Daniel Mullins is developing Pony Island 2: Panda Circus, a much larger follow-up to his acclaimed 2016 indie game, combining its predecessor’s glitchy, self-aware style with varied new gameplay systems. The project matters because it marks the return of a cult favourite from the creator of Inscryption, while attempting to preserve Pony Island’s distinctive technical tricks and unsettling humour on a broader scale.

The game has been in development for almost three years since its announcement, and was first teased a decade ago through an Easter egg in the original game’s alternate-reality campaign. Players control a crusader damned to hell and tormented by a game-making Lucifer, travelling through areas described as “Oregon Trail through medieval China” alongside a furry companion, with King Yan voiced by SungWon Cho. Its features include 3D hubs, pixel-art JRPG sections, drag-and-drop hacking puzzles and many bespoke systems, making its long development a significant challenge even for Mullins and his collaborators.