Accountant Oliver Leck came to our Mojo Pitch event last September armed with his first ever game, Numbalee. After a successful day of meetings, he signed a global deal with Entertoyment. We caught up with Leck to find out more.

Despite its product not being on shelves, as the company responsible for creating McDonald’s’ Happy Meal toys, The Marketing Store is the world’s largest manufacturer of toys. We caught up with Ben Poate, the firm’s Vice President of Sustainability and Innovation, to find out how the team stays the creative when coming up with over 300 toy designs every year

Whether the in-house team at a toy titan, or leading design at a thriving SME, this award celebrates teams working in Research & Development that have achieved extraordinary things over the last year.

Darren Lee Phillipson, Vice President of Global Product Design at Alpha Group, looks at how a creative approach to pitching can make all the difference.

Making Things founder Fi Murray looks at how the role of the inventor is evolving into something incorporating a blend of design, innovation and disruption.

“With connected play on track to increase nearly 200% in less than four years, combined with the exponential growth across augmented reality, voice and robotics, we will see more connected ways for kids and families to play, learn and genuinely have fun together,” said TechUp’s Valerie Vacante.

“We are developing a game that will deeply resonate with Die Hard enthusiasts, incorporating even the slightest details to create a rich and entertaining experience that properly pays tribute to arguably the greatest action movie of all time,” said USAopoly’s Pat Marino.

Heayes Design and PlayLenz’s Richard Heayes takes a look at the booming market for adults buying toys and games, and why toy firms, and designers, should take note.

Nominations are now open for the Play Creators Awards, taking place at the 2019 Play Creators Festival.

Creative consultant Deej Johnson looks at how toy and game firms and designers can benefit enormously from embracing a theoretical one-star review of their ideas.