SmartGames

Smart Industries NV^[2] (also known as Smart NV^[1], Smart Toys and Games^[2] by its brand name SmartGames^[3]) is a Belgian manufacturer of educational toys and puzzles, best known for its single-player logic games. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Kontich, Belgium.^[1]

Smart Toys and Games was founded by Rolf Vandoren and Ariane Van den Bossche, initially as a distributor of other educational toy brands. In the mid-1990s, the company began developing its own products, introducing what it described as the first “one-player multi-level logic game” for children. The early SmartGames puzzles featured simple mechanics that challenged players to place pieces (such as roads, boats or penguins) on a game board to solve structured challenges. By demonstrating these games in toy shops, the founders found a market for logic puzzles that engage children while building cognitive skills.^[3]

As its puzzle games gained popularity, Smart expanded its reach beyond Belgium. The company established a U.K. branch (Smart Toys and Games UK) and a U.S. office to distribute its products internationally.^[2] In the 2020s, Smart Toys and Games grew through acquisitions: it purchased the British puzzle maker The Happy Puzzle Company in 2022, the online retailer All Jigsaw Puzzles in 2023, and the preschool toy brand Wow Toys in 2024.^[4][5]

Smart Toys and Games develops brain-teasing logic puzzles across several brand lines (such as GeoSmart, Happy Cube, IQ Games, SmartGames, SmartMax, and The Genius Square).^[5] SmartGames titles include games such as Penguins on Ice, Squirrels Go Nuts! and Quadrillion.^[5] The SmartMax is a line of magnetic construction toys,^[6] while GeoSmart is a more advanced STEM-focused building set for older children.^[7][8]

SmartGames puzzles have numerous awards in the toy and game industry.^[9] In Belgium, the SmartGames IQ puzzle series won a Henry van de Velde Award for consumer product design, recognizing the line’s innovation in brain-teaser games.^[10] Internationally, in the UK, the company’s games have earned several Right Start Awards in the Games & Puzzles category.^[9][11][12] In Denmark, they won several da awards.^[9] In Germany, its titles have received multiple Spiel Gut recommendations and awards, as well as one Kindersoftwarepreis Tommi award.^[9] In the US several of the company's games have won American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA), Games Magazine, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Awards and Parents' Choice Awards.^[9]

Its products have been reviewed multiple times in the Polish Rebel Times gaming magazine (in issues 53, 54, 55, 59, 61, 62. 63, 74 and 81).^[13]

• Official website