The company was started in 1974 by Steve Richardson and Dave Tibbetts and was called Stave—a portmanteau of their first names.

Steve Richardson moved from New Jersey to Vermont in 1969 and started a game design business with Dave Tibbetts.

[6] Owners of Stave Puzzles include Queen Elizabeth II, Barbara Bush, Stephen King, Julie Andrews, Tom Peters, and Bill Gates.

Illustrators and Stave craftspeople work together on the design to reduce the number of visual cues that would normally make it easy to put together a traditional puzzle.

[12] An example of a Stave Trick puzzle is Champ, which is made up of 44 blue pieces and fits together 32 different ways, only one of which is correct where the serpent eats its own tail.

[13] The difficulty rating system for Trick puzzles is measured on a scale of one to five lightning bolts, with five being the most difficult.

The four main types of limited edition puzzles include: Double Deckers; Riddle; Mystery Story; and Trick.

[citation needed] In general, the limited editions also include items that fit the theme and help guide the player through the puzzle and additional games.

Taking Time Traveler as an example, the entire puzzle has a theme, and solving the tricks and re-arranging the pieces is linked to a story and learning about history.