ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Depth-first search

Depth-first search is like a treasure hunt. You start at one spot, and then you look for the prize all around that spot, checking every corner and poking around everywhere. If you don't find it, you backtrack and go to the next spot, and do the same thing. If you keep doing this, eventually you will find the treasure (or run out of places to look).