Daniel Mullins explains how he plans to follow up his quirky classic without losing what made it stand out in the first place<\/p>\n
Glitchy aesthetics. Literally collapsing menu boxes. The game taunting you by \u201cpossessing\u201d your Steam friends. Technical tricks of this nature may sound gimmicky in 2026, but they felt excitingly unorthodox a decade ago, when Pony Island came out to critical acclaim.<\/p>\n
Fans of Daniel Mullins, the celebrated indie developer of Inscryption, will be forgiven for forgetting that Pony Island 2: Panda Circus is in active development. After all, it\u2019s been almost three years since the announcement \u2013 and a full decade since it was first teased as an Easter egg in Pony Island\u2019s ARG (Alternate Reality Game) \u2013 with only a single trailer and a bunch of tunes from the soundtrack released to the public.<\/p>\n
While the announcement trailer teases the return of endless-runner sequences and glitchy menus, Panda Circus is seemingly a far bigger and more complicated project than its predecessor; hence the 3D landscapes, pixel art JRPG sequences and even apparent nods to games such as The Case of the Golden Idol. Which is why Mullins claims that, at least in terms of gameplay variety, Panda Circus is closer to The Hex and Inscryption than the original game.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Pony Island 2] is multifaceted in its gameplay and wide-ranging in its influences. But this time the disparate game systems are united by more common elements,\u201d he says, referencing the drag-and-drop \u201chacking\u201d puzzle. \u201cThat simple premise was extended into an endless amount of blocks and holes of various descriptions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plot sees a historical warrior who was slain on his crusade and was damned to hell, where he\u2019s tormented by a video games-making Lucifer. This comically morbid tale \u201cis the strongest link to its predecessor\u201d from a narrative standpoint \u2013 although, we\u2019re told, this warrior won\u2019t be Theodore (Pony Island\u2019s protagonist), but a different ancient crusader.<\/p>\n
In the gameplay that we do get to glimpse in the trailer, the player and his furry companion are traversing through the top-down map, visiting villages and places of interest. It plays like \u201cOregon Trail through medieval China\u201d, Mullins says after I mention noticing hunger and thirst bars. All this is happening while you\u2019re being tormented by lordly King Yan, the Chinese god of death, played by voice actor SungWon Cho in lavish full-motion interludes.<\/p>\n
Other sections promise different mythological themes and menacing deities \u2013 an overarching structure that will be familiar to those who played Inscryption. Then there is the Earth Prison, a three-dimensional hub that our hell-bound protagonist can explore, accessing different chapters by using what seems to be a mythical USB stick.<\/p>\n
If the devil is truly in the details, Mullins gives him plenty of places to hide: Panda Circus seems to be brimming with them. \u201cThere is an almost unmanageable number of bespoke, one-off game systems,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s too big to fit in my mind now and that is a new challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The indie dev admits he would have \u201cbeen troubled\u201d if he knew just how long it would take to make Panda Circus \u2013 even with a handpicked team of collaborators. \u201cI\u2019m very lucky because it was a total chance that we started working together,\u201d Mullins says about composer Jonah Senzel, whom he has worked with ever since the original Pony Island. \u201cHe turned out to be a genius.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gaming<\/p>\n
While Mullins shies away from showing any new piece of gameplay, Panda Circus, now in its \u201cfinal stretch\u201d phase of development, is undergoing private beta. As for the release date: \u201cit may become public knowledge soon,\u201d he hints coyly.<\/p>\n
Bombastic boss battles, an ARG that will see fans dissecting previous games with archaeological zeal (\u201cI bet they\u2019ll crack it in a couple weeks,\u201d Mullins quips), and meta moments that wink at you cheekily are all to be expected from the developer\u2019s most ambitious project to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the time has gone into making a big game that\u2019s just downright turgid with secrets. There are worlds within worlds and layers upon layers.\u201d Another classic Mullins joint, then, and we couldn\u2019t be more ready.<\/p>\n
Pony Island 2: Panda Circus is in development for PC with plans for Linux\/Mac \u201cnot long after\u201d.<\/p>\n