GamesSimPromise Mascot Agency, the ‘world’s first open world mascot management crime drama,’ is all that and somehow moreWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesSimPromise Mascot Agency, the ‘world’s first open world mascot management crime drama,’ is all that and somehow moreWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
And yet Kaizen Game Works insists they have, in fact, shown some restraint.
“That was worse. We toned that down,” laughed art director Rachel Noy in a recent interview. “That had a certain name that I don’t really feel comfortable repeating.”
Like Kaizen’s first gameParadise Killer, Promise Mascot Agency throws wild characters in your face with devil-may-care glee. But where that wonderful 2020 detective game had an anything-goes attitude with its coterie of immortal gods, this one is more rooted in Japanese pop culture, which their British creators credit to their collaboration with Capcom and Tango Gameworks veteranIkumi Nakamuraand her concept artist. They pitched the rough idea for the game to Nakamura—a disgraced Yakuza managing a team of living mascots—and then the designs started flowing in, one after another.
Bizarredesigns. For a lot of them, they just “had to take the edge off a bit,” Noy added.
“There wasn’t anything obscene or too graphic,” reassured director Oli Clarke Smith. “But [cat mascot] Trororo’s original name, from Ikumi, that would’ve hit the age ratings… badly.”
Image1of4Never know who you’re going to meet in Kaso-Machi.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Rejection stings, but not as badly as a swarm of bees during a mascot event!(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)The Mascot Agency fell on hard times and had to spend awhile as a love hotel to make ends meet.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Pinky is a charmer, despite her truly horrific design.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Image1of4Never know who you’re going to meet in Kaso-Machi.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Rejection stings, but not as badly as a swarm of bees during a mascot event!(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)The Mascot Agency fell on hard times and had to spend awhile as a love hotel to make ends meet.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Pinky is a charmer, despite her truly horrific design.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Image1of4
Never know who you’re going to meet in Kaso-Machi.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Rejection stings, but not as badly as a swarm of bees during a mascot event!(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)The Mascot Agency fell on hard times and had to spend awhile as a love hotel to make ends meet.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Pinky is a charmer, despite her truly horrific design.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Never know who you’re going to meet in Kaso-Machi.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Rejection stings, but not as badly as a swarm of bees during a mascot event!(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)The Mascot Agency fell on hard times and had to spend awhile as a love hotel to make ends meet.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Pinky is a charmer, despite her truly horrific design.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Never know who you’re going to meet in Kaso-Machi.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Never know who you’re going to meet in Kaso-Machi.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Never know who you’re going to meet in Kaso-Machi.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Never know who you’re going to meet in Kaso-Machi.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Never know who you’re going to meet in Kaso-Machi.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Rejection stings, but not as badly as a swarm of bees during a mascot event!(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Rejection stings, but not as badly as a swarm of bees during a mascot event!(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Rejection stings, but not as badly as a swarm of bees during a mascot event!(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Rejection stings, but not as badly as a swarm of bees during a mascot event!(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Rejection stings, but not as badly as a swarm of bees during a mascot event!(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
The Mascot Agency fell on hard times and had to spend awhile as a love hotel to make ends meet.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
The Mascot Agency fell on hard times and had to spend awhile as a love hotel to make ends meet.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
The Mascot Agency fell on hard times and had to spend awhile as a love hotel to make ends meet.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
The Mascot Agency fell on hard times and had to spend awhile as a love hotel to make ends meet.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
The Mascot Agency fell on hard times and had to spend awhile as a love hotel to make ends meet.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Pinky is a charmer, despite her truly horrific design.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Pinky is a charmer, despite her truly horrific design.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Pinky is a charmer, despite her truly horrific design.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Pinky is a charmer, despite her truly horrific design.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Pinky is a charmer, despite her truly horrific design.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Minigames give you the opportunity to play cards in a quick, stripped down deckbuilder. After I recruited tokusatsu-style hero Captain Sign, for example, his card let me take another action. “We’ve had god knows how many versions since the beginning, and all of them have been dreadful except for this one,” said Smith. “We prefer combo-based games where you have a handful of cards you combo together. We wanted a simple version of that where the complexity comes in how the numbers scale up.”
I played a couple hours of PMA, really just enough time to get through the opening beats of the story and dip into the basics of its systems. There’s lots of driving to find mascots, items that can be used to aid mascots on missions, and little cosmetic items; while you’re puttering around in your truck Pinky will often chime in with some dialogue about the surroundings. There’s no voice work yet, but the game will be fully dubbed in Japanese (not English) for release. Sending mascots out on missions is simple at this stage, with some basic decision-making around which mascot is best suited to which kind of job, but Smith said that will scale up with higher tier jobs.
PMA is a management game at heart, so you’ll spend a good bit of time on screens like this one.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
“We wanted players to understand what’s going on without too many tutorials and get into the groove of it, and then we start unlocking medium and hard jobs. Then you start making decisions like ‘I know I’ve got a good bank of heroes for this,’ or ‘I don’t, but I’ve got a good mascot help item.’ You can make some bets like sending a mascot out with on a really hard job with an item that has a 75% chance of avoiding trouble… You have lots of time to discover the intricacies of the system and different ways of approaching things. There’s lots of side stuff that ties back into the simulation.”
I can’t remember the last game I’ve played that so gleefully defies categorization as Promise Mascot Agency, with a blend of open world exploration and systems management and visual novel-adjacent character chatter. I guessLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthis the perfect point of comparison, but that’s notablynotfrom a small indie team delivering the follow-up to a detective game.
Smith has some clear points of inspiration for Promise Mascot Agency in terms of its core structure, though.
“We didn’t want to make a deep, complex management game—we wanted to make a hangout game,” he said. “I’m a big fan of what I call PS2 games where you hang out and do stuff, like theDisaster Reportgames andWay of the Samuraigames, where you’re just kind of given a world and a bunch of systems and you go and hang out and do stuff as you want. There are actually some really complex systems in there, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming. With our management thing, we wanted players to hang out with the system; there are stakes there, and a pretty severe ‘game over’ system which ties into the narrative. But you have plenty of warning and some backup systems. The danger’s there, but you’re still able to engage with it in a way that suits you.
“Paradise Killer found a bunch of fans that aren’t into hardcore games, and I think this will hopefully do that as well.”
Image1of5Not yet it can’t.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Mascots face all sorts of hardship while out on jobs. Like normal sized doors.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Pinky’s thumbnail is customizable.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)There are lots of collectibles to find while driving around Kaso-Machi, including upgrades to give your truck wings and other upgrades.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Image1of5Not yet it can’t.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Mascots face all sorts of hardship while out on jobs. Like normal sized doors.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Pinky’s thumbnail is customizable.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)There are lots of collectibles to find while driving around Kaso-Machi, including upgrades to give your truck wings and other upgrades.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Image1of5
Not yet it can’t.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Mascots face all sorts of hardship while out on jobs. Like normal sized doors.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Pinky’s thumbnail is customizable.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)There are lots of collectibles to find while driving around Kaso-Machi, including upgrades to give your truck wings and other upgrades.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Not yet it can’t.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Mascots face all sorts of hardship while out on jobs. Like normal sized doors.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)Pinky’s thumbnail is customizable.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)There are lots of collectibles to find while driving around Kaso-Machi, including upgrades to give your truck wings and other upgrades.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Not yet it can’t.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Not yet it can’t.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Not yet it can’t.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Not yet it can’t.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Not yet it can’t.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Mascots face all sorts of hardship while out on jobs. Like normal sized doors.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Mascots face all sorts of hardship while out on jobs. Like normal sized doors.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Mascots face all sorts of hardship while out on jobs. Like normal sized doors.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Mascots face all sorts of hardship while out on jobs. Like normal sized doors.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Mascots face all sorts of hardship while out on jobs. Like normal sized doors.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Pinky’s thumbnail is customizable.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Pinky’s thumbnail is customizable.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Pinky’s thumbnail is customizable.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Pinky’s thumbnail is customizable.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
Pinky’s thumbnail is customizable.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
There are lots of collectibles to find while driving around Kaso-Machi, including upgrades to give your truck wings and other upgrades.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
There are lots of collectibles to find while driving around Kaso-Machi, including upgrades to give your truck wings and other upgrades.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
There are lots of collectibles to find while driving around Kaso-Machi, including upgrades to give your truck wings and other upgrades.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
There are lots of collectibles to find while driving around Kaso-Machi, including upgrades to give your truck wings and other upgrades.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
There are lots of collectibles to find while driving around Kaso-Machi, including upgrades to give your truck wings and other upgrades.(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
(Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)
The town and surrounding area of Kaso-Machi is deceptively big, and I’m not sure yet if it’ll prove as satisfying to poke around as Paradise Killer’s island, which was fascinatingly bizarre in design and aesthetic even outside its bizarro characters. I’m not worried about the writing in PMA Agency, though—even in the opening couple hours it’s just as charmingly unhinged as the team’s last game. The setting may hew closer to the real world, but the characters are, as you can see from just the screenshots in this article,eclectic. They’re just not immortal gods.
“This needed to be a more grounded world and story than Paradise Killer to show people trying to achieve their dreams, communities coming together and being rebuilt and fighting back against bureaucrats and governments,” said Smith. “When I wrote Paradise Killer I was coming out of a whole bunch of jobs where I hadn’t felt very valued, so I was very angry. In PK everyone’s pissed off at you, it’s got this anger to it. I think I got a lot of that out of my system.”
“Mascot is more hopeful. It’s like, yes the world is shit, but you’re going to find your tribe and get through it together,” said Noy.
If it’s not the weirdest, most giddily creative game you play next year, I’ll offer up my pinky as penance. Just promise to send it out on some fun jobs.
More about simThe Factorio ‘God Factory’ was one of this year’s greatest gaming feats: ‘Most players will never find themselves hitting the limits of the game. We are.‘Rule the talking movie industry in tycoon game Hollywood AnimalLatestHow to feed pegasus in Disney Dreamlight ValleySee more latest►
More about simThe Factorio ‘God Factory’ was one of this year’s greatest gaming feats: ‘Most players will never find themselves hitting the limits of the game. We are.‘Rule the talking movie industry in tycoon game Hollywood AnimalLatestHow to feed pegasus in Disney Dreamlight ValleySee more latest►
More about simThe Factorio ‘God Factory’ was one of this year’s greatest gaming feats: ‘Most players will never find themselves hitting the limits of the game. We are.‘Rule the talking movie industry in tycoon game Hollywood Animal
More about sim
The Factorio ‘God Factory’ was one of this year’s greatest gaming feats: ‘Most players will never find themselves hitting the limits of the game. We are.‘Rule the talking movie industry in tycoon game Hollywood Animal
The Factorio ‘God Factory’ was one of this year’s greatest gaming feats: ‘Most players will never find themselves hitting the limits of the game. We are.’
The Factorio ‘God Factory’ was one of this year’s greatest gaming feats: ‘Most players will never find themselves hitting the limits of the game. We are.’
Rule the talking movie industry in tycoon game Hollywood Animal
Rule the talking movie industry in tycoon game Hollywood Animal
LatestHow to feed pegasus in Disney Dreamlight ValleySee more latest►
Latest
How to feed pegasus in Disney Dreamlight Valley
How to feed pegasus in Disney Dreamlight Valley
How to feed pegasus in Disney Dreamlight Valley
See more latest►
Most Popular
Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: ‘sweaty’ teamplay vs. casual fun
Call of Duty’s $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it’s doing
These are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre
Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 6, 2025)
I’ve seen enough: No more forcing singleplayer studios to make mediocre live service games
6 games that could be bigger hits than you’re expecting in 2025
What are your 2025 gaming resolutions?
The FBI put a $5 million bounty on the ‘Cryptoqueen’ last year but still hasn’t found her, so take your pick: Russia, South Africa, or murdered on a yacht in 2018
The Witcher season 4: Everything we know about Hemsworth’s debut on The Continent
8 bold gaming predictions for 2025
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS
1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
1
Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
2
Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
3
Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
4
Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
5
Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review
1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review
1
Thank Goodness You’re Here! review
2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review
2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review
2
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review
3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
3
WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
4Ikea Utespelare desk review
4Ikea Utespelare desk review
4
Ikea Utespelare desk review
5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
5
Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
