‘He’s tiny, dumpy and funny – so his BMX tricks are hilarious’: Tanuki: Pon’s Summer, an adorable slice-of-life adventure
Kyoto-based studio Denkiworks has unveiled Tanuki: Pon's Summer, a debut slice-of-life adventure game starring Pon, a freeloading tanuki (raccoon dog) who has emptied the coffers of his home shrine on video games and snacks instead of saving for its 50th-anniversary festival. To fund repairs and buy festival attire, Pon takes a job delivering parcels by BMX bike around a Japan-inspired town, with the game blending exploration, mini-games and trick-based cycling.
The game features around 20 mini-games triggered during deliveries, including sumo, baseball, fishing and pulling pints in an izakaya modelled on the developers' local Kyoto pub, evoking comparisons to the Yakuza series. Its core mechanic is BMX trick-riding, inspired by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, SSX and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, letting players pull off backflips, bunny hops and rail grinds. Designer Liam Edwards said the team, which includes Japanese staff, carried out extensive research to ensure cultural accuracy around shrines and festivals, and that Pon's emoji-only communication reflects Edwards's own early experience of limited language ability living in rural Japan.
In short
- Denkiworks' debut game stars a debt-ridden tanuki fixing his shrine
- Combines BMX trick-riding with roughly 20 slice-of-life mini-games
- Developers stressed cultural accuracy in depicting Japanese shrine life
Explained simply
A tanuki is a Japanese raccoon dog, an animal that also appears in Japanese folklore. In Tanuki: Pon’s Summer, Pon lives at a shrine, a place of worship, and has spent the money meant for its 50th-anniversary festival. He takes a parcel-delivery job to help pay for repairs and festival clothes.
The game is being made by Denkiworks, a Kyoto-based studio, and is its first release. Players explore a town inspired by Japan, ride Pon’s BMX and take part in activities such as fishing, baseball and sumo. The shrine and festival setting draws on Japanese traditions, which the developers say they researched with help from Japanese team members.
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