TANUKI: Pon’s Summer Demo Walkthrough: First Three Days

Start the demo at the Post Office, where Pon begins his first day as a delivery worker, and work through the opening chapter by delivering parcels on your BMX between helping locals — the demo contains the entire opening chapter of the game, and everything you accomplish in its first three days carries over to the full release. That is the shape of the route: the developers describe the demo as "the ENTIRE opening chapter of TANUKI: Pon's Summer, disguised as a Demo" in their June 11, 2026 announcement on the official Steam page.

What you are playing

Before the route, know the boundaries of the demo. The playable portion is the game's opening arc — the first three in-game days — after which the demo ends. Your progress is not throwaway: the same announcement states that "Everything you accomplish during the first THREE days of the Demo will be FULLY CARRIED OVER to the full release," and the October 28, 2026 release-date announcement repeats the transfer promise. The full game launches November 10, 2026, per the developer's announcement on the Steam page (checked 2026-11-05).

The setting: Pon is a well-meaning, slightly lazy tanuki with a part-time job at the Post Office on a sunlit Japanese island. The Tanuki Festival is a month away, the shrine is in disrepair, and your days alternate between mail delivery, odd jobs and shrine restoration.

Prerequisites

Nothing story-related blocks the start, but set yourself up properly:

• The demo runs on Windows; the official Steam page lists Windows 10 or later, 8 GB RAM, a DirectX 11 GPU such as a GeForce 650 or Radeon HD 7750 with 2 GB VRAM, and 3 GB of storage (page checked 2026-11-05).
• Full controller support is listed on the Steam page, and the developer recommends a gamepad — the game is built around BMX riding, so that is the comfortable way to play.
• Steam Cloud is supported, so your demo save is backed up between sessions.

The route through the opening chapter and first three days

The demo does not gate you behind a single linear checklist — the developers have said the full game gained objective markers and player-chosen mission order — but the content itself has a clear rhythm the developer's demo descriptions lay out. Here is the playable loop, in the order a new player meets it.

1. Day 1: Report to the Post Office

   Your run begins at the Post Office, where Pon takes his first steps as a delivery expert. Among neatly stacked parcels and friendly postal workers, you learn each package's destination. Before setting off, carefully balance every parcel on your BMX and secure the load — the developer's day-in-the-life post stresses that no one enjoys opening damaged goods. Balancing awkwardly shaped boxes on the bike is a real skill check in this game, so take the time on your first loads.

2. Learn your delivery routes on the BMX

   With the bike loaded, ride out to bring letters and packages to the island's residents. The demo's town is the same cozy island setting described across the announcements: roll through familiar streets, learn your routes, and get to know the people along them. Plan your delivery order so no neighbor is kept waiting — timing matters alongside load-balancing. Streets double as tricklines: spot ramps, launch from rooftops, and string tricks together as you ride. Over 100 BMX challenges exist in the full game, and the demo carries "gnarly tracks, new spicy challenges, and more trick lines than any knees can handle."

3. Take on local odd jobs between runs

   Delivery gaps are where the demo's side content lives. The developer's posts highlight three recurring activities you can work into your days: pouring drinks at the Bar for the strict but fair Sakamori (rotate the glass before tapping each pour — patience and steady paws pay off in praise), lending a paw at the dohyō, the sacred sumo ring, where bouts are decided by pushing your opponent past the edge, and hunting insects in the forest with a bug net during the hottest hours for your personal collection — each catch is measured, catalogued, and released back into the wild. A fourth activity, becoming the town's first-ever Tanuki photographer, is named in the demo announcement itself.

4. Spend earnings on the shrine

   The money and rewards from deliveries and activities go into rebuilding, upgrading and decorating the shrine — the demo announcement is explicit that shrine decoration is here to stay and that the elders are counting on Pon. Keep one eye on the clock while you work: the developer jokes that bosses don't pay overtime when you're busy shredding rooftops, and the demo covers only three days.

5. Day 3: finish your business and let the demo close

   Play through the third day the same way — Post Office runs, local requests, shrine investment. Everything you have accomplished across the three days is what transfers. When the demo's opening-arc content ends, your save has done its job; the October announcement tells you to transfer your progress once you jump into the full game on release.

What completion looks like

The demo ends where its scope ends: after the third in-game day of the opening chapter. There is no hidden ending to chase inside the demo itself — the developer frames it as "the first arc of the game sneaking out," so reaching the end of day three with your deliveries done, locals helped, and shrine funds earned is the complete run.

Next steps

• The demo overview page collects what the demo contains and how it relates to the full game, useful if you want the scope before committing the hours.
• The demo length page helps you plan whether the first-three-days content fits your schedule before November 10.
• The demo save transfer page covers the transfer process in detail once the full game is out — that is the step that makes your three days count.

FAQ

What does the TANUKI: Pon's Summer demo walkthrough actually cover?

The demo is the entire opening chapter of the game — the first three in-game days. A walkthrough of it follows Pon from the Post Office through delivery runs, odd jobs like the bar and sumo ring, and shrine decoration. A more granular, step-by-step day-by-day route than the structure above is not documented in the official material as of 2026-11-05; the developer's announcements describe the content and order but not a scripted step list.

Does demo progress carry over to the full game?

Yes. The developer states on the official Steam page that everything you accomplish during the first three days of the demo will be fully carried over to the full release, and tells players to transfer their progress when the game launches on November 10, 2026.

When does TANUKI: Pon's Summer release, and where can I play the demo?

The full game arrives November 10, 2026, per the developer's October 28, 2026 announcement. The demo is available now on Steam, where the official page lists Windows as the platform (checked 2026-11-05). The game is also coming to PlayStation, and preorders are open on Xbox and Nintendo Switch 1 & 2 per the same announcement.

What should I prioritize in the demo's first three days?

Prioritize whatever you want waiting for you in the full game: delivery earnings and rewards feed the shrine, so steady Post Office runs plus a few paid activities (bar shifts, sumo help, insect collecting) convert directly into shrine progress that transfers. BMX challenge hunting is worthwhile if you enjoy trick lines, but the transferable value sits in deliveries and activity rewards.

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Check note: this page is built from the official Steam page for TANUKI: Pon's Summer and the developer announcements posted there (demo launch, June 11, 2026; release date announcement, October 28, 2026; day-in-the-life post, November 4, 2026), checked on 2026-11-05. The overall route and activity order come from those official descriptions; a precise per-day step list with exact in-game objectives and controls remains unconfirmed, as no first-hand playthrough material was available for this page.