Industry Video Games Headquarters Hong Kong, China Products Games Number of employees 50 | Founder Thijs Bosma, Yan Lin Area served 160 countries Founded 2011 | |
Key people Thijs Bosma (CEO & Founder)
Lin Yan (COO & Co-founder)
Tom Buyckx (Chief Commercial Officer) | ||
Dr. Panda Games (formerly TribePlay) is an independent Dutch/Chinese kids video game developer focused on creating educational applications for kids on smartphones and tablets, and based in Chengdu. The company's series of Dr. Panda games includes more than 25 apps that focus on role-playing experiences that are accessible to young kids, such as grocery shopping, cooking and airline travel. The games are available on platforms including iOS, Android and Windows Phone. The applications have been installed over 50 million times worldwide. In 2015, Apple Inc. named Dr. Panda's Restaurant 2 as its "Free App of the Week". and again, with Dr. Panda Ice Cream Truck in 2016.
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Dr panda candy factory game for kids
2011-2012: Beginnings and mainstream success.
Dr. Panda (previously TribePlay) was founded in 2011 by Thijs Bosma and began development for the future Dr. Panda franchise in early 2012. By March 2012, Dr. Panda launched their first game, Dr. Panda Teach Me! on the App Store. Since then the company has released 29 more titles that have surpassed 50 million downloads in over 100 countries. making them the third largest developer of paid kids apps worldwide on iOS—and largest independent developer.
2013-Present: Rebranding and expansion.
Dr. Panda expanded into 3D graphics with the release of Dr. Panda Home in 2013. It was featured as one of The Guardian's Best 20 Android Apps of the Week in 2013 and was awarded with an "Editor's Choice Award" by Children's Technology Review.
In 2015, TribePlay rebranded to Dr. Panda to better reflect the personality and popularity of the game franchise.
In early 2016, the company launched the Dr. Panda Plush Toy along with official Dr. Panda T-shirts that are available to buy from the US Amazon store.
Popular games
According to the company's official website, Dr. Panda games combines role play, open-ended play and expressive characters. Each game explores a different aspect of everyday life from cooking and traffic, to gardening and art.
Dr. Panda's Restaurant 2
Dr. Panda's Restaurant 2 is an interactive cooking-based game for children aged 6–8. It follows the main character Dr. Panda as he tries to run his beach-side restaurant as efficiently as possible, satisfying various customers that visit during the day. The customers in the game are animals ranging from hippos and elephants to polar bears, and each customer orders a dish of their liking when they arrive. The game aims to educate children on the concept of preparing food, and familiarizes them with basic ingredients and the steps involved in preparing dishes like pastas and pizzas.
Hoopa City
Hoopa City, developed by Dr. Panda, is a city-building game for children aged 5–8. The user joins the character, Hoopa, a construction-loving hippo who teaches the player to build on a scrollable meadow-like, gridded globe. At the top of the screen is a choice of seven building elements, including brick, water, electricity, roads, nature, money and a heart. To discover the more than 70 buildings, kids will need to combine the elements in different ways.
Hoopa City has been compared to SimCity, but for preschoolers. Hoopa City has been awarded the "Honors Award" at the 2014 National Parenting Publications Awards. Tech with Kids named Hoopa City as their "Best Pick App" in 2014. It was also featured in "10 top kids apps of 2014" by USA Today.
Honors and awards
Dr. Panda regularly tops the store charts, and has ranked as the #1 kids game in the App Store in over 50 countries. As of 2016, Dr. Panda has gone on to win awards from National Parenting Publications (NAPPA), Children's Technology Review and Parent's Choice.
In 2015, Dr. Panda was featured as the Developer of the Month (October) by Good App Guide. In the 2016 Loved by Parents Awards, Dr. Panda in Space was nominated and awarded the Platinum Award for "Best Family App" and Gold for "Best Children's App".