Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH is a German game company. It is a leader in the European puzzle market. A puzzle is a problem or enigma presented as entertainment; that is written down, acted out, etc. ...

History

The company founder was Otto Robert Maier. He began publishing in 1883 with his first author contract. He started publishing instruction folders for craftsmen and architects, which soon acquired him solid financial basis. His first game appeared in 1884, named "Journey around the world". 1883 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1884 is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar). ...

At the turn of the 20th century, his product broadenedto include picture books, books, children’s activity books, Art Instruction manuals, non-fiction books, and reference books as well as children’s games, Happy Families and activity kits. In 1900, the Ravensburger blue triangle trademark was registered with the imperial Patent office. As of 1912, many board and activity games had an export version that was distributed to Western Europe, the countries of the Danube monarchy as well as Russia. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... A trademark (Commonwealth English: trade mark)[1] is a distinctive sign of some kind which is used by a business to identify itself and its products or services to consumers, and to set the business and its products or services apart from those of other businesses. ... A patent office is a governmental or intergovernmental organisation which controls the issue of patents. ... 1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. ... == adam loves monkeys == A board game is any game played with a premarked surface, with counters or pieces that are moved across the board. ... Games of physical skill or dexterity test the body more than the brain, although strategic thinking may be required. ... Western Europe is distinguished from Eastern Europe by differences of history and culture rather than by geography. ...

Before First World War, Ravensburger had around 800 products. The publishing house was undamaged during the Second World War and continued to produce games in the years of the reconstruction. The company focused on childrens' games and books and specialized books for art, architecture and hobbies, and from 1962 grew strongly. The company started to produce puzzle games in 1964, and in the same year opened subsidiaries in Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In 1977 the company split into a book publishing arm and a game publising arm. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1964 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ...

Today there are approximately 1,800 available books and 850 games as well as puzzles, hobby products and CD-ROM titles at Ravensburger and its subsidiaries, which include Alea for "hobby and ardent game players" and FX Schmid for games and children's books. Ravensburger products are exported to more than fifty countries. The CD-ROM (an abbreviation for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (ROM)) is a non-volatile optical data storage medium using the same physical format as audio compact discs, readable by a computer with a CD-ROM drive. ...

Notable games

Games sold under the "Ravensburger" imprint:

• Amazing Labyrinth
• Dingbats
• Havannah
• Java
• Mexica
• Scotland Yard
• Tikal
• Top Secret Spies

Games sold under the "Alea" imprint: Dingbats® is the name of a board game that was devised by Paul Sellers and is currently manufactured by Ravensburger. ... Havannah is an abstract strategy board game invented by Christian Freeling. ... Java board game is a German-style board game which provides the atmosphere of the island of Java on a hexagonal board. ... Mexica is a board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and published in 2002 by Ravensburger in German and Rio Grande Games in English. ... Taxi, bus and underground tickets Scotland Yard is a board game in which a team of players, as police, cooperate to track down a player controlling a criminal around a board representing the streets of London. ... Top Secret Spies (German name: ) is a spy-themed German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and published in 1984 by Ravensburger. ...

• Puerto Rico
• San Juan
• Princes of Florence

Games sold under the "FX Schmid" imprint: Princes of Florence (German: Die Fürsten von Florenz) is a renaissance-themed German-style board game designed by Richard Ulrich and Wolfgang Kramer, and published in 2000 by Alea in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. ...

• Auf Achse
• Torres

Torres is a German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling. ...

External links

• Ravensburger's official site (http://www.ravensburger.com/).