When I sat down with Oli Clarke Smith, director of Promise Mascot Agency, he admitted, “It’s tough to fully express what our game is all about.” The challenge, he said, is describing a game that they see as an “open-world mascot management crime drama.” Though this description makes total sense to the team, it’s been tricky to communicate that vision effectively.
Promise Mascot Agency, coming from Paradise Killer developers Kaizen Game Works, is essentially an expansive open-world RPG with elements of management and creature collecting. When players grasp the concept, they truly connect with it. Early feedback from those who got their hands on it has been overwhelmingly positive, appreciating the quirky “band of freaks” the game presents.
Speaking of freaks, these are the mascots you’ll manage – whether it’s the self-aware burial mounds or the anti-pixelation cats, or even fun characters like Mottsun. Most of these characters are a collaborative effort between Kaizen’s small but creative British team and a talented Japanese duo – the renowned Ikumi Nakamura and artist Mai Mattori.
Explaining their approach to collaboration, Clarke Smith shared, “We reached out to her with hardly anything, just the rough concept for Promise Mascot Agency. It was crucial for us to work with someone from Japan because of our game’s setting. The mascots they created brought in cultural nuances we could have never invented ourselves.”
Although Kaizen aspires to maintain a distinct identity in their games, teamwork with Nakamura and others has always embraced the idea of weaving in personal flair. For instance, when Nakamura shared a story about feeling out of place in a coastal bar in Kyushu—mirroring PMA’s location—it enriched their depiction of the game world, Kaso-Machi, with authenticity. Rachel Noy, the art director, drew parallels from her experiences in the UK, admitting that locals in Cornish pubs can make you feel like an outsider too, a vibe they could incorporate into their narrative. And yes, “we watched loads of Twin Peaks,” she adds with a chuckle, another reference that shaped their artistic vision, motivating the inclusion of Swery.
Tweaks and adjustments were inevitable, but the process was largely about accommodating their partner’s creativity. Clarke Smith acknowledged, “There were times when 90% of a design was perfect, and the rest needed tweaking to fit our gameplay mechanics.”
Facing a very different challenge compared to their first game, Paradise Killer, Clarke Smith pointed out how initially it was just him and Phil Crabtree figuring out game development. The shift from a mystery game to a management game was conceptually huge, but by now, the making of Promise Mascot Agency feels naturally aligned, even if it’s the hardest project they’ve tackled to date.
Phil Crabtree added, “Some systems from Paradise Killer were a good base for us. The existing code gave us more room to focus on new designs.” They initially tried a complex management calendar, but it clashed with the game’s relaxed world. Refining it to make the management aspects non-intrusive yet engaging became crucial, ensuring they enhanced the experience without overwhelming players.
Managing these mascots involves sending them on jobs where they risk running into all sorts of fun and random obstacles like mischievous dogs or stubborn doors. The team generated these scenarios from what Crabtree jokingly called “a big old list of silly events,” partly inspired by mascot blooper videos they found on YouTube.
The evolution of the game saw some features, like loans and races, get reshaped or set aside. As Clarke Smith put it, “We realized those weren’t essential for our gameplay. Potential future expansions might explore those ideas further, especially with the allure of ‘cool drift cars’ we all found appealing,” Noy admitted, in line with the dream of doing a racing DLC someday.
As they gear up for Promise Mascot Agency’s upcoming launch, spirits are high. “For a small team, our accomplishments have been sizable,” Crabtree shared. He can play the game’s opening hours repeatedly and still find new reasons to smile. “This time around, I’ve felt confident for a lot longer,” he added, compared to the late-stage assurance with Paradise Killer.
Noy expressed fondness for their characters, knowing she’ll miss working on them but is optimistic others will share her admiration. While there’s the usual pre-launch nervousness, having earned respect for their earlier style strengthens their confidence.
“We’ve made the game we wanted to,” Clarke Smith concludes. “The narrative and characters have resonated before, so if fans enjoyed those elements in Paradise Killer, they’re likely to adore Promise Mascot Agency.”
