The problem
Children spending hours in front of screens develop language, social, cognitive, and motor skills more slowly — yet simply banning tablets wastes their educational potential. Parents want balance, not prohibition.
How it works
Toyji pairs a small physical pad with a tablet app: kids move tangible smart toys on the pad and the characters mirror them on screen. There is no keyboard, touchscreen tapping, or gamepad — play is physical. The launch Universe is a story-driven virtual-pet game where children nurture creatures called Jixies, unlocking achievements and levelling up while absorbing lessons on health, hygiene, eating habits, plants and animals, music, traffic rules, and counting. Figures are customisable and 3D-printable, and routines like bedtime or tooth-brushing can be woven into character behaviour.
Pain points
Passive screen consumption, tablet-time battles inside families, and learning games that build neither motor skills nor social play.
Business model
Sell the starter kit (pad, figures, game) — Kickstarter pricing at $89 against a planned $200 retail — then monetise extra figures, printable characters, and new educational game worlds. Incubated at İTÜ Çekirdek.
Challenges
Hardware unit economics against free apps, retail distribution for a physical-plus-digital product, and the content treadmill: one game world is not enough to hold a child’s attention for years.
Funding
- Raised: MISSING (Kickstarter crowdfunding stage; ~$15,000 raised in the first four days per the incubator profile).
- Valuation: MISSING.
Latest — December 2016
In December 2016 Toyji’s Kickstarter-era smart-toy platform was covered by the children’s-technology press as a screen-balanced play system for ages 3+, pairing physical toys with a tablet game universe.