Japanese game dev Toylogic has released a free game made by their new trainees

Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-07-29 19:26 JST)

Japanese game developer Toylogic has released a new game on the App Store titled Different Toll and Poll that was developed by new trainees at the company. The game is available in Japan as a free download and doesn’t include any in-game purchases or advertisements.

Different Toll and Poll is an action-puzzle game where players control two ant brothers, Toll and Poll, who must work together in order to reach the goal in each stage. The story is centered around the two ants who have set out on a journey to save their friend, the princess, who has been kidnapped by an anteater.

What is unique about the game is that players must alternate their iPhones between vertical and horizontal positions in order to change the character they control, the direction of gravity, and the platforms that can be used. Stages can only be cleared when both Toll and Poll have reached the goal, so it is important to make good use of the screen rotation and help the ants advance through the stages using a variety of cooperative techniques like carrying blocks and creating footholds.

Each year, as part of new employee training, Toylogic forms a team of its trainees and has them plan and create an original game based on their own ideas. The team gets practical experience with each stage of the game development process all the way through to the release, including planning, art creation, implementation, debugging, and more. The aim is to foster important skills, such as teamwork and schedule management.  

There are also other companies that have their employees engage in game development even while training. For example, trainees from Bandai Namco Studios created Goonect, a co-op action game where players must work together as they tackle gimmick-filled stages, which was released in May this year (related article).

The experience gained by new employees in creating these games could serve as the catalyst that leads to the major titles of the future. We look forward to what the next generation of developers will bring to gaming.

The App Store page for Different Toll and Poll can be found here (Japanese).