  Recent advances in vortex imaging allow for tracing the position of
individual vortices with high resolution. Pushing an isolated vortex through
the sample with the help of a controlled $dc$ transport current and measuring
its local $ac$ response, the pinning energy landscape could be reconstructed
along the vortex trajectory [$\text{L. Embon } et\ al.$, $\text{Scientific
Reports}$ $\mathbf{5}$, $7598$ $(2015)$]. This setup with linear tilts of the
potential landscape reminds about the dexterity game where a ball is balanced
through a maze. The controlled motion of objects through such tilted energy
landscapes is fundamentally limited to those areas of the landscape developing
local minima under appropriate tilt. We introduce the Hessian stability map and
the Hessian character of a pinning landscape as new quantities to characterize
a pinning landscape. We determine the Hessian character, the area fraction
admitting stable vortex positions, for various types of pinning potentials:
assemblies of cut parabolas, Lorentzian- and Gaussian-shaped traps, as well as
a Gaussian random disordered energy landscape, with the latter providing a
universal result of $(3-\sqrt{3})/6 \approx 21\%$ of stable area. Furthermore,
we discuss various aspects of the vortex-in-a-maze experiment.
