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You have a great idea for a new game?
You have a great idea for a new game? Then this is the right place! On the following pages, you will find all you need to know, right from the first game idea through the first test games and up to it possibly being published by Ravensburger Verlag. This service is directed mainly at first-time designers. Appointments with the corresponding publishing editorial staff of Ravensburger Verlag at trade fairs and events are possible, after prior arrangement.
If you have already published one or more games, then please contact the Ravensburger Verlag (including a list of your published games) directly.
Our Team
Sarah Stark
Katja Lehmann
Claudia Geigenmüller
Congratulations, dear Mrs. Malfèr!
The author Andrea Malfèr lives in Austria and is a mother of three children. Her children are her big task in these years. Together with them, she likes to be outside in nature.
At the Nuremberg Toy Fair 2018, Ravensburger Verlag presented her game "My first dress-up game". The game was released in September 2018. How does the game work?
It's very simple. You dress illustrated figures with pretty felt clothes. There are different colored caps, pants, tops and shoes. What you put on depends on what color you roll the die. So it's a mix of luck and taste how the figure ends up dressed. Finally, each character gets a small toy, which the children can choose.
How did the idea for your game come about?
I've always liked to tinker, preferably with paper, scissors and glue. I often feel sorry that all things are so readily available, everything can be bought, and cheaply too. It doesn't pay at all to make toys for your own children. I love doing it though. It's so cool to look at a picture book that has your own family members in it as photos. Or once on vacation we made a ship out of cardboard, with a paper sailor, and some marbles as a cannon charge. The crafting was even more fun than the playing afterwards.
My daughter was 2 years old at the time and it was so nice to be able to do exactly the kind of things I like after 2 boys. I myself loved dress up dolls when I was a girl, spending hours drawing and cutting out dresses for them. Probably the idea came from that, so exactly I do not know anymore. The material combination of felt dresses on cardboard figures seemed interesting to me, the handicraft stuff is always handy in our house, and so the first prototype was created very quickly and quasi incidentally. The idea and the game were born in a single afternoon, and everyone liked it, because it was one of the first games in which both the 2-year-old youngest and the 6 and 9-year-old brothers could play. Our game pieces were assigned to family members in the beginning, so daddy, mommy, and the three kids, it was just nice for everyone.
When you're not playing your own game - what are your favorite games?
Actually, my favorite game to play is "Schnapsen," an Austrian card game. I also like Mastermind, this combining and figuring out for myself which colors have to go where, that really suits me.
Congratulations on the publication Mrs. Danner!
Together with our author we are happy about her first published game at Ravensburger Verlag!
Eva Danner is a state-certified educator and was born in 1979 in Annweiler am Trifels. In addition to her profession, she works as an author and editor for various book publishers and publishes her own booklet series for educational work with daycare children. She came to designing games through her daily work with children, where she can always come up with new ideas and try them out with the little ones.nn.
Mrs. Danner, at the Nuremberg Toy Fair 2017, Ravensburger Verlag presented your first toddler game. What do the children have to do in your game?
The goal is to get the various farm animals into the dry barn before the oncoming rain shower. By rolling the dice, cow, horse and co. are puzzled into a free spot in the farm before all five raindrops are inserted in the big rain cloud. Because if the cloud is filled, the animals in the pasture get wet and the children have lost the game. However, if they manage to collectively bring all the animals into the barn, they have won the game passage. And if there is no other player, the game can also be used as a classic puzzle.
Recognizing and matching colors and simple shapes can be just as interesting as rolling dice or counting for the first time. It is also important to me that the content comes from the children's world and is comprehensible. Content that is too abstract or too complex slows down the enthusiasm of the youngest children and is counterproductive in my opinion.
When you're not playing your own game - what are your favorite games?
Due to my work with children, playing games as such is of course of great importance to me from a professional point of view. Games that inspire our youngest, inspire me as well, whether it's a simple memory or a puzzle. And of course I also have a lot of fun thinking up new games and trying them out with our little ones.
How long did it take from idea to publication?
From the idea to the publication it took more than 1 year.
What experiences have you had in your test match rounds?
The test game rounds took place under somewhat simplified conditions. Thus, we simply used a brown cloth as a stable in the nursery, on which the various cardboard animals were placed. But even with this prototype, the children had a lot of fun and everyone diligently helped to bring horses, cows, pigs and sheep to safety from the rain.
