Pok Pok Playroom is a great iPad game for kids that breaks the rules

Pok Pok playroom – a new app from Pok Pok, a spin-off from Alto’s adventure and Skate City Developer snowman – Released today in Apple’s iOS App Store. Snowman announced the new studio in early March and unveiled its first product, the Playroom. Pok Pok playroom is a set of six touchscreen toys, more of which will be included in the app later. They are designed as unlimited creative experiences for children ages two to six. (For what it’s worth, I, a 32-year-old woman, find the app appealing too.)

“It’s just an extension of a real game room,” Pok Pok CEO Melissa Cash told Polygon. “It’s just a nother toy. We don’t want children to just play with them Room room

, but also play with other things – go outside and cover yourself in mud and just be kids. “

The app and its six current toys are designed to be played openly with no real rules or goals set for children. That said, the toys are things like a simple drawing tool, a series of switches and buttons to press, blocks to stack, or an interactive city to rummage through. Things can be moved, switched and rotated. Several children can play at the same time, do their own thing and work together on the app at the same time – if the iPad or iPhone screen is big enough, of course.

“There are no instructions, no rules,” says Cash. “It can be confusing for adults.”

It’s a style of play that is so natural for kids but harder to understand for adults who expect a goal to be achieved. But in Pok Pok playroomPlayers are not necessarily rewarded for their interactive play in the app. At least not in the traditional sense: there is no glitter, clap or booming voice to congratulate children on a job well done.

an iPad with a picture of a colorful city, placed on a red background

“Children will feel satisfied just when you put something in your oven and take it out, and it’s just perfect,” says Cash. “But it will still be good if you’ve cooked it undercooked or overcooked [for] five minutes.”

Esther Huybreghts, creative director and co-founder of Pok Pok, continues: “That’s the whole idea behind open play – that the reward is inherent. We won’t tell the children what is right or wrong because they all start out with a different way of thinking. “

Pok Pok playroom starts on Thursday with a 14-day free trial. After that, there are two subscription options: $ 3.99 per month or $ 29.99 per year. Pok Pok will continue to be updated Pok Pok playroom with new toys to keep the subscribers fresh.