Cozy games fill a very valuable niche in my library, but sometimes they leave me unfulfilled. I need to relax, yes, but I also need to shred. A game like Stardew Valley can make me wistful for the simpler things in life, but there's no shredding at all.
Would me totally nailing a frontflip superman seatgrab disrupt the tone being set up by all the parsnip farming? Maybe, but it's no matter, because Tanuki: Pon's Summer has me covered.
Tanuki got a new trailer at today's PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, and beyond being inherently hilarious, it also boasts an impressive smorgasbord of activities. The headlining feature is postal delivery involving freestyle BMX tricks, but there's a lot more in the mix.
As a press release notes, Pon has "one month to save up enough to restore the shrine for the Great Tanuki Festival," and so he's hitting the pavement—in-game, that means anything from fishing through serving up sushi, playing baseball, and sumo-wrestling.
The latest trailer shows off those different activities, and the variety on offer gives me the impression Pon's Summer is like a sillier, action-oriented riff on Animal Crossing (right on down to the bug collecting).
The BMX aspect is left-field, but thinking on it, it seems like a peanut butter and chocolate situation. Cozy games are all about relaxing and taking it slow, while freestyle sports games are all about constant practice and nudging up a high score. BMX doesn't look all that relaxing in real life, but I could see it having a meditative quality.
The game also shares some developer talent with Cursed to Golf, which had a similar 'let's take something relaxing and fully rock the vibe' shtick going on. It's nice to see cozy games get a little silly with it, and I'm eager to see if Pon's Summer can weave its disparate parts into a coherent whole.
There's still no release window for Tanuki: Pon's Summer, but you can check out the demo and wishlist it on Steam.
Check out every game, trailer, and announcement in the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct.
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