Raccoin Turns a Classic Arcade Experience Into a Roguelike

Years of arcade training have prepared me for Raccoin: Coin Pusher, a new roguelike from Balatro's publisher.

Coin pushers remain a staple of the classic arcade experience, compelling you to part with your loose cash between rounds of Time Crisis to maybe win some more loose cash. I never expected someone would adapt this into a roguelike deckbuilder, yet that's precisely what publisher Playstack and developer Doraccoon are doing with Raccoin.

Simply pushing coins into other coins on its own likely wouldn't be much fun as a video game, but Raccoin also throws in “special coins” during your playthrough. Seed Coins mixed with Water Coins let money trees grow inside the machine, while Cat Coins hunt their natural prey, Rat Coins, to secure you extra tickets. Or you blow everything up with a TNT coin, because why not?

Raccoin promises over 100 different chips that can alter your run, too. Score multipliers come into effect, special plating can be applied to specific coins to enhance their effects, and several characters all have their own themed coin sets. For example, the raccoon manager is good at combos, whereas the biologist specialises in animal-based coins.

Roguelikes historically aren't my usual choice, which isn't helped when sequels (in my opinion) unnecessarily add these mechanics - looking at you, Shovel Knight Dig and Superhot: Mind Control Delete. Still, every so often sees another come around that catches my attention. Hades remains my GOTY for 2020, Moonlighter is a classic, and I'm morbidly intrigued by slot machine horror game CloverPit.

While a release date remains unconfirmed, Raccoin: Coin Pusher Roguelike is getting an open playtest on August 18 on Steam.