‘He’s tiny, dumpy and funny – so his BMX tricks are hilarious’: Tanuki: Pon’s Summer, an adorable slice-of-life adventure
Why This Matters
Key context: <p>Denkiworks’ debut lets players pull off tricks and pull pints in a stunning, Japan-inspired setting</p><p>A freeloading tanuki, mounting debt, and a town full of possibilities will sound familiar to fans of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/jan/20/animal-crossings-new-update-has-revived-my-pandemic-sanctuary">Animal Crossing</a>. Alas, while you won’t find accountability from Tom Nook, Kyoto-based studio Denkiworks has stepped in to heal your financial trauma with a BMX-filled adventure in which a mammal finally pays the price for their years of bad behaviour. “Even Japanese people ask why it’s a tanuki,” jokes Liam Edwards, a game designer at Denkiworks. “They have such a mythological background to them; they’re almost like dragons in terms of their mythology.”</p><p>In Tanuki: Pon’s Summer, you play as an adorable but irresponsible critter named Pon, who’s bled the coffers of the local shrine – his home – dry by buying video games and snack food instead of preparing for its semicentennial matsuri. As a result, the shrine is in total disrepair, and important architecture and cultural artefacts – such as the ema stand and the chōzuya – are left cracked and broken, unbefitting a festival half a century in the making.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/aug/04/tanuki-pons-summer-bmx-adventure-japan">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.
Denkiworks’ debut lets players pull off tricks and pull pints in a stunning, Japan-inspired settingA freeloading tanuki, mounting debt, and a town full of possibilities will sound familiar to fans of Animal Crossing. Alas, while you won’t find accountability from Tom Nook, Kyoto-based studio Denkiworks has stepped in to heal your financial trauma with a BMX-filled adventure in which a mammal finally pays the price for their years of bad behaviour. “Even Japanese people ask why it’s a tanuki,” jokes Liam Edwards, a game designer at Denkiworks. “They have such a mythological background to them; they’re almost like dragons in terms of their mythology.”In Tanuki: Pon’s Summer, you play as an adorable but irresponsible critter named Pon, who’s bled the coffers of the local shrine – his home – dry by buying video games and snack food instead of preparing for its semicentennial matsuri. As a result, the shrine is in total disrepair, and important architecture and cultural artefacts – such as the ema stand and the chōzuya – are left cracked and broken, unbefitting a festival half a century in the making. Continue reading...
Curation & Context
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