Toca Boca

Toca Boca is a Swedish video game developer focused on child-friendly applications for tablets and smartphones – the studio has more than 70 active million app users worldwide.[3][4] Toca Boca's games are based on the idea that children should be able to understand them without adult instruction. The games cannot be won or lost, nor do they have high scores or courses.[5] The studio is, since April 2016, owned by Spin Master and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.[6]

Toca Boca
TypeSubsidiary
Industryes
FoundedJuly 18, 2010 (2010-07-18)
Founder
  • Björn Jeffery[1]
  • Emil Ovemar[2]
Headquarters
Stockholm
,
Sweden
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Fredrik Löving
  • (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Emil Ovemar
  • (co-founder and Head of Toca Boca Studio)
ProductsGames
digital toys
OwnerSpin Master
Number of employees
100-150
Websitewww.tocaboca.com

Toca Boca was founded in September 2010 by Swedes Emil Ovemar and Björn Jeffery, both of whom worked for the Bonnier Group. Ovemar and Jeffery felt that there was a lack of good educational and playful touchscreen games for the youngest players.[7] The company launched its first app, Helicopter Taxi, in March 2011 and has since released nearly 50 more apps, making Toca Boca one of the largest app developers in the children's games market.[8][9] Toca Boca’s apps has been downloaded more than 400 million times by users in over 238 markets ever since the first launch.[3]

In 2016, Bonnier sold Toca Boca to the Canadian toy and entertainment company Spin Master for SEK 263 million.[10][11] In 2020, Fredrik Löving took over as Toca Boca's new CEO.[12] Toca Boca saw significant growth in 2021, and Spin Master stated in its annual report that Digital Games, of which Toca Boca is a significant part, had a revenue of over US$ 174.8 million. Their monthly active users increased by 64% to over 70 million globally during the same period. Three-quarters of the users came from Toca Boca's most popular app, Toca Life World.[13]

Naming

Toca Boca means "Touch the mouth" in Spanish and comes from the fact that the player would touch the logo's colorful mouth to start the first games the company developed.[14]

Applications

Toca Boca has released 46 digital toys that have been downloaded more than 400 million times around the world, making it the No. 1 paid app publisher in the App Store.[15][16][17] Various applications developed include:

Helicopter Taxi

Helicopter Taxi, the first application released by Toca Boca, was a digital toy that integrated augmented reality effects.[18] 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.[19] 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. This game was later discontinued.

Toca Tea Party

The second application released by Toca Boca, Toca Tea Party, imitates a tea party, primarily through roleplaying. The player is able to design their table by selecting the tablecloth, dishes, music, and drinks.[20] 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.[21][22]

Toca Kitchen

Toca Kitchen, the tenth application, 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.[23] 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.[23]

Toca Kitchen Has 4 Games, Toca Kitchen (2011) Toca Kitchen, Monsters (2012), Toca Kitchen 2 And The Last From 2018

Toca Life Series

Toca Life is a series of games that encourage the player to imagine stories for characters in the game. The player can drag the character around the screen with their finger and make him or her eat, sit, etc. In the series, there are different locations the character could go to based on the game's theme. (Town, Farm, Office, etc.) There are groups such as Kids, Elders, Babies, and Creatures. The player can add more than one character to a scene. Dressing up the characters was introduced in Toca Life: City.

List of Toca Life Installments (in order):

  • Toca Life: Town
  • Toca Life: City
  • Toca Life: School
  • Toca Life: Vacation
  • Toca Life: Farm
  • Toca Life: Stable
  • Toca Life: Hospital
  • Toca Life: Office
  • Toca Life: Pets
  • Toca Life: After School

Toca Life: World

Toca Life: World was released in November 21, 2018[24]—it connected all the existing standalone Toca Life apps into one interconnected universe. Unlike the rest of the games in the series, the app is free to download. Players are invited to play the free version (which comes with Bop City, a free house, as well as the free version of a character creator), or to customize the app with whatever options they find the most interesting. A player can buy more characters and places.

If a player already purchased any of the Toca Life games (shown here), then they will have access to those apps within Toca Life: World. Players can play with the characters from the individual Toca Life apps inside any of the Toca Life: World locations.

A web series based on the game, under the title Toca Life Stories, was released in February 21, 2020 on Toca Boca's official YouTube channel. It focused on four close friends with mismatched personalities, Rita, Zeke, Nari and Leon (the main characters in the Toca Life app series), on a quest to vanquish boredom in their neighborhood of OK Street (based on one of the towns found in Toca Life: World).[25] The series is animated by Canada-based Pipeline Studios, with voices recorded in America-based Studiopolis, despite it being a web series, it briefly aired on some television channels such as Pop in the United Kingdom.

List of applications developed

A list of applications released to the market is as follows:[26][27]

  • 46. Toca Hair Salon 4, March 6, 2020
  • 45. Toca Kitchen Sushi, December 6, 2018
  • 44. Toca Life: World, November 21, 2018
  • 43. Toca Life: Neighborhood, October 25, 2018
  • 42. Toca Mystery House, June 14, 2018
  • 41. Toca Life: After School, March 22, 2018
  • 40. Toca Life: Pets, December 6, 2017
  • 39. Toca Life: Office, September 20, 2017
  • 38. Toca Lab: Plants, June 14, 2017
  • 37. Toca Life: Hospital, April 12, 2017
  • 36. Toca Hair Salon 3, December 7, 2016
  • 35. Toca Life: Stable, November 23, 2016
  • 34. Toca Life: Farm, October 26, 2016
  • 33. Toca Life: Vacation, June 15, 2016
  • 32. Toca Dance Free, March 29, 2016
  • 31. Toca Dance, March 1, 2016
  • 30. Toca Blocks, December 16, 2015
  • 29. Toca Life: School, October 28, 2015
  • 28. Toca Life: City, June 25, 2015
  • 27. Toca Kitchen 2, December 18, 2014
  • 26. Toca Nature, November 13, 2014
  • 25. Toca Boo, October 23, 2014
  • 24. Toca Life: Town, May 29, 2014
  • 23. Toca Pet Doctor, February 27, 2014
  • 22. Toca Lab: Elements, December 12, 2013
  • 21. Toca Hair Salon Me, November 27, 2013
  • 20. Toca Mini, October 24, 2013
  • 19. Toca Cars, September 18, 2013
  • 18. Toca Builders, June 20, 2013
  • 17. Toca Hair Salon 2, December 13, 2012
  • 16. Toca Tailor: Fairy Tales, November 29, 2012
  • 15. Toca Tailor, October 25, 2012
  • 14. Toca Band, September 20, 2012
  • 13. Toca Train, June 14, 2012
  • 12. Toca Kitchen Monsters, April 5, 2012
  • 11. Toca House, February 23, 2012
  • 10. Toca Kitchen, December 15, 2011
  • 9. Toca Hair Salon - Christmas Gift, November 30, 2011
  • 8. Toca Birthday Party, October 13, 2011
  • 7. Toca Store, October 5, 2011
  • 6. Toca Robot Lab, July 14, 2011
  • 5. Toca Hair Salon, June 7, 2011
  • 4. Paint My Wings, May 25, 2011
  • 3. Toca Doctor, April 28, 2011
  • 2. Toca Tea Party, March 16, 2011
  • 1. Helicopter Taxi, March 15, 2011

Digital toys

The term digital toy is sometimes used to differentiate certain apps from more typical virtual games.[28] While most aspects between the two are the same, Toca Boca distinguishes digital toys as more "open-ended" with fewer rules.[29][30] 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.

Awards

Toca Boca has won:

2022

  • Kidscreen Award Winner, Best Game App—Original: Toca Life World [31]

2021

  • App Store Awards Winner: iPhone App of the Year: Toca Life World [32]

2020

  • Webby Award Winner in the Apps and Software category, Family & Kids 2020: Toca Life World [33]

2019

  • Kidscreen Award Nominee, Best Game App—Original: Toca Mystery House[34]
  • Parent's Choice, Silver Award: Toca Life: World[35]

2018

  • Fas Company, Innovation by Design: Toca Lab: Plants[36]
  • KAPi Best Children's App (older kids): Toca Life: Hospital [37]
  • Parent's Choice, Silver Award: Toca Life: World[38]
  • Kidscreen Award Nominee, Best Game App—Original: Toca Life: Hospital[39]

2017

  • Kidscreen Award in Best Video Streaming Platform for TocaTV[40]

2015

  • Webby Award Finalist in the Mobile Sites & Apps category for Toca Nature[41]
  • 2015 BolognaRagazzi Digital Award Mention for Toca Nature[42]
  • iKids Award 2015: Best Learning App - Tablet for Toca Lab[43]

2014

  • Cinekid App of the Year for Toca Pet Doctor[44]
  • The National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) for Toca Town (Silver)[45]
  • The Lovie Award Silver Winner in the Mobile & Applications category for Toca Lab[46]
  • Junior Design Awards 2014, Shortlisted for Best Children's App[47]
  • App Store Best iPhone Apps of 2014 for Toca Lab[48]
  • App Store Best iPad Apps of 2014 for Toca Nature[48]

2013

  • The KAPI Award for Most Pioneering Team in Children's Technology[49]
  • Bestekinderapps.de Best Innovative Apps & Games for Kids 2013 for Toca Tailor and Toca Hair Salon Me[50]
  • TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Kids Audience Choice Favourite digiPlaySpace App Award for Toca Kitchen[51]
  • iKids Award 2013: Best Game App - 6 and Up for Toca Tailor[52]
  • Parents Choice Award for Toca Tailor (Gold),[53] Toca Hair Salon 2 (Silver),[54] Toca Band (Gold),[55] Toca Builders (Gold),[56] Toca Train (Silver)[57]

2012

  • The Lovie Awards for Toca Kitchen (bronze) and Toca Hair Salon (shortlist entertainment)[58]
  • The National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) in the Virtual category for Toca Kitchen (gold) and Toca Train (honors)[59]
  • The Parents' Choice Awards for Toca Tea Party (gold), Toca Kitchen (gold), Toca Robot Lab (gold), and Toca Hair Salon (silver).[60] Toca Boca was the only development studio in the mobile category to win three gold awards.

2011

  • The Telenor Digital Prize[61]
  • The National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) for Toca Hair Salon (gold) in Children's Media / Virtual Category[62]


References
  1. "Bonnier: Toca Boca a Hit at the App Store". Bonnier News Press. December 4, 2012. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  2. "Spelvärldens udda fågel". ICON Magazine. January 30, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. Spin Master Corp. (2021). Annual Report 2021. https://downloads.ctfassets.net/r3qu44etwf9a/7lHqzwNfqelBxQbUx6X8JV/e80e4e773f7962ff0dca82cfd7263fcd/TOY_2021_Annual_Report.pdf
  4. "The video games that are good for your children". the Guardian. 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  5. "Toca Boca makes the kind of games kids can't possibly beat - so why have their apps been downloaded 67 million times? (video interview)". Tech.eu. 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  6. Corp, Spin Master. "Spin Master announces the purchase of Toca Boca and Sago Mini, leading global kids mobile digital app brands". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  7. Newnham, Danielle (2015-12-13). "The Toca Boca Story". The Startup. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  8. Sterling, Bruce. "Augmented Reality: Toca Boca Helicopter Taxi". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  9. Williams, Jenny. "Toca Boca Continues to Deliver Great Apps". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  10. "Bonnier - Bonnier's App Hit Toca Boca to Get New Owner". Bonnier. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  11. AB, Breaking Media. "Dokument avslöjar: Så mycket fick Bonnier för Toca Boca". www.breakit.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  12. "Spin Master ramps its game business as toys go digital". VentureBeat. 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  13. Spin Master Corp. (2021). Annual Report 2021. https://downloads.ctfassets.net/r3qu44etwf9a/7lHqzwNfqelBxQbUx6X8JV/e80e4e773f7962ff0dca82cfd7263fcd/TOY_2021_Annual_Report.pdf
  14. Rosoff, Matt. "An 8-year-old interviews the cofounder of the company who makes her favorite app". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
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  18. "Toca". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
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  21. JEFFERY, BJÖRN. "Toca Boca Blog: "Introducing Toca Tea Party"". Toca Boca Studio. Retrieved Jan 1, 2013.
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  29. "Toca Boca Support FAQ: "What's the Difference Between a Digital Toy and a Game?"". Toca Boca Studio Official Website. Retrieved Jan 1, 2013.
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