Promise Mascot Agency free update brings rail grinding and new difficulty modes

There’s a new free content update out for Promise Mascot Agency, one of the most underrated indie games to hit digital storefronts this year.

The ‘Prepare to Grind’ update brings a bunch of new content and improvements — chief among them, the ability to grind rails with your truck, and numerous time trials dotted around the map.

There’s new difficulty modes, hero cards, nail designs for Pinky, the ability to skip music tracks, and other quality of life improvements.

A cryptic patch note also hints that something special will happen in-game on Halloween and Christmas, though exactly what remains to be seen!

There’s a bunch of new hero cards to collect from around the island town of Kaso-Machi. You can find these in the usual places: Captain Sign’s Shop, Kaso-Mart etc. You’ll also get rare cards as rewards from the new time trials.

As well as adding a character from another of their games, Paradise Killer, Kaizen Game Works has collaborated with other indie developers to bring some fresh faces into the world of Promise Mascot Agency, by way of hero cards. Tanuki Pon’s Summer, Unbeatable, Sorry We’re Closed, and Dunk Dunk all showing up to party.

My favourite the part of the update is the addition of grinding rails. It’s so much fun to drop out of the sky and land on a railing, grind along like Tony Hawk, and then launch back into the sky at speed. You can even slide along railway tracks and indulge in a little train driver role-play.

To unlock the grinding upgrade for your Kei truck you’ll need to hunt down another of those pesky fox spirits and get the blueprint for the mechanic.

The time trial courses are also dope — racing against the clock, barreling through checkpoints, and crossing the finish line to nab new hero cards is challenging, but fun!

*“I feel the need… the need for speed!”*

I gave Promise Mascot Agency a big 9/10 when I reviewed it earlier this year, and it’s still sitting in the second place spot for my top 5 indie games of the year. The game blends a bizarre business simulator, open-world antics, crime drama plot, Japanese culture, and a colourful cast of eccentric characters to great effect.

The ‘Prepare to Grind’ update is the perfect excuse to dive back in to this off-the-rails adventure, or pick it up and play for the first time.

Promise Mascot Agency is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.