Ravensburger is a German manufacturer of games, puzzles, toys, and educational materials best known internationally for its jigsaw puzzles, board games, children’s products, arts-and-crafts kits, and educational play items. Founded in 1883 in Ravensburg, Germany, the company has grown from a small publishing house into an international group identified by its distinctive blue triangle logo.1 The brand’s philosophy centres on three core principles: enjoyment, education, and togetherness. These values have guided the development of its games, puzzles, books, and toys since the company’s inception.2

The Ravensburger Group currently operates as a family of companies built around three global brands—Ravensburger, BRIO, and ThinkFun—alongside several national brands.3

The history of Ravensburger began in 1883 when Otto Robert Maier established a publishing business in Ravensburg, southern Germany. Originally named Otto Maier Verlag, the enterprise was not initially a puzzle manufacturer but rather a publisher of instructional and educational materials that reflected contemporary pedagogical philosophies.4 Maier emphasised learning through practical activity, promoting the concept that individuals could learn while doing and playing. This educational foundation became integral to the company’s identity, as Maier sought to combine entertainment with education rather than treating them as opposing forces.

A significant milestone occurred in 1884 with the release of the company’s first board game, A Trip Around the World. This game combined entertainment with geographical learning, allowing players to discover information about different countries while playing.5 This product established a recurring formula for the brand: play + learning + discovery. Throughout its subsequent history, Ravensburger would repeatedly apply this approach across games, books, puzzles, construction toys, and educational products.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the company expanded beyond instructional publishing to include children’s books, picture books, activity books, games, playing cards, craft products, and puzzles. This diversification transformed Ravensburger from a traditional publishing house into a broader children’s entertainment and education company. Its historical philosophy proved particularly suitable for children’s products, as it allowed entertainment to serve an educational purpose without resembling conventional schooling.

Ravensburger is perhaps most strongly associated with jigsaw puzzles today. It has become one of Europe’s best-known puzzle brands, offering designs ranging from simple children’s puzzles to complex adult puzzles containing thousands of pieces. Historically, its puzzle portfolio has featured themes such as landscapes, animals, architecture, art, fantasy, Disney characters, popular entertainment franchises, travel, nature, photography, and humour. The brand’s reputation in this category is closely linked to its emphasis on manufacturing quality, detailed imagery, and the tactile experience of assembly. Ravensburger describes itself as one of Europe’s leading brands for games, puzzles, arts and crafts, as well as children’s and youth books in German-speaking markets.6

One of the most recognisable elements of the brand is its blue triangular logo. Associated with Ravensburger since 1974, this deliberately simple symbol appears prominently on products and functions as a key identifier of quality and brand identity.7 For many consumers, particularly in Europe, the blue triangle immediately signifies puzzles, games, children’s products, learning, and family entertainment.

Although puzzles are its most internationally recognisable product, Ravensburger’s offerings extend significantly beyond puzzle manufacturing.

Jigsaw puzzles

The puzzle business encompasses children’s, family, and adult puzzles in numerous sizes and formats. The company also produces specialised experiences such as 3D puzzles, which adapt the traditional flat jigsaw concept into three-dimensional construction activities.

Board and family games

Ravensburger produces games for young children, families, casual players, experienced hobbyists, and social gaming occasions. Its portfolio includes both original titles and licensed properties.

Arts & Crafts

The company develops creative products that enable children and adults to create artwork rather than simply play conventional games.

Children’s books

Publishing remains part of the company’s heritage. Ravensburger continues to produce children’s and young-adult books, particularly in German-speaking markets.8

Construction and STEM-style play

A notable example of this category is GraviTrax, a marble-run and construction system where players build tracks and experiment with concepts such as gravity, motion, and momentum. Ravensburger explicitly connects GraviTrax to its historical “learning by doing” philosophy.9

Trading card games

Ravensburger has expanded into the trading-card-game market through Disney Lorcana, created in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company.10

One of Ravensburger’s most significant modern developments is Disney Lorcana, a collectible trading card game launched in August 2023. The game reimagines Disney characters within a fantasy setting where players take the role of Illumineers, using magical ink to summon versions of characters known as Glimmers.11 Unlike traditional Ravensburger puzzles, Lorcana targets the competitive and collectible trading-card-game market. Its gameplay combines deck building, collecting, strategy, competitive play, Disney characters, and fantasy storytelling. This title represents an important expansion of the company’s identity beyond its traditional European puzzle-and-family-game reputation.

It is necessary to distinguish the Ravensburger brand from the broader Ravensburger Group. The group currently unites three major global brands:

• Ravensburger: The core brand represented by the blue triangle, covering puzzles, board games, children’s games, arts & crafts, books, construction/educational play, and trading card games.
• BRIO: A Swedish toy brand famous for wooden railway systems. Established in Sweden in the 19th century, it later joined the Ravensburger family. Its products include railway toys, toddler toys, games, and construction items.12
• ThinkFun: An American-origin brand specialising in logic, brain, and educational games designed around problem-solving and learning through play.13

The group also operates several national brands, including Carlit, Alga, Wonder Forge, and F.X. Schmid.14

Ravensburger’s identity is not based solely on manufacturing toys; it is grounded in specific brand values:

• Enjoyment: Products should be entertaining and enjoyable.
• Education: Play can help people discover concepts, develop skills, and learn.
• Togetherness: Games and puzzles create opportunities for families and friends to spend time together.

These principles are direct descendants of the company’s original educational philosophy. Ravensburger describes its mission as creating products that encourage discovery, personal development, and moments of togetherness. Education has historically been unusually important to the company compared to many traditional toy manufacturers. Following the principle of “learning by doing,” different product categories target specific developmental outcomes: puzzles develop concentration and spatial reasoning; board games foster strategic and social skills; construction toys enhance creativity and problem-solving; children’s books support knowledge and literacy; logic games improve reasoning; and GraviTrax introduces physics and engineering concepts. This positions Ravensburger distinctly between a toy company, an educational publisher, and an entertainment company.

Although Ravensburger began as a German company, its products are now distributed internationally. The Ravensburger Group describes itself as increasingly international, with operations and markets across numerous countries.15 While the brand is particularly strong in Europe, it has developed substantial recognition in markets such as the United States, where products include puzzles, games, GraviTrax, and Disney Lorcana. The company also operates localised websites and subsidiaries for different markets; for example, its Japanese operation presents Ravensburger, BRIO, and ThinkFun as its three principal brands in Japan.8

Licensed intellectual properties form another significant part of the business. Ravensburger products frequently feature characters and franchises from major entertainment companies, including Disney and numerous pop-culture properties. This strategy allows the company to combine its established product formats with characters that already possess strong consumer recognition, exemplified by the integration of Disney characters into both puzzles and the Disney Lorcana trading card game.

Ravensburger’s identity can be understood through several key characteristics:

As of 2026, Ravensburger is best understood as a large international play-and-learning group with activities spanning puzzles, games, toys, books, arts & crafts, educational play, construction systems, and trading card games. Its three major global brands provide access to different categories and age groups,16 while the traditional blue triangle remains strongly associated with family entertainment. The company’s official online store showcases categories including jigsaw puzzles, 3D puzzles, board games, arts and crafts, GraviTrax, and Disney Lorcana, illustrating the breadth of its expanded portfolio.9

Ravensburger’s significance lies in its ability to combine traditional play with modern entertainment. It has survived for more than a century by adapting its product range while retaining a recognisable philosophy. Its evolution spans from 19th-century publishing and educational materials to board games, children’s products, international puzzle expansion, digital-era licensing, STEM-oriented play, and entry into the trading-card-game market. This combination of heritage and innovation is arguably the defining characteristic of the brand.

For several generations, Ravensburger has occupied a particular position in childhood and family life. A Ravensburger product may represent a child’s first puzzle, a family’s weekend board game, a teenager’s creative activity, an adult’s 1,000-piece challenge, a hobbyist’s 3D construction, or a collector’s trading cards. This broad age range is one of the company’s greatest strengths, as it has built an ecosystem around the concept of playful discovery rather than being tied exclusively to one toy category.

Ravensburger is one of Germany’s most historically significant toy, game, and puzzle brands. Its story began in 1883 with Otto Maier’s publishing company in Ravensburg, evolving gradually into a global entertainment and educational group. Its famous blue triangle has become particularly associated with high-quality jigsaw puzzles, family games, and children’s products. What differentiates Ravensburger from conventional toy manufacturers is its longstanding emphasis on education through play; its products are generally designed to encourage creativity, reasoning, discovery, concentration, and social interaction rather than merely occupying children.17 Today, the Ravensburger Group encompasses Ravensburger, BRIO, and ThinkFun, while the core brand spans puzzles, games, books, arts and crafts, construction systems, and newer properties such as Disney Lorcana.18 Ultimately, Ravensburger evolved from a 19th-century German educational publisher into a global play-and-learning company while retaining its central idea that entertainment, education, and togetherness can coexist within the same product.

1. About Ravensburger
2. About Ravensburger
3. Ravensburger Brands & Products
4. The Ravensburger Group
5. Digital tour guide – Museum Ravensburger
6. Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game | Ravensburger US
7. Disney Lorcana Turns the Page to the Next Chapter | Disney Lorcana by Ravensburger | Disney Lorcana by Ravensburger
8. ラベンスバーガージャパン
9. Ravensburger Online-Shop ► Jigsaw Puzzles, Games & more
10. Newsroom of Ravensburger AG – Ravensburger 2025: Growth in core business, drop in trading cards
11. Newsroom of Ravensburger AG
12. Ravensburger AG (via Public) / Ravensburger 2025: Wachstum im Kerngeschäft, Rückgang bei Sammelkarten
13. OTS: Ravensburger AG / Ravensburger 2025: Wachstum im Kerngeschäft, Rückgang …
14. Ravensburger North America, Inc. | LinkedIn
15. 1. The First Chapter: The Story Begins | Disney Lorcana by Ravensburger | Disney Lorcana by Ravensburger
16. Ravensburger Brands & Products
17. Ravensburger Gruppe – Geschichte, Management und mehr
18. RAVENSBURGER LIMITED overview – Find and update company information – GOV.UK