[4] After a brief family exile in Saxony and Austria, Selten returned to Hesse, Germany, after the war and, in high school, read an article in Fortune magazine about game theory by the business writer John D. McDonald.

He recalled later, he would occupy his "mind with problems of elementary geometry and algebra" while walking back and forth to school during that time.

Selten was professor emeritus at the University of Bonn, Germany, and held several honorary doctoral degrees.

For the 2009 European Parliament election, he was the top candidate for the German wing of Europe – Democracy – Esperanto.

He is noted for his publishing in non-refereed journals to avoid being forced to make unwanted changes to his work.