"Ra" was published in 1999 by Alea in Germany. In an interview with Funagain Games, Knizia explains how he created the game : ""Ra" actually has a good story behind it; it was the first game I did after my retirement. Two or three weeks after my retirement I said, 'Okay, now let's get started.' That's the time, when I do a big game, that the world around me stops. I concentrate on this game and nothing else. And since I had more time, this concentration became even more extreme. For four to six weeks I did nothing but work on this game. "