I love video games that season everything. You know, the kind of game where there are five different genres at once, all blending into one cohesive vision? It’s not an easy thing to pull off, but Daniel Mullins seems to be pretty good at it, as evidenced by Inscryption and as suggested by the upcoming Pony Island 2: Panda Circus. Which, by the way, now has a playtest you can sign up for.
A new Pony Island 2: Panda Circus trailer has been released during the latest Triple-i initiative, showing off more of the game and its revolutionary action methods. You can check it out below for a taste. The main purpose of the trailer was to inform you of the aforementioned playtest; registration is simple, just head to the horror puzzle Steam page and mark yourself as interested in the playtest. I don’t know if there is guaranteed entry for everyone who signs up, but hey ho, clicking a few buttons won’t hurt you (I can’t be held responsible if clicking a few buttons hurts you).
If that doesn’t work, there’s more good news: the original Pony Island is available for recovery on Steam completely free! Just add it to your account before October 12, and it will be yours forever. It’s certainly a smart way to get people interested in a sequel to a game that’s over 10 years old (and a way to get people to play said game as well). The original Pony Island is definitely a bit simpler than its next follow-up, but hey, the old one isn’t bad!
Panda Circus looks a little more involved. There’s some of that side-scrolling story on horseback going on, but there’s also a sort of 3D world to explore where you shoot a bow and arrow, a ball that looks like a heavenly item, a sort of borderline dungeon crawler/Inscryptiony with bears asking if you’ve slept at all, mini-games including one where you have to make clowns stand up, a Pac-Man rip-off, FMV cutscenes, the list is long! And if any of this interests you, even if you don’t participate in the playtest, you don’t have too long to wait, since the game is scheduled to release on April 27, 2027.
