A-Maze-ing Fun: Ravensburger's Labyrinth Board Games

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:

Labyrinth game by Ravensburger collage

If you are looking for a fun family game, this would make a great gift !

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Maze of the Week #98 - Elm Road Drive In Theatre Sign

Maze of the Week #98 takes us back to a familiar theme on the site, retro sign mazes ! The Elm Road Drive In Theatre Sign is a wonderful retro sign for a still operating drive-in movie theatre located in Warren, Ohio. You can see what is playing here. You’ll notice the website prominently features the wonderful sign ! They still have a movieline !


YouTube: Although it discusses covid challenges, I like that this short video shows the sign prominently !

The Maze: I went black and white and stopped despite such great colors on the actual sign. The textures from the physical sign look great as a maze. And of course I had to give a nod to some great maze movies !

Elm Road Drive In Theatre Sign Maze in black and white

Elm Road Drive In Theatre Sign Maze

I hope you enjoy the maze. Maze download is available on the homepage. Please check out my YouTube channel where you can watch this maze being made and solved!!

Similar Mazes you may like:

Sit & Spin Laundry Sign Maze

Agora Theatre Sign Maze

Chicago Theatre Sign Maze

Coming next week:

A museum maze. We are 2 weeks away from a very special maze #100 !

Ken's Labyrinth: A Blast from the Past FPS Maze Game

Maze video games have a long history and where some of the biggest games from the video arcade era. Wikipedia has a whole page listing hundreds of retro maze games and the first maze game was developed in 1959 !!! Of course you needed a massive mainframe to play it…but it existed. Some of the most famous maze games are Pac-Man and all its sequels, Dig Dug, Gauntlet, and Rally-X. The game Maze, developed in 1973 brought us a first person shooter game that was played in a maze. Today I want to discuss one of the games inspired by that original first person game, Ken’s Labyrinth.

Ken's Labyrinth Video Game opening page

Ken's Labyrinth Video Game opening page

The History of Ken's Labyrinth

Ken's Labyrinth is a first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Ken Silverman when he was 17 years old and published by Epic MegaGames in 1993. The game is notable for being one of the first FPS games to feature interactive sprites and textures, as well as for its innovative use of the Build engine.

Silverman began development on Ken's Labyrinth in 1991, when he was still a teenager. The game was originally called Walken, and it was inspired by the Wolfenstein 3D engine. Silverman quickly realized that he could do more with the engine than just recreate Wolfenstein 3D, so he began to add new features and ideas.

One of the most significant features that Silverman added to Ken's Labyrinth was the ability to interact with sprites and textures. This meant that players could interact with objects in the environment, such as vending machines, slot machines, and even the enemies themselves. This was a major innovation at the time, and it helped to set Ken's Labyrinth apart from other FPS games.

Another innovative feature of Ken's Labyrinth was its use of the Build engine. The Build engine was a new rendering engine that Silverman developed specifically for the game. The Build engine allowed for more detailed and complex levels than previous FPS engines, and it also allowed for more realistic lighting effects.

Ken's Labyrinth was released in 1993, and it was met with positive reviews from critics. The game was praised for its innovative features, its challenging gameplay, and its tongue-in-cheek humor. Ken's Labyrinth was also a commercial success, selling over 100,000 copies.

Take a look at some of the gameplay:

The success of Ken's Labyrinth helped to launch the career of Ken Silverman. Silverman went on to develop the Build engine, which was used in many popular FPS games, including Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, and Blood.

Here are some additional facts about Ken's Labyrinth:

  • The game was originally released as shareware, with the first episode available for free. The full game was available for purchase.

  • The game was inspired by the Wolfenstein 3D engine, but it also incorporated elements from other games, such as Doom and The Legend of Zelda.

  • The game's levels were designed by Ken Silverman and his friend Andrew Cotter.

  • The game's soundtrack was composed by Ken Silverman.

  • The game was released for MS-DOS, and it has since been ported to other platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Want to give it a quick play ? There are plenty of emulators out there. Here is one to try.

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