New Toy: Shapes!
Tap and tinker to grow skills in abstract worlds.
Shapes depicts everyday life in abstract scenes that offer kids new ways to play and experience Pok Pok. Little ones can tinker to find amusing interactions, or simply take in each new world as it unfolds before them.
When they open this new toy, they’ll be swept away through a collection of scenes with curious shapes that invite them to experiment with the types of interactions available. We think tinkerers and fans of Busy Board will especially love this one! If they aren’t quite ready to interact with their hands, there’s still fun to be had. The toy cycles through vignettes so that kids can take a break to focus on the movements and eagerly await what comes next.
As always, the animations are hand-drawn and minimal to engage kids calmly instead of flashing by to hold their attention. Keeping the visuals minimal also leaves enough room for kids to fill in the blanks with their own imagination. They can even form their own games or rituals within each window! There are just so many ways to play this one.
Why Shapes?
As Pok Pok grows, we meet more and more families with little players in the 1-2 years range. These children often gravitate towards our simpler toys like Busy Book where movements are straightforward, and they can scroll, tap, and watch to their heart’s content! We hope that younger toddlers can feel a sense of accomplishment as they exercise autonomy by making decisions in this toy.
While Shapes was created with our youngest players top of mind, its design also considers the play of older kids and how they can get the most out of it. So whether the scenes challenge players to adopt new perspectives, or simply offer a meditative experience, we’re so excited to bring a release that has been tailor-made for an even wider age range. (We have a feeling some adults will love chilling out with this one too!)
What you should know about Shapes:
- A variety of play opportunities: The play in Shapes is unique to each scene and we encourage players to investigate possibilities by tapping, dragging, holding, and testing the limits of the interactions.
- Cycles bring new play: After a few moments of exploration, each vignette cycles through to a new one but has the opportunity to come back in the line-up. Introducing kids to a mix of different scenes allows them to flex more of their skills and use repetition to solidify what they’re learning. To make a scene go faster, tap the countdown icon in the top right corner.
- Worlds collide: Each transition is a new opportunity to see how parallels are made between scenes. What is the connective thread and where does one world start and end? How does one shape transform into the next scene?
- Sound on: One of the best parts of this toy is the original soundscapes that have been created for it! Especially with the number of scenes based on musical instruments. As usual, our sound designer, Matt, has recorded real-world sounds to give the audio an organic feel. These sounds bring so much character and life to each scene to make it a wonderfully immersive experience.
While Pok Pok often represents the real world and glimpses into ordinary, everyday life, this is the first toy to do so in a more abstract setting. Because of this abstraction, there are bound to be plenty of instances where kids can delight in recognizing the scene’s likeness to a real-life moment. Parents can also interact by chatting about what a scene resembles and draw connections back to our world.
We hope that your family enjoys Shapes and that it sparks wonder in players of all ages. Our team had so much fun pushing the boundaries of what was possible for this toy and we can’t wait for kids to now make it their own!
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.
