Playstack sure has a knack for snatching up thoroughly addictive games. After striking gold with the smash-hit roguelike deckbuilder Balatro in 2024, the publisher looks to have another success on its hands with the dopamine-fueled RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike.
Inspired by classic arcade coin machines, Raccoin has already hit the jackpot, racking up 100,000 sales in its first 24 hours. It was also a standout success during February’s Steam Next Fest, ranking as the 18th most-played demo and outperforming heavyweights like Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection and Pragmata.
With so much buzz now surrounding Raccoin, I figured it was time to give my two cents, and in this case, drop them straight into the machine.
What is Raccoin?
As noted earlier, RACCOIN recreates the feel of those classic arcade coin pushers many of us grew up with. Each run sees you push coins into the machine and rack up a set number of points, with each round steadily increasing the threshold. If you run out of coins, you can sacrifice tickets to buy more. Then, once your supply is exhausted, you’ll get one last chance to shamefully shake the cabinet before declaring yourself bankrupt.
As the digital equivalent of a coin pusher, RACCOIN would have been fun enough on its own, but where things really get wild is with its items and special coins. Between rounds, you can spend your tickets on these upgrades from the item shop, many of which have absolutely bonkers effects that can synergise in unexpected ways.
When the penny drops
Giraffe coins, for example, spin their long necks to send other coins flying, Seed coins can grow a money tree when combined with Water coins, and Explosive coins trigger a massive bang when you cash in your tickets.
There are also long-term buffs, such as chips that you can purchase, expansions to your coin storage, and one-time use items that you can use to turn the tide of coins in your favour.
Each round, the cabinet also introduces negative coins that carry side effects, such as lowering your overall score multiplier. Removing these as quickly as possible is in your best interest, adding a layer of strategy where you must aim to push them forward deliberately. Special coins like Killer coins can even be used to hunt them down, giving you more tools in your aresenal to control the chaos.
The real dopamine rush comes from chaining together the effects of coins and items, building massive combos that send both the coins crashing and your score soaring. As you rack up points, maintaining your combo becomes key to surviving the later rounds. The challenge lies in balancing the accuracy of your coin drops with the pace needed to keep your streak alive.
The house always wins
Adding to the game’s replay value are six playable characters, each with their own unique coins and approaches to the game. The Biologist specialises in animal- and plant-themed coins, the Chemist is an expert in explosions, and the Manager has a knack for racking up tickets. Each character offers different strategies and difficulty levels, and you’ll need to experiment with them all to unlock everything the game has to offer.
My only real complaints during my first few hours with RACCOIN are that runs can feel a bit long at 15 rounds each, and at times, success seemed to hinge more on luck than strategy. Often during the later stages, I was carried to victory thanks to a lucky spin of a wheel or a tower of coins unexpectedly collapsing and sending a tidal wave straight to the collection tray. I also had some performance stutters whilst the chaos was popping off, but I’m sure that’s more down to my brick of a PC.
The Verdict
Minor gripes aside, Raccoin is a wildly compelling roguelike that turns its simple coin-pusher concept into pure chaotic fun.
Watching the chaos unfold while unlocking and experimenting with new coins and items kept me coming back again and again. I’m glad this is a game in my Steam library and not an actual coin pusher machine, otherwise, I’d be a very poor man and possibly setting up an OnlyFans.
Fortunately, this seems only the beginning for Raccoin, as the devs have confirmed future updates, potential DLC, and ports for mobile and consoles are all on the way.
RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike is out now on PC (Win), and I played via access kindly provided by Playstack.
