Interview
“Gravity Maze has been phenomenally successful in the US, and now we’re seeing the same trend in the UK. It’s going to be the next big thing”
Kansas through Munchkinland to the Emerald City, competing challenges along the way using playing cards representing Courage, Heart, Brains, Magic and Wonder. Again, the game offers players unfamiliar with immersive games a “way in”. “Chapter one teaches you a little bit of the game mechanic, but even if you’re not a gamer you can easily get into it,” Francke explains. “Then you add on a little bit more in the second chapter. And then you have a really rich experience in the third. And you learn the game by playing, rather than reading an instruction manual.” The book/game hybrid model also
lends itself to new retail opportunities. “It fits perfectly into book stores, like Waterstones, which are a growing channel for games. Where we’re seeing growth is among young adults; they might not necessarily visit a toy store, but they do love to go to book stores.” Another successful sector for
Ravensburger is what Francke calls “children-led family games.” The Upside Down Challenge, which brings the family together to complete tasks while wearing goggles that turn everything topsy- turvy, is proving a huge success at retail. “We love it when the kids can win, and when parents fail,” Francke says. Licensed memory games are also enormously popular – so popular, in fact, that Ravensburger is just about to launch an adult version, based on the designs of Charles Eames. All the games in Ravensburger’s
children’s portfolio have an educational element of some kind. “We don’t mind games without a higher purpose, they can be exciting,
but they’re a little bit like pancakes: empty calories,” Francke says. “At Ravensburger, we like our pancakes with added little bits of spinach. You’re still going to love that pancake as a kid, but you’re getting something deeper from it.” The ‘good for you’ approach is
epitomised by ThinkFun, which joined the Ravensburger family in 2017, and which specialises in educational games for kids aged 8 and up. Its falling-marble logic game Gravity Maze is a Toy of the Year Award winner, and, according to Francke, “the definition of the pancake with spinach in it. ThinkFun games are great fun, but they have a purpose. Gravity Maze has been phenomenally successful in the US over the past five years, and now we’re seeing the same trend in the UK. It’s going to be the next big thing. It’s amazing because it encourages problem solving, collaboration and logical thinking, and offers open-ended play – there’s no winner. The reward is the feeling that you’ve solved something. Plus, it’s very hands-on.” Technology, however, can’t be avoided altogether. “We realise the importance of
connecting with our consumers where they spend most of their time, which is the digital world,” Francke says. “We want to be good at using digital channels to invite people to come and play physical games.” Ravensburger’s interactive marble run GraviTrax, in particular, has taken off on TikTok in a big way, with users posting their elaborate designs and generating thousands of likes. “We support user-generated content of that kind, of someone having a great experience that they’re sharing with their neighbour or their niece or their grandpa,” insists Francke – creating happy memories, after all, is very much part of Ravensburger’s DNA. “We believe that everyone in their life has had at least one fantastic game experience, whether it was playing Rummy with their grandparents, or Labyrinth with friends; everyone has that seed in them. And if we can get a little bit of water on that seed, and help it to grow… “There are so many ways to get into
games. You can start with Labyrinth, then move into Eldorado, which is the first type of deck-building game, and then all of a sudden you can play Villainous.” What ties all those experiences together, Francke believes, is the iconic blue triangle. “We have an ambition to be the most trusted game brand. We want that blue triangle to reflect what our games stand for, their quality of immersiveness and their accessibility. If you choose the blue triangle for a game for a three-year-old, you’re very likely to turn to Ravensburger again, and if you keep on having good experiences, you might end up playing with your teenagers, and with your neighbours, or between courses during a dinner party…”
The public thirst for novelty means new games are constantly in development, but until now, even though Ravensburger might see “a few thousand” games a year, only a handful end up being published. That might, however, be about to change. Thomas Bleyer, Group Director Corporate Development & New Business, is responsible for the Ravensburger Next Ventures programme, a new wing of the company set up primarily to identify and invest in product ideas and services that fit thematically with Ravensburger’s key business sectors. “There’s a strong internal innovation tradition within Ravensburger already
22| ToyNews | Spring/Summer 2022
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