Toca Boca

Toca Boca

File:Tocaboca logo.png Logo
Industry	Video Games
Founded	2010
Founder	Björn Jeffery, Emil Ovemar
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." The company is under the Bonnier Group and based in Stockholm, Sweden. As of January 1, 2014, there are 29 employees. Its CEO is currently Björn Jeffery. Toca Boca was founded from Bonnier's Research and Development unit. The studio began in September 2010, and its first application was released in March 2011. The name Toca Boca translates from Spanish to "touch the mouth." It was chosen because of its simplicity and play on words.

Various applications developed

File:Screenshot of Toca Kitchen (game) by Toca Boca.png

Screenshot of Toca Kitchen.

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

Helicopter Taxi

Helicopter Taxi, the first application released by Toca Boca, is a digital toy that integrates augmented reality effects. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

List of applications developed

A list of applications released to the market is as follows:

• Toca Dance, February 2016
• 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. While most aspects between the two are the same, Toca Boca distinguishes digital toys as more "open ended" with fewer rules. 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.

Awards

Toca Boca has won:

2015

• Webby Award Finalist in the Mobile Sites & Apps category for Toca Nature
• 2015 BolognaRagazzi Digital Award Mention for Toca Nature
• iKids Award 2015: Best Learning App - Tablet for Toca Lab

2014

• Cinekid App of the Year for Toca Pet Doctor
• The National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) for Toca Town (Silver)
• The Lovie Award Silver Winner in the Mobile & Applications category for Toca Lab
• Junior Design Awards 2014, Shortlisted for Best Children's App
• App Store Best iPhone Apps of 2014 for Toca Lab
• App Store Best iPad Apps of 2014 for Toca Nature

2013

• The KAPI Award for Most Pioneering Team in Children's Technology
• Bestekinderapps.de Best Innovative Apps & Games for Kids 2013 for Toca Tailor and Toca Hair Salon Me
• TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Kids Audience Choice Favourite digiPlaySpace App Award for Toca Kitchen
• iKids Award 2013: Best Game App - 6 and Up for Toca Tailor
• Parents Choice Award for Toca Tailor (Gold), Toca Hair Salon 2 (Silver), Toca Band (Gold), Toca Builders (Gold), Toca Train (Silver)

2012

• The US Moms' Choice Awards (MCA) for Toca Band (gold) and Toca Tailor (gold) in Apps & Software
• The Lovie Awards for Toca Kitchen (bronze) and Toca Hair Salon (shortlist entertainment)
• The National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) in the Virtual category for Toca Kitchen (gold) and Toca Train (honors)
• The Parents' Choice Awards for Toca Tea Party (gold), Toca Kitchen (gold), Toca Robot Lab (gold), and Toca Hair Salon (silver). Toca Boca was the only development studio in the mobile category to win three gold awards.

2011

• The Telenor Digital Prize
• The National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) for Toca Hair Salon (gold) in Children's Media / Virtual Category

External links

• Toca Boca official website

• 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.