Toca Life Stable - Toca Boca AB

This review of Toca Life Stable was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 7 May 2017.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of Toca Life Stable contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

There are no levels in this game. Reviewer played for approximately 45 mins.

App description

Toca Life Stable offers an imaginative and creative play environment caring for and playing with horses. Players are able to explore and engage with four different horse-related locations including the stables, an event arena, a forest and the shop. They are able to create their own stories, interacting with the characters and animals in different ways.

Reviewers comments

This app gives players endless options and choices for play with horses in an online environment. Players can go back and forth between each location and engage in different activities. In the stables they can practice skills such as feeding the horses or cleaning out the stables. They can perform some show jumping in the arena, stop for a snack or visit the shop to try on some new outfits or accessories. There is also a forest setting where players can choose characters to ride motorbikes, swim in a pond and go camping. The open nature of the app encourages players to be inventive and imaginative as they set up different scenarios for the many different characters.

Although the graphics in this game are very sharp, moving around the clothing and accessories in the shop (as well as the characters props), may be difficult for some players as these items are small and when layered can be difficult to remove or change the chosen one. This could be frustrating for some younger players but also provides an opportunity to develop fine motor skills.

Players are able to create short videos of their screen with voice recording during play. These can then be viewed and players have the choice to delete or save the video to the photo file on their device. There is no social media connectivity so players cannot share their videos. Players are also able to access and view Toca Life Weekly and Toca News – additional videos and information about other apps in the Toca group via the home page. They do provide a link to the iTunes store to purchase additional apps but access requires a birth date of 14+ to be entered and then the iTunes account password is also needed before a purchase can be made. These links can be disabled via the device’s settings menu so that only game play is available. There are detailed instructions for game play and how to disable settings via the app’s for parents section.

In App purchasing

None. 

Online information

• Credit card details – required to download the app from iTunes.
• Cellular data settings – app automatically has access to this.
• Identity details – app requires a birthdate to verify age (14+) to access parents section and ‘Toca News’.
• Log ins – requires password to download the app from iTunes.
• Photo/Media/files – app automatically has access to this.
• Microphone – app automatically has access to this - used during a recording feature.

Once downloaded, the app will be viewable in the device’s Settings menu. Here all settings and access for the app can be managed. It is possible to disable access to the Photo/Media files, Microphone and Mobile data on the device and to the additional features of the app including Toca News, Life Weekly, Video Recording and background music from the app. This information is detailed in the ‘For Parents’ section.

Gambling

At time of review, the reviewer found no simulated gambling content.

 

Advertising and product placement

On the home screen there is a small advertisement for a similar app from the same developer.

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

No gender stereotypes or sexual references were observed during the review. The characters and settings are representative of gender and cultural diversity.

Coarse language

No coarse language was observed during the review only music and animal noises can be heard.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

No concerning game playing behaviour was observed during the review.

 

Other

As the app is open-ended with no levels or stages to work through, there are no natural ‘stop points’ within the game play. This could result in play sessions continuing for extended periods of time. It would be recommended for players to have regular breaks in game play. This could also be an opportunity to discuss appropriate time limits and the need for regular breaks during game play.

Got a suggestion?

You can contact us if you have suggestions of other children's apps to review.