Toca Boca is a Swedish children's mobile video game developer company. The company is owned by Spin Master and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.
History Toca Boca was founded 18 July 2010 by Emil Ovemar and Björn Jeffery, both of whom worked for the Bonnier Group. They released their first application, “Helicopter Taxi” in March 2011. Toca Boca's apps have been downloaded over a billion times by users in over 238 markets ever since the first launch.
In 2016, Bonnier sold Toca Boca and sister company Sago Sago to the Canadian toy and entertainment company Spin Master for 263 million Swedish krona. In 2020, Fredrik Löving took over as Toca Boca's new CEO.
Naming means "touch the mouth" in Spanish, referencing the logo design of a face with an open mouth; as well as being able to skip an app's intro animation by "touching the mouth".
Games
Toca Boca Jr On 5 October 2023, Toca Boca announced that they would be delisting and merging most of their smaller and older titles into one app titled Toca Boca Jr, as part of a new subscription service targeted towards preschoolers called Piknik.
Games included in the combined offering include Toca Kitchen 2, Toca Kitchen Sushi, Toca Nature, Toca Lab: Plants, Toca Lab: Elements, Toca Builders, Toca Blocks, Toca Mini, Toca Boo, Toca Pet Doctor, Toca Train, Toca Cars, Toca Mystery House, Toca Band, Toca Dance and Toca Hair Salon 3.
Toca Life Toca Life is a series of games that encourage the player to create imaginative scenarios for characters in the game. The player can move characters around the screen and make them perform actions such as sitting and eating. In the series, different locations could be used based on the game's theme (Town, Farm, Office, etc.). There are groups such as Kids, Elders, Adults, Babies, and Creatures. Dressing up the characters was introduced in Toca Life: City.
On 21 November 2018, Toca Boca announced they would be merging all of their Toca Life games into one free-to-play app, titled Toca Life: World. Instead of releasing standalone apps for future themes, additional play sets are introduced over time as in-app purchases. In January 2024, all standalone apps were removed from the Apple Appstore and Google Play Store. On 30 June 2024, all standalone apps were removed from the Amazon Appstore.
A web series based on the game, under the title Toca Life Stories, was released on 21 February 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 Boca World). The series is animated by Canada-based Pipeline Studios, with voices recorded in America-based Studiopolis, despite it being a web series, it aired on some television stations such as Disney Channel France in France, Pop in the United Kingdom, and Cartoon Network in the United States.
Toca Boca Days On 30 April 2024, Toca Boca Days was announced. The game is poised as a significant departure from previous entries in the Toca Life series, utilising a 3D world with multiplayer functionality. On 2 May 2024, Toca began rolling the game out in early access for Australia and New Zealand. The online functionality of Toca Boca Days ended on 25 August 2025, with the developers shifting focus to other titles.
Awards and honors Toca Boca has won the following awards:
2025 Kidscreen Award Winner, Best Alternative Game: Toca Boca World
2022
Kidscreen Award Winner, Best Game App—Original: Toca Life World
2021
App Store Awards Winner: iPhone App of the Year: Toca Life World
2020
Webby Award Winner in the Apps and Software category, Family & Kids 2020: Toca Life World
2019
Kidscreen Award Nominee, Best Game App—Original: Toca Mystery House Parent's Choice, Silver Award: Toca Life: World
2018
Fas Company, Innovation by Design: Toca Lab: Plants KAPi Best Children's App (older kids): Toca Life: Hospital Parent's Choice, Silver Award: Toca Life: World Kidscreen Award Nominee, Best Game App—Original: Toca Life: Hospital
2017
Kidscreen Award in Best Video Streaming Platform for TocaTV
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
BAFTA Children’s Award (Interactive – Adapted) for Toca Kitchen. 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),(Silver) Toca Band (Gold), Toca Builders (Gold), Toca Train (Silver)
2012 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
References
External links Toca Boca official website