Alga (game publisher) explained

Alga
Industry:	Board games
Founded:	1917 in Stockholm, Sweden
Parent:	Brio Ravensburger

Alga AB is a board game publisher founded in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1917, which has produced board games in multiple languages for the Nordic countries. It was formed as a subsidiary of Pressbyrån, a chain of convenience stores. Alga took care of the distribution of postcards and writing materials. In 1938, it started manufacturing board games. In 1940, Pressbyrån itself took over the production of postcards, and the connection between Alga and Pressbyrån was broken by the Bonnier Group, which owned both companies. The old Alga was later transformed into Bokförlaget Forum, while the game production continued under the brand name Alga.^[1] It took over the publication of Monopol (Monopoly) from Åhlén & Åkerlund, another Bonnier company.^[2]

In the 1960s, the company was modernized with, among other things, the current logo, Alga in white text against a red circle as a background. The company also moved from Stockholm to Vittsjö where a new factory and headquarters were built.^[3] At the same time, Alga also became a distributor of toys, including Monchhichi.^[4]

Dan Glimne was product development manager at Alga from 1980 to 1989.^[5] Alga has been owned by Brio since 1983. The factory in Vittsjö was closed in 2006 and the head office was moved to Malmö. In 2015, Brio and Alga were bought up by German toy manufacturer Ravensburger.

Games publications (selection)

Original Swedish designs

Bondespelet ("The Farmer Game", taken over from the defunct publisher Aristospel ca. 1974; also published in Danish, Finnish, and Norwegian)^[6]
Drakborgen (1985; later published in English as Dungeonquest)^[7]
- Drakborgen II (1987 expansion set; also published in English as Heroes for Dungeonquest and Dungeonquest Catacombs)^[8]
Jägersro (a horse racing game first published in the 1950s, named for the racing facility in Jägersro)^[9]
Oljan ("The Oil", first published 1960)^[10]
Tjuv och polis ("Thief and police", first published 1943)^[11]

Games adapted from overseas originals

Alfapet (Scrabble)
Cluedo
Crossbows and Catapults
Den försvunna diamanten (Afrikan tähti)
Formula 1
Girl Talk
Karriär (Careers)
Memory (Concentration)
Monopol (Monopoly; ca. 1938-1978)
- Matador (Danish derivation of Monopoly with a circular track; taken over by Brio in the 1970s and continues to be marketed by Alga as Brio's board game subsidiary)^[12]
Rack-O
Rail (Railway Rivals)
Risk
2001: the space age game (Domain)
Table Soccer
Yatzy

Traditional board games

Games based on TV series

Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter
Kojak (from an English-language original published by Milton Bradley)
Mysteriet på Greveholm^[13]
Teletubbies
Vem vill bli miljonär? (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?)

References

Arne Sandström, Vykortets historia, Trafik-Nostalgiska Förlaget, Stockholm, 2015, p. 58.
Web site: Alga . . 2024-09-10.
https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1089418626 Johannesson, Ika & Wilhelmsson, Jimmy, Boken om ALGA, Fandrake, Stockholm, 2023
Web site: Alga, en vitamininkektion för Vittsjö . vittsjobjarnum.nu .
News: Gustavsson . Anton . Mannen bakom Alga-spelen . Svenska Dagbladet . December 9, 2009 . Swedish.
Web site: Bondespelet . . 2024-09-10.
Rolston. Ken. Ken Rolston. April 1991 . Roleplaying Reviews. Dragon. TSR, Inc.. 168. 37–38.
Woods. John . June 1988 . Never Cross the Beams. The Games Machine. Newsfield. 7. 115.
Web site: Jägersro; spelregler . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304135754/http://www.algaspel.se/~/media/Alga/Files/Rules/se/Jagersro_SE.ashx . 2016-03-04 . Alga . pdf .
Web site: Sällskapsspel står sig bra mot datorspel. https://archive.today/20130418103616/http://ltz.se/nyheter/ostersund/1.1333247-sallskapsspel-star-sig-bra-mot-datorspel. 2013-04-18.
Web site: Alla spelar alga . Alga . https://web.archive.org/web/20161009150729/http://www.algaspel.se/AboutAlga.aspx . 2016-10-09.
Web site: Matador . . 2024-09-11.
Web site: Regler & Manualer: Mysteriet på Greveholm. Alga. sv. 2024-09-11.