Toca Boca

Toca Boca
Industry Video Games
Founded 2010
Founder Björn Jeffery,[1] Emil Ovemar[2]
Headquarters Stockholm, Sweden
Area served
 160 countries
Key people
 Björn Jeffery, CEO
Products Games and "digital toys"
Number of employees
 29
Website www.tocaboca.com

Toca Boca is a game development studio focused on child-friendly applications for tablets and smartphones. According to the company's website, "We make digital toys and games that help stimulate the imagination."[3] The company is under the Bonnier Group and based in Stockholm, Sweden.[4] As of January 1, 2014, there are 29 employees. Its CEO is currently Björn Jeffery.[3] Toca Boca was founded from Bonnier's Research and Development unit.[2][5] The studio began in September 2010, and its first application was released in March 2011.[3] The name Toca Boca translates from Spanish to "touch the mouth." It was chosen because of its simplicity and play on words.[6]

Various applications developed

Screenshot of Toca Kitchen.

Toca Boca applications have had a total of more than 70 million downloads and are available in over 160 countries.[7] Various applications developed include:

Helicopter Taxi

Helicopter Taxi, the first application released by Toca Boca, is a digital toy that integrates augmented reality effects.[8] Using a device's camera, the player designates six horizontal surfaces in reality as "The Beach," "The Tall Building," "The Factory," "The Hospital," and "The Hangar." The physical locations do not need to match the landing description, however, and the surfaces for landing do not need to be exact or consistent.[9] The toy's characters consist of two pilots and five passengers, and the objective is to pick up as well as bring the passengers to their destination by moving about with the device to simulate the helicopter flying.

Toca Tea Party

The second application released by Toca Boca, Toca Tea Party, imitates a tea party in the form of roleplaying. The player is able to design their table by selecting the tablecloth, dishes, music, and drinks.[10] Interactions such as "eating," "drinking," "spilling," and "cleaning up" exist. Party guests may consist of toys and/or people with the touch screen support for multiple users simultaneously.[11][12]

Toca Kitchen

Toca Kitchen allows the player to interact by choosing how to prepare a food (slice, boil, blend, etc.) in order to feed one of the four characters.[13] Each character has his or her own preferences of ingredient and style, evident through the character's reactions and willingness to eat a product. Food can be obtained infinitely many times and there are few limits to the number of times a food can be processed.[13]

List of applications developed

A list of applications released to the market is as follows:[14][15]

  • Toca Blocks, December 2015
  • Toca Life: School, October 2015
  • Toca Life: City, June 2015
  • Toca Kitchen 2, December 2014
  • Toca Nature, November 2014
  • Toca Boo, October 2014
  • Toca Life: Town, May 2014
  • Toca Pet Doctor, February 2014
  • Toca Lab, December 2013
  • Toca Hair Salon Me, November 2013
  • Toca Mini, October 2013
  • Toca Cars, September 2013
  • Toca Builders, June 2013
  • Toca Hair Salon 2, December 2012
  • Toca Tailor Fairy Tales, November 2012
  • Toca Tailor, October 2012
  • Toca Band, September 2012
  • Toca Train, June 2012
  • Toca Kitchen Monsters, March 2012
  • Toca House, February 2012
  • Toca Kitchen, December 2011
  • Toca Hair Salon - Christmas Gift, November 2011
  • Toca Birthday Party, October 2011
  • Toca Store, October 2011
  • Toca Robot Lab, July 2011
  • Toca Hair Salon, June 2011
  • Paint My Wings, May 2011
  • Toca Doctor, April 2011
  • Toca Tea Party, March 2011
  • Helicopter Taxi, March 2011

"Digital toys"

The term digital toy is sometimes used to differentiate certain apps from more typical virtual games.[16] While most aspects between the two are the same, Toca Boca distinguishes digital toys as more "open ended" with fewer rules.[17][18] However, neither are thought nor proven to have a more or less harmful or beneficial impact on players. While these "digital toys" are aimed towards children, it does not mean they are just for children.

The majority of Toca Boca applications are digital toys.[17]

Awards

Toca Boca has won:

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

References

  1. ↑ "Bonnier: Toca Boca a Hit at the App Store". Bonnier News Press. December 4, 2012. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Toca Boca Crunchbase Profile". Crunchbase.com. Retrieved Jan 2, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Toca Boca Website: About Page". Retrieved Jan 1, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Bonnier Website: List of Brands and Companies".
  5. ↑ Perez, Sarah (Dec 14, 2012). "Kids App Maker Toca Boca Pass 22 Million Downloads...". Tech Crunch. Retrieved Jan 2, 2013.
  6. ↑ Ostroff, Joshua (September 28, 2012). "The Triumph of Toca Boca". thegridto.com. Retrieved Jan 2, 2013.
  7. ↑ Stuart Dredge. "Toca Boca reaches 50m downloads of its iPhone and iPad apps for kids | Technology". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  8. ↑ "Toca Boca Website: Helicopter-Taxi (Game)". Toca Boca Studio. Retrieved Jan 1, 2013.
  9. ↑ Sterling, Bruce. "Wired- Beyond The Beyond: "Augmented Reality: Toca Boca Helicopter Taxi"". Wired.com. Retrieved Jan 1, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Toca Boca Website: Toca Tea Party". Toca Boca Studio. Retrieved Jan 1, 2013.
  11. ↑ JEFFERY, BJÖRN. "Toca Boca Blog: "Introducing Toca Tea Party"". Toca Boca Studio. Retrieved Jan 1, 2013.
  12. ↑ Lindgren, Chris. "Toca Boca: For Parents Toca Tea Party ("Letter From the Play Designer")". Toca Boca Studio. Retrieved Jan 2, 2012.
  13. 1 2 "Toca Boca: Toca Kitchen". Toca Boca Studio. Retrieved Jan 1, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Toca Boca Official Blog". Tocaboca.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  15. ↑ "Apple iTunes Store: Toca Boca". Apple Inc. Retrieved Jan 2, 2013.
  16. ↑ Fletcher-Watson, Ben (2013). "From stage to screen: adapting a children's theatre production into a digital toy", The Scottish Journal of Performance 1(2), p.42.
  17. 1 2 "Toca Boca Support FAQ: "What's the Difference Between a Digital Toy and a Game?"". Toca Boca Studio Official Website. Retrieved Jan 1, 2013.
  18. ↑ Johnson, Bobbie (Feb 2, 2012). "Toca Boca Heads for America". Gigaom.com. Retrieved Jan 2, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Webby Awards". WebbyAwards.
  20. ↑ "Children's Tech". Children's Tech Review.
  21. ↑ "iKids Award". Kidscreen.
  22. ↑ "Cinekid". Cinekid.
  23. ↑ "NAPPA". NAPPA Awards.
  24. ↑ "The Lovie Awards". Lovie Awards.
  25. ↑ "Junior Design Awards". Junior Magazine.
  26. 1 2 Spencer, Graham. "Macstories". Mac Stories. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  27. ↑ "Children's Tech". Children's Technology Review. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  28. ↑ "Bestekinderapps". Best Kinder Apps. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  29. ↑ "Toronto 4 Kids". Toronto 4 Kids. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  30. ↑ "Kidscreen". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  31. ↑ "Parents Choice". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  32. ↑ "Parents Choice". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  33. ↑ "Parents Choice". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  34. ↑ "Parents Choice". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  35. ↑ "Parents Choice". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  36. ↑ "Moms' Choice Awards Website". Momschoiceawards.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  37. ↑ "Toca Boca Website: Press: Awards Page". Tocaboca.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  38. ↑ "NAPPA Website". Nappaawards.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  39. ↑ "Parents' Choice Award: Toca Boca Page". Parents-choice.org. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  40. ↑ "Telenor Awards Press Release". Telenor.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  41. ↑ "Business Wire: Toca Hair Salon Named 2011...". Businesswire.com. Retrieved Oct 25, 2011.

External links

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