Matoto Play Release First App: Mini Pupstars

Dec. 9, 2013 - PRLog -- Matoto Play is a new entrant in the app development market for children.   Describing itself as a “Creative lab bringing to life digital toys that entertain, stimulate imagination & help educate in an indirect manner,” Matoto Play espouses the same ethics as companies such as the well regarded developer Toca Boca – no adverts, no IAP purchases and open play. Their first game Mini Pupstars has been designed for the iPad and iPad Mini and is available in the itunes app store now just in time for Christmas.

One aspect of Matoto Plays mission is to “create digital toys which allow you to carry out tasks that you cannot do so easily in real life.” The founder of Matoto Play, Yasmin says  “We don’t want to create apps that replicate real life – apps that allow you to bake cakes or iron your clothes for example.  We want to help our user stretch their imagination just that little bit further. As a parent I am very aware that as much as we love our electronics we should set limits on the time spent using them. It is therefore even more important to me that Matoto Play produces original toys that provide entertainment, offer a fulfilling fun experience and make good use of our users valuable time”.

“The inspiration for Mini Pupstars came from the Extreme Dog Grooming competitions that are popular in the USA. In combining that idea with the many hair salon type apps the concept of “Mini Pupstars” was born”.

“Our Mini Pupstars were caught up in an almighty windstorm and the Mini Pupstars Pip Carrier got struck by a bolt of lightning. With their hair frazzled our Mini Pupstars end up at the style salon desperate for a creative makeover. With 4 dogs to choose from – It has all the usual elements of colour, wash, cut, shave and style your poochs hair but in 3D. As far as I am aware this is the first ‘hair salon’ type app in 3D”.

Yasmin continues ”Yes, I would discourage extreme dog grooming amongst children, but its fun to do in fantasy world” adding, “I also wanted to create apps that would promote discussion and learning between parents and their children”.

“My favourite feature is the factual learning element.  There are four breeds of dogs with different nationalities and I created head boppers with different country flags, the task being to place them on the corresponding dog. This feature has been sneaked in without making a fuss of but it’s a way of engaging discussion (and learning) about the dogs, breeds, nationalities and country flags”.

Mini Pupstars How Creative can you get?  Video: http://youtu.be/71471_7Tuas




The nature of the app also assists the young user in developing fine motor skills as well as being a creative tool.

For mid Feb 2014 Matoto Play have an upgrade planned which will include new features and the app will also be launched for the iphone market.

Yasmin states “As a very small independent developer this is a tough market to break into. I also believe that by creating above the average digital toys, and with dedication, hard work and a lot of sweat most mountains can be climbed.”

Promo video you can watch here  http://youtu.be/4nN1Lo66nPQ


Mini Pupstars is now available on the itunes store for the iPad Mini.