I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I’m too cool for school: Grand Theft Auto 6 looks really good. There were some sky-high expectations heading into our first extended look at the most anticipated game of all time, and Rockstar delivered. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to exploring Leonida this November while listening to Birdman and Phil Collins.
I would also be lying if I told you that GTA 6 was the #1 game on my mind right now following Gamescom. It’s way up there, certainly, but the actual game I can’t stop thinking about is Pony Island 2: Panda Circus. Yes, really.
I forgive you for overlooking Pony Island 2
If you can’t remember seeing Pony Island 2’s trailer during Gamescom’s overlong Opening Night Live stream that’s because it felt like a fever dream. Nestled between Elden Ring clones and AI-riddled shooters was a release date trailer for the latest game from Inscryption creator Daniel Mullins. While we previously got a glimpse at it during the 2023 Game Awards, the new trailer provided a stranger and more captivating look at a game that’s impossible to describe. If you missed the trailer, you need to drop what you’re doing and watch it right now. I’ll wait.
OK, got it? You probably have some questions, and I probably don’t have a lot of answers. What I can tell you is that it’s a sequel to 2016’s Pony Island, an indie masterpiece that introduced the world to Mullins’ signature brand of fourth wall-breaking game design. It’s not exactly similar to Inscryption, Mullins’ award-winning deckbuilder, but it’s very much spiritually linked. Both games tow the line between screwball comedy and psychological horror, offering players completely unpredictable and ever-changing experiences.
Judging by its new trailer, Pony Island 2 sure looks like it isn’t straying from that playbook. The clip shows off some first-person eeriness before veering into a montage of retro minigames and unsettling FMV footage. That should all sound a little familiar if you’ve played Inscryption past its opening roguelike component. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s a sign that you need to go back and play more stat.)
What is it all about? Beats me. The Steam page merely refers to it as a “phantasmagorical voyage through time, myth, divinity, and video games.”
Brace for galaxy brain take
I sincerely love that the trailer dropped during the same week as a glitzy GTA 6 showcase; the total contrast highlights why I find video games so exciting as a medium. There is no rulebook decreeing what a video game needs to be. It can either be the most expensive open-world game ever conceived or it can be… whatever Pony Island 2 is. There’s a good reason the latter stood out so much during a showcase dominated by games that looked to be mimicking their successful peers.
If I was really feeling drunk with power here, I’d say that GTA 6 and Pony Island 2 are more spiritually connected than they look. They’re both craft showpieces that find developers pushing the limits of what the medium can do, aren’t they? Rockstar is accomplishing that by seeing how far it can go with scope and its knack for painstaking details, while Mullins is continuing to break down the concept of genre to reach uncharted territory.
There’s innovation happening at every level of the industry, even if a show like Opening Night Live can sometimes leave you feeling like games have stagnated. Look on the fringes, and you’ll find the antidote for your ennui.
Pony Island 2: Panda Circus launches on April 27 for Windows PC.
