New Toy: Code Factory

Learn logic and early coding skills in a whimsical factory and market!

Pok Pok’s mission has always been to raise this next generation of creative thinkers, and this continues to pose the question; “how do we prepare kids for an uncertain future?”

With rapidly advancing technology changing the job market, it’s more important than ever to foster skills like logic, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving.

Education is often thought of as “rote learning” activities like memorization flash cards and fill-in the blanks, but kids also need “meaningful learning” to grasp concepts and understand how moving parts work together. This is the type of learning that occurs in Pok Pok.

Our new Code Factory toy is designed to deepen understanding of logic. To immerse kids into an exciting, continual loop of using logic through play—experimenting, observing outcomes, and adjusting as they go. Since the toy continues to evolve, kids are “learning on the job”, training adaptive thinking in real time.

In this factory and market space, there’s something for everyone, and it all runs in one big loop. Kids can build busy circuits, mix bizarre milkshakes, unbox endless deliveries (or garbage!), sell goods, clean up messes, and watch how each action flows into the next—just like real programming.

How To Play

• Enter the Factory: The factory is always in motion. Workers follow paths, deliveries arrive, and systems keep running. As things get busier, kids can step in to organize the flow, or simply enjoy the delightful chaos. Either way, they’re observing how actions ripple through a system.
  
• Build the Loop: Kids create circuits by placing red and yellow “director” buttons in the workers’ paths. Each button changes what happens next. As new buttons arrive during play, kids can experiment with more complex paths—learning how small instructions create bigger outcomes.
  
• Deliver & Create:  Crates bring in materials and machines (just click to unbox!). Materials move through the factory and transform into silly, delicious, or surprising items, showing how inputs become outputs.
  
• Make (or Clean-Up) a Mess: The factory produces byproducts like garbage and oil. Kids can ignore them and watch chaos grow, or clean them up with tools like the vacuum on the far left wall. Slipping workers and spilled items turn cleanup into playful problem-solving!
  
• The Market: Finished goods travel to the market, where shoppers buy, eat, or carry them away. Empty shelves reset and make room for something new—introducing the idea of repeatable cycles and systems that run again and again.
  
• Pick Your Play: There is no “correct” way to play this toy! Whether kids build efficient systems, unbox everything in sight, or suck up items with the giant vacuum, they’re learning core programming ideas.

Kids will exercise key skills like…

• Cause & Effect: Kids experiment to learn the interactions availalbe to them. They discover, “if I do X, the result will be Y”, and continue to test the limits of this formula. For example, placing an item on an empty market stall will turn it into a store for that item—but it can only be changed again after those items run out.

• Critical Thinking: From the moment kids experiment to find these interactions, they will be analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, and even optimizing to guide their future actions. This type of thinking about “how things work” is so important in an AI era where you no longer need to exercise skills to reach an outcome. 

• Problem-Solving: Once kids grasp how the toy works, they’ll be able to solve problems that occur, or strategize to achieve their goals. This could be that the oil spills cause dropped items, or that machine deliveries change the system they’ve created. Having to overcome these points of friction also boosts confidence to apply problem-solving skills in real life.

• Creativity: Kids are so uniquely creative that they continually surprise us with new ways of playing Pok Pok. Whether they exercise creativity in problem-solving, in a more narrative sense, or by making their own games in the toys, having this space to flex and expand creative thinking will strengthen it like a muscle.

Whether you have a toddler who is thrilled to make messes, or a school-age child who enjoys programming systems, Code Factory offers fun learning opportunities for the whole family. We can’t wait to hear more about which parts your kiddos love the most, and see the evolution of these circuits as kids gain a deeper understanding over time!

P.S. You can use this link to prompt the update on your child’s device if the update has not happened automatically.

We’ve been so inspired by the unique approach of each child who plays with our toys and can’t wait to hear what families like yours think of this one. Receiving your feedback, videos, and ideas for new updates is so important for the growth of Pok Pok, so please say hello at hello@playpokpok.com or on social media @playpokpok.