Seeing the creative freedom in non-TV properties, Breakthrough Entertainment’s new media division is exploring new IPs by teaming up with Toronto’s TransGaming Technologies.

“We don’t generally do a lot of original IP, but we always look out for a good idea,” says Dorothy Vreeker, Breakthrough’s director of digital media. “It’s nice to do something that’s not based on a TV property – it gives you a little bit more leverage to do original things because you’re not tied to the creative that’s already been established on the TV side.

“We have a lot more flexibility creatively. And it’s just something that we thought would be fun to explore.”

Vreeker turned to long-time partner Swedish mobile company GlobalFun and licensed a concept for a new time-management casual game called Garage Inc., which she felt had the best chance of getting funded.

Sure enough, she received OMDC funds back in March then approached TransGaming MD Wojtek Kawczynski and his team to tackle the project, which has been in production since the spring.

Vreeker and Kawczynski compare Garage Inc.to the popular casual game Diner Dash, which has a huge female following, except their game is set out to target males. It revolves around a car mechanic and Italian immigrant who hopes to run a garage, but must also navigate challenges and run-ins with the local mob along the way.

TransGaming brought a lot to table creative-wise, setting the game against the backdrop of 1920s, Prohibition-era Chicago.

“We brought the copy to them and they definitely improved it,” notes Vreeker. “The creative talent is in their studio and we manage. We’re spearheading the marketing, they’re doing the social networking. It’s a true partnership.”

This is only the second original IP for Breakthrough, following the mini-game-centric Ultimate Sports Challenge from GlobalFun. Meanwhile, the prodco’s digital arm is currently in development on a quest-based game with microtransactions for upcoming Teletoon series Crash Canyon, which will launch in tandem with the series in September 2011.

It’s also working on exclusive webisodes for Showcase’s Kenny vs. Spenny spinoff Single White Spenny, providing a behind-the-scenes video blog, as well as games for season three of Think Big for TVO.

“Every project we have in development, we think about digital media right out of the gate,” adds Vreeker.

As for Garage Inc., it’s slated to hit the iTunes store for iPhone platforms by this Christmas. TransGaming will also port the game to PC, Mac and its proprietary smart-television tech GameTreeTV.