A board-game night without enough players inspired Tonika Evently, an app designed to help people find others to meet nearby. Cofounder Anatoli says the idea began about five years ago, when games sat unused on his shelf because he could not find enough people to play. He and his friend Nikita decided to build the tool they were missing.
Tonika shows nearby board-game nights, sports meetups, parties and workshops on a map, so users don’t have to hunt for them across different groups and websites. Meetups can be open to anyone, or private, with friends joining by code.
Planning a meetup together
Users can give a meetup a name, select a location and describe their plans. It can be as small as a morning run in Yarkon Park or a game night at home. Each meetup has a participant chat, with tools for polls and a shared list of food or equipment to bring.
A poll can save a long message thread, for example when a group needs to decide what food to order.
Keeping an exact address private
Hosts can hide a meetup’s exact address. Map locations are approximate, and precise addresses become available close to the start time only to people who joined. Users can rate the event and the people they met afterward.
Tools for neighborhood businesses
The founders also offer a business dashboard and a Pro plan for organizers such as trivia bars, board-game cafes, workshop studios and local running clubs. They say businesses can set up weekly recurring events, sell tickets, display event posters in a What’s On section and schedule posts for Facebook and Instagram.
Businesses can also post local discounts that stay live for 24 hours and are shown to nearby users. The founders say Tonika takes no commission on sales: payments go straight to the business through its own payment processor, with options including PayPlus, Cardcom, HYP and Grow. The processor’s own fees and the cost of a Pro plan are separate.
A limited free plan and paid subscriptions
The free plan lets users host one event and join one event at a time, within a 5-kilometer radius. Premium raises those limits and adds features such as chat polls and recurring events. Business plans are separate.
Tonika is available for iPhone and Android, with a browser version as well. It supports Hebrew and sign-in with Google, Apple or an email address. The App Store rates it for ages 18 and up.
Anatoli describes success this way: “If you opened Tonika for a few minutes, found something to do tonight and closed it, that is exactly what I wanted. The important time comes afterward, away from the screen.”
