👋 Welcome to my CV! This should give you a good overview of my working life. On my off days when I’m not hustling together videogames, I love singing karaoke and tinkering with hardware and software projects. I’d love to do standup comedy one day, direct a movie and write a book! But first, let’s ship a couple hundred games.
Profile
Name: Tomi Toikka
Occupation: Formerly CEO, Founder & Creative Director at Makea Games
Hobbies: Karaoke, Writing
Contact: moikka@tomitoikka.com
Work History
Mostly indie games and founding studios focused on indie games, but look further and you’ll see all the roles and skillsets I’ve accrued over the years – everything from helping fellow game founders to making so many websites back in the days.
See the most up to date work history on my LinkedIn!
LinkedIn
Makea Games Oy – Chief Executive Officer, Founder & Creative Director
2022 – 2025
Founded February 2022 with 5 founders and prototype ready.
Fundraised over 2.4mil€ for innovative User Generated Content (UGC) Platform – the Makeaverse and the Makea Editor.
Hired 20 team members total, including COO and CTO roles.
Shipped Supermoves, our 40 player multiplayer parkour party game in 2.5 years, under budget and on time. Over 50 000 unique players with both singleplayer and multiplayer liveops content. Very positive reviews on Steam.
Was working on Superstrike, an innovative card-based horde shooter FPS powered with the Makea Editor. Winded down 2025, amidst significant turbulent games investment atmosphere.
Catland Oy – Chief Executive Officer, Founder & Creative Director
2017 – 2020
Founded August 2017 with 5 founders under Nordic VR Startups program.
Fundraised 320k€ for virtual reality powered and PC weird games that made you think “what the hell are we playing right now”.
Team of eight, three titles shipped in under 18 months.
Shipped Taphouse VR – bartending simulator for VR with 93% positive Steam reviews; hybrid PC/PCVR title The Spy Who Shrunk Me; prototype of Starship Saboteur, an innovative topdown shooter.
Tampere Game Hub ry – MANAGING DIRECTOR, Founder & BOARD MEMBER
2019 – Present
Founded with assistance from city of Tampere, Finland.
Promotes and cultivates local game industry, sponsoring events, helping studios with fundraising, legal and more.
Runs the Finnish Game Incubator, Finland’s longest running and most efficient game business program.
Nowadays more in an assistant role to current showrunners.
Finnish Game Incubator (Part of Tampere Game Hub ry) – Mentor & Co-Founder
2019 – Present
Over 30 game studios have successfully passed our game business program, which preps promising game teams to become funded game studios – it also gives the participants a real diploma. 98% of participants recommend the business coaching we provide.
Networked together mentors, lawyers, publishers and investors around the world and built a lesson plan that qualified for OKM funding.
Completely remote program through Discord in height of the pandemic managed to capture a sizable game studio audience that is thriving.
Nowadays more of a recurring mentor role, but used to run the program myself. Over six batches already served, with rotating cast of teachers and mentors.
Platform6 – Founder
2020 – Present
I helped found Tampere’s biggest startup ecosystem, the Platform6 Startup House, together with Stream Events, Tampere Game Hub and Köy ry.
We provide the biggest and best startup services and office spaces in the region, including events and networking opportunities.
I also served as a board member from 2020 until 2023.
Show more work history…
Toikka Design – Freelance
2013 – 2018
Toikka Design was my web design and marketing agency, in which I worked as a one man marketing machine churning out beautiful websites and client solutions. I’ve designed hundreds of websites ranging from static Bootstrap templates to humongous web stores used by thousands of customers daily.
Polar Bunny – Marketing Manager / Community Manager
2014 – 2015
I managed marketing and public relations in the game development studio Polar Bunny Ltd. for the summer of 2014. I temporarily moved to Joensuu for this position. My duties included community management, marketing duties, public relations work, visual asset design, graphic design and web design.
Later on, while I was finishing my Vocational Qualification in Business and Administration degree back in my hometown Forssa, I was working as community manager for all Polar Bunny Ltd. products and the company itself. My duties also included maintaining the company websites and analyzing marketing data.
Parcel was released in April 2015 to widespread community acclaim.
See the rest of my work history on LinkedIn!
Education
After graduating with pretty good test scores I went for entrepreneurship and never went back.
Forssa Vocational Institute (Forssan ammatti-instituutti)
2013 – 2015
Degree: Vocational Qualification in Business and Administration (Merkonomi – YO)
Activities and societies: Kilta Ry, Piippuaukion Osuuskunta ry, Event Organization
Marketing, management and business studies. During my workplace training I have been working with many different design agencies and a game development studio called Polar Bunny Ltd. I graduated in summer 2015.
Upper Secondary School of Forssa (Forssan yhteislyseo)
2010 – 2013
Degree: Finnish Matriculation Examination (A Level), General Education – Two Laudatur Grades (Native Finnish / English)
Activities and societies: Speech Communication Proficiency course, YH5 Yritystalous (Business Studies) course
Graduated in 2013 with two Laudatur grades and high test scores.
Roles
I’ve been everything from a CEO to a marketing manager – and very often been called an invaluable part of any game studio. I’m a jack of all trades – I thrive especially in creative roles, but can take charge of the executive side just as easily. I’ve been making games since I was eight years old – and I’m never going to stop.
💼 Chief Executive Officer
Leading, fundraising and hiring for game studios up to 20 people, I’ve been through the ringer in all scenarios possible from the best of times to the worst of times.
🎨 Creative Director
I have been called “fun under pressure” and a “whirlwind of imagination”. Whether it’s imagining new worlds and IPs from scratch or taking the charge bringing any game to life, I’m at the helm.
🎮 Game Designer
Take a look at my portfolio of wild new game ideas, each of them with a sizable GDD and TDD. The games I’ve shipped are everything from bartending to parkour running. When your team needs a solid direction and a proven track record, I’ll be there.
💲Marketing Manager
Look – I get it – marketing copy, press releases, influencer outreach and staying on message is about to be swallowed up by ChatGPT. Still, your studio should have an actual person behind the wheel, at least from time to time.
✍️ Writer
Let me know whether you need a comedy spy shooter that blends together Austin Powers and No One Lives Forever – or an entire YA novel centered around parkour. I can provide you screenplays and dialogue for both – I love to write and build worlds.
📈 Founder
Leadership roles don’t come easy, and neither does founding new companies – but I’ve done it many many times. New studios are exciting and you need a ball of energy to bounce around the place to warm it up. That’s me – just ask anybody around.
🪐Graphic Designer
I’ve made more Steam capsule images, marketing materials, logos, logotypes and graphics than I can count. You’re looking at a one man marketing studio – which is very handy in a pinch.
🪟 Web Designer
My passion is in videogames but I do love a solid WordPress layout and frontend development. Just gaze around this website which I’m really proud of – or ask me about my countless client jobs since I ran Toikka Design, my own web agency from 2013 all the way to 2018!
🏗️ Prototyping
Give me one solid programmer and I’ll have you something visually impressive to really proof your next great idea. Check any of my jam games to see what I can whip up with a solid team in 48 hours – I thrive in the chaos of making new stuff from scratch.
Tools and Skills
Please see these with endorsements on my LinkedIn profile.
Finnish
Native
English
Excellent
Copywriting
Excellent
Game Design
Excellent
Prototyping
Excellent
Public Speaking & Pitching
Excellent
Production – Agile / Waterfall
Skilled
Web Design
Excellent
Adobe Photoshop
Excellent
WordPress
Excellent
Leadership
Skilled
Unity Developer
Skilled
Unreal Developer
Basics
Karaoke
Godlike