Matthias Etter

cuboro was developed by Matthias Etter as a simple educational game during his work with special-need students in Bern, Switzerland in 1976.

It started as a simple learning game with a few elements (cubes with channels and tunnels). If you assemble the elements correctly, a marble passes through to the end, i.e. the exercise has been performed correctly.

Depending on age and capability, the solution is achieved through logical thinking, trial and error, imitating, copying, learning by heart, step-by-step practice or even by feeling in case of visual impairment. 

The work with children with special needs motivated me to develop special music instruments. For m’ thesis I wrote an instruction for the ‘sound games in groups’. Then I developed puzzles (tailored to the ability of the single children) and other skilled games. So the origin of cuboro emerged; a simple element game, in which some cubes have to be connected to runs and holes. If a marble ball runs through it at the end, the mission is fulfilled.
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With time, Matthias Etter further developed the system and brought it on the market as a “multi-generational game” including cubes with 12 different functions in 1985. cuboro was successively extended with thematically chosen elements in supplementary sets.

Presently, over 80 different elements are available.

Playing is a natural thing to do for a child, a fundamental term. It is the beginning of (living-) experience through intuition, animation, creation and so on. Playing helps to find their own skills, the world of the things and connections and also the social and emotional relationship to other creatures. Playing never ends.
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The complete range of cuboro products is distinguished by its decision precise workmanship. 

Besides winning several awards and a large community of players, cuboro also gradually gained attention as a comparative system.

Thus, today, cuboro is not only played for fun, but is also used as teaching material, in scientific studies on spatial imagination, in occupational therapy, in team trainings, for aptitude tests, in promotional concepts, in theme parks and for championships.

 
cuboro-awards
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Chronology

1995

  • The second "Complementi" designer prize is awarded to the game

1996

  • Warehouse with shipping department is set up in Wieren/Germany
  • First Swiss cuboro championship on the occasion of the Toy Fair in St. Gallen
  • Supplementary set cuboro metro

1997

  • Foundation of the company cuboro Ltd. (AG, SA) Switzerland
  • First edition of the puzzle-game Alhambra with intern. protection of trademark
  • Exclusively for WWF Switzerland cuboro standard is manufactured from FSC-accredited wood

1998

  • Registration of cuboro trademark protection in the USA
  • Launching of the website www.cuboro.ch

1999

  • Supplementary set cuboro duo
  • New international protection of intellectual property

2000

  • Supplementary sets sixpack plus, multi, metro, profi, duo, marbelset
  • Fifth Swiss cuboro championship
  • First babel tournament at the trade fair "Suisse Toy" in Berne
  • International protection of trademark babel

2001

  • New company headquarters in CH-6086 Hasliberg Reuti/BE, Switzerland
  • Publication of the first cuboro book "cuboro 1"
  • Launching of the interactive web tool cuboro-webkit
  • Cooperation with the company Eduswiss (Seoul) starts, official representation in Korea (cuboro Korea)

2002

  • babel’s new edition, the more suitable "King-Kong" version
  • Translations of the book "cuboro 1" into 4 foreign languages (French, English, Dutch and Korean)

2003

  • Developing and marketing the new version of Alhambra, now including an extensive didactic guide
  • In Korea, the first cuboro-exercise books are published. Several extracurricular schools successfully offer courses for systematic playing with cuboro

2004

  • cuboro receives the German toy award "das goldene Schaukelpferd" in the category "artists and master builders"
  • Cooperation with the company Niki Tiki (Tokyo) starts, official representation in Japan (cuboro Japan)

2005

  • Cuboro cugolino is released, building and rolling from the age of 3 - 4 years old. Preliminary stage and addition to the cuboro system
  • cuboro participates at the World Fair EXPO 05 in Aichi, Japan, as one of the 60 Swiss top products, "Top of Switzerland"
  • cuboro cugolino and cuboro standard are now generally manufactured from FSC-accredited wood
  • 1st cuboro-championship in Germany on the occasion of the world's biggest toy event in Essen from October 13th - 16th

2006

  • cuboro cugolino pop, the complementary set to cuboro cugolino, lets the marbles bounce.
  • All cuboro-products are now manufactured from FSC-accredited wood
  • cuboro XXL, the big brother of cuboro, perfect for game festivals

2007

  • babel pico, smaller version of babel, made of renewable raw materials, well-priced

2008

  • Book "cuboro 2", 12 cuboro mastertracks, composed by Claus Gittner the "cuboro-professional"
  • The flowery family game "Serendipity" from Matthias Etter, published by Drei Magier/Schmidt Verlag

2009

  • cuboro supplementary sets "cuboro cugolino magic" and "cuboro cugolino sub", addition to the cuboro marble track system.

2010

  • cuboro supplementary set "cuboro cugolino hit"
  • cuboro book "cuboro 3" - mental exercise with cuboro
  • "cuboro creative thinking" - Didactic Manual - German edition

2011

  • cuboro jubilé - basic set for the 25th anniversary of cuboro, cuboro - 25 years creative playing pleasure

2012

  • cuboro mysterycube
  • cuboro creative thinking - Didactic Manual - English edition

2013

  • cuboro tricky ways – strategical board game for kids and adults

2014

  • cuboro Riddles – cuboro simulation games for IOS and Andriod platforms

New games and concepts for game animations are in the midst of development...