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"OOF," I say out loud after wiping out trying to pull off a double backflip on my bike. Coincidentally, narrator dialogue says the same thing, adding insult to injury. That's OK though, because I'm a lazy tanuki with a big bouncy belly, and I hop back on my bike and rail-grind my way over to another ramp, this time using the sprint button and holding down jump to catch flight and give myself enough airtime to backflip twice and land safely with a satisfying flump. It's summertime. I'm applying for a job at the local yakitori restaurant. I'm delivering packages on a bike. I'm a freakin' tanuki. I'm playing Tanuki: Pon's Summer, and it really is Pon's summer.
I was sold on Tanuki: Pon's Summer within minutes after seeing its Steam page. Right behind black cats specifically, tanuki are my favorite animals. They're chubby little trash goblins, they hibernate by cuddling with other tanuki, and they're endemic to Japan, my favorite place in the world. You give that tanuki a bike and some sick BMX tricks, and my tail's a'wagging. You throw in grilled chicken yakitori, sushi, beer, and give that tanuki a job as a mail courier, and well, that is a video game I will very much want to play.
The new Tanuki: Pon's Summer demo released for this year's Steam Next Fest is fairly barebones, but what's on offer is so charming that I can't wait to play more after work. At its core, the game is all about cycling around town delivering packages to weirdos in effort to raise enough money to restore the town shrine before the Matsuri Festival. That gameplay loop is made infinitely more enjoyable thanks to the addition of a genuine, surprisingly in-depth trick system very similar to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. You can backflip, double backflip, do Superman moves, rail-grind, and rail-hop, and that's just what I can remember from my limited time with the demo.
Having played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 relatively recently, Tanuki: Pon's Summer is much simpler and more approachable by comparison. It helps that the cycling mechanics themselves are impressively smooth and intuitive, but the system itself is also a lot more forgiving. Like, you have to really beef it for the game to register your trick attempt as a fail and send you crashing to the ground. Most of the time, even if you land at a crooked angle against opposing momentum, the game will just autocorrect you and send you on your way. It makes rail-grinding and doing tricks something you idly do as you cycle between jobs rather than something you have to work to perfect, although maybe that'll change in the full game.
There's more – like, a lot more – to Pon's Summer than delivering packages, and you get a taste of some of it in the demo. Even as proudly strange as this game is, I was surprised to find myself tangling with a sumo wrestler at one point. I was equally surprised and delighted to find myself serving beer to patrons of a local izakaya. I was even surprised by just how cute and cozy Pon's homebase is, a little Hobbit-hole cluttered with trash and dimly lit by the changing hour and a retro TV and games console.
Everything from the level of detail in the food to the irresistible wobble with which Pon carries himself, is so innocently delightful. And I apologize for over-using that word, but it's very much intentional. I can't think of a better word to encapsulate what I felt playing Pon's Summer than delight, and so I will throw it around irresponsibly. In this increasingly cynical world, I think games like Pon's Summer will grow in demand in tandem, and although I've only played the demo, I'll be waiting impatiently for the full game to come out. And when it does, developer Denkiworks says demo progress will seamlessly transfer over, as it's essentially "the first arc of the game."
Here's a bunch more upcoming indie games to keep on your radar.
