I wanted to take some time to look at the board game Labyrinth by Ravensburger. I was browsing around my local Target and saw the game and decided to look into a bit of the history of the game. We know I love anything to do with mazes and labyrinths and maybe this would make a good gift (SPOILER: it does !).
The History
Ravensburger’s Labyrinth board game was designed by Max Kobbert and published in 1986. Kobbert was a German psychologist who was interested in creating games that would help children develop their problem-solving skills. Starting with the game Colomino in 1973, Kobbert started his long history of developing over 25 board based games, many based on labyrinths. In 1986, Labyrinth was an immediate success when it was first released. It was praised for its simple gameplay, its challenging maze, and its educational value. The game has been translated into over 30 languages and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
Gameplay
Labyrinth is a competitive game for two to four players, ages 8 and up. The game board is a maze of tiles, and players race to collect all of their treasures and return to their starting space. The maze can change every turn as players slide tiles in and out. During your turn your goal is to reach the character in the maze that matches the first card in your hand by following the pathways on the board. You may also use a tile to slide the maze on the board to help you get there (or block other players from moving in the board).
Here are some of the reasons why the game Labyrinth has been so successful:
It is a simple game to learn, but it can be challenging to master.
The maze is constantly changing, so players have to be strategic in their movements.
The game is competitive, but it is also cooperative. Players have to work together to collect all of the treasures, but they also have to compete to reach the finish line first.
The game is educational. It can help players to develop their problem-solving skills and their spatial reasoning skills.
Labyrinth versions:
The success of the game led to new versions of it throughout the years. Initially those versions were not branded, like Junior Labyrinth (1995), Master Labyrinth (1991), Secret Labyrinth (1998), Labyrinth: The Card Game (2000) and 3D Labyrinth (2002). In 2003 co-branded versions of the popular game began with a collaboration with the book/movie Lord of the Rings. The success led to more co-branded games:
The Lord of the Rings Labyrinth (2003)
Star Wars Labyrinth (2012)
The Amazing Spider-Man Labyrinth (2012)
Disney's Frozen Labyrinth (2014)
Marvel Heroes Labyrinth (2015)
Sonic the Hedgehog Labyrinth (2017)
SpongeBob SquarePants Labyrinth (2018)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Labyrinth (2019)
Harry Potter (2019)
Pokémon Labyrinth (2021)
Super Mario Labyrinth (2021)
Disney Villains (2022)
As of this writing, there are currently 8 games available on the Ravensburger site, shown below, while the older games can be found for sale on sites like ebay:
If you are looking for a fun family game, this would make a great gift !
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