14 Facts About Reiner Knizia

Reiner Knizia was born in West Germany in 1957 and earned a doctorate in Mathematics from the University of Ulm before designing games full time.

Reiner Knizia is frequently included on lists of the greatest game designers of all time.

Reiner Knizia played Monopoly, which had an impact mainly because the paper money allowed other forms of creativity, such as game design.

Reiner Knizia later gained a Master of Science degree from Syracuse University in the United States and a doctorate in Mathematics from the University of Ulm in Germany.

Reiner Knizia went on to manage a two-billion-dollar mortgage services company in the United Kingdom, from which he was able to retire at age 40.

Reiner Knizia published many magazine-based games while writing for Spielbox, and began having success publishing boxed games in the 1990s, with two games themed around digging for gold.

Reiner Knizia started developing games for his play-by-mail game zine Postspillion, founded in 1985.

One of Reiner Knizia's best selling games is Lord of the Rings, published in 17 languages with over one million copies sold.

An original game for the Nintendo DS, Dr Reiner Knizia's Brainbenders was published in 2008; Keltis for the NDS followed in 2009.

Reiner Knizia has designed various game applications specifically for the iPhone, including Robot Master, Dice Monster, Labyrinth and Pipes.

Over several years Reiner Knizia has developed a number of hybrid boardgames with electronic components, most notably with German publisher Ravensburger.

Reiner Knizia has designed small two-player card games, children's games, and even a live-action roleplaying game.

One element of modern game design that Reiner Knizia has pioneered is abstract theme.

Reiner Knizia has been designing games since at least the 1990's.