My seven-year-old is slightly out of the age range that is going to get the most from Pok Pok, I suspect, but over the last few weeks she has tapped away at it quite happily. One of the six toys is a town - very much the kind of printed mat town that you can lay out on the floor of the living room. Except because this is a digital toy you can move town people around, put them in cars, check inside buildings and generally investigate every element. Alongside the town are other standards like a lovely drawing app, which allows you to save pictures and also has a glorious Etch a-Sketch-like swipe bar to remove all scribblings. There’s a sort of busy book of animations arranged by type - sports, outdoor things, ocean life - which feels like a starter encyclopedia. The art style is simple but rather timeless. I’m fascinated that it hasn’t settled on a sort of ’50s vibe that a lot of kids toys do when they’re trying to look unadorned. It’s very hard to place Pok Pok in a specific moment, which I suspect is the point. Elsewhere there’s a selection of shapes that are also sounds. You tap a circle and it turns into a donut and lets out a low note. You pull a squiggly line and - well, finding out is half the fun. There’s also a toy filled with stackable objects including springs, cartoon heads and washing machines. It is a rare day that isn’t enlivened by a touch of stacking. My favourite part of Pok Pok - and I understand that I am far from the target audience - is the sixth toy. It’s a collection of switches and doorbells and general interactive doodads. You drop in for an idle twenty minutes and press a few buttons, spin a few dials, and before you know it you don’t want to leave. There are oscilloscopes, intercom boxes, fans and a sort of telephony thing. Everytime I look I see a new gadget and there’s real joy in bringing them to life for a few busy seconds. There are games I play that are a bit like this - I love the sort of interact-with-an-odd-diorama game that seems to thrive on smartphones. But Pok Pok is also very distinct. It belongs on the table of the playroom - a lazy afternoon with nothing to do but investigate and see where a moment leads.
