be persuaded to try the “innocent” game while someone filmed their reactions. The narrator revisits the maze himself and admits that the scare still gets him.

At the trend’s peak, Saturday Night Live spoofed the reaction-video craze with Bobby Moynihan, whose character responds by destroying a computer monitor and wetting himself. The prank remained popular for years, with videos still attracting large audiences as late as 2016.

The narrator argues that Winterrowd deserves more recognition. His work helped popularize the hidden-jump-scare format and showed how one creator’s idea could shape internet culture. For many, Scary Maze was an early lesson that seemingly harmless things online might conceal a nasty surprise.

Personalities Mentioned or Featured

• Wavywebsurf — Narrator and host
• Jeremy Winterrowd — Creator of Scary Maze
• Bobby Moynihan — Featured in the SNL parody
• An unnamed boy — Featured in the early viral prank video