It’s becoming somewhat of a running joke in the Kyusai work chat that I lose the ability to sleep and go outside when a new roguelike gets released. Vampire Survivors, Balatro, and Megabonk have all hoovered up my free time, and now, it’s the turn of a bowtie-wearing raccoon with an evil coin collection.
RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike is, unsurprisingly, a coin pusher roguelike with a raccoon mascot. Developed by Doraccoon and published by Playstack, it’s ridiculously engrossing. Here’s a bite-sized review, largely written so I can justify spending another day playing the game.
A generational roguelike
As you might’ve guessed from the title, RACCOIN’s core mechanic is coin-pushing. You start off with a set number of coins in your hand, with the aim of racking up a total score for each individual round in the run. Fairly standard roguelike fare, but engrossing all the same.
Coins score points and earn prize tickets once they’re knocked off the edge into the abyss below. Prize tickets can be spent in the shop after each round or exchanged for extra coins if your hand is empty. There’s a finite number of exchanges you can make each round.
Alongside regular coins, you’ll be able to experiment with special coins, held in the slots to the right of the screen. These coins vary wildly; some might multiply or stick to other coins on the playing field, while others may directly modify your score or fill up the shelf quicker.
There are special prizes and chips, too. Prizes act as mostly single-use tools to help you enhance your score – you can place a fish bone to guide the flow of coins, for example, or summon a black hole to suck up coins – while chips provide passive buffs and impact the game from afar.
After every round, the game presents you with a number of items to purchase in the store, including clip expansions, special coins, chips, and prizes. Clip expansions let you pick up more special coins throughout your run.
Something that I loved about RACCOIN is the variety of different items on offer. There are a myriad of strategies and builds to experiment with; my personal favorite centers on summoning UFOs and generating prizes quickly, which adds immensely to replay value.
New coin machine skins and items can be unlocked by continuing to play, too. There’s a profile score that’ll stack up as you complete runs, indicated by a little raccoon running towards a goalpost. It’s a small but meaningful addition that reinforces the “just one more run” energy RACCOIN gives off.
Fellow genre geeks, save yourself
It’s not simply a case of chucking coins into a machine and watching them fall back out again with RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike.
As you play, you can rack up combos by scoring in quick succession. These combos then generate spin power, which will trigger a prize wheel spin, usually rewarding a prize ball, bonus coin drop, or coin tower.
Different run types can also be experimented with. There are multiple characters to play as, each with their own specialties and styles, and, similarly to other games in the niche, different ticket types and difficulties can drastically change how a run turns out.
There is definitely an element of luck to RACCOIN; it’s minute, but it’s there. I’d say it’s mostly a strategy game, but sometimes, you can get unlucky, even when battling against the boss-like “bad coins”, so this’ll be an off-putting factor for some. For fellow roguelike sickos, though, this’ll simply keep you coming back for more.
I found the difficulty level in RACCOIN to be steady but enjoyable. The target scores for each round increased meaningfully every time, forcing me to readjust my strategy and play to my build’s strengths.
A small feature I loved is the shake mechanic. If you go bankrupt, you’ll get a one-off chance to vigorously shake the coin pusher machine and cause the coins and prizes to fly around. Sometimes, this can put you back in the game – so make sure you don’t immediately quit if you lose a run.
Aesthetically, RACCOIN is charming, with a sweet pixel art style. Each character in the game felt lively, and I particularly enjoyed seeing the sprites for each individual coin and prize ball.
Performance-wise, RACCOIN was a dream to play, with no notable quirks, glitches, or bugs. While this was predominantly a PC review, I completed some of my runs on my Steam Deck and found the experience to be incredibly positive. The text was a little small, but otherwise it looked dreamy and ran smoothly.
RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike will get its paws on you quickly if you’re a roguelike lover or arcade game fan. It’s incredibly simple on its surface, but below the copper, there’s plenty of geeky strategies and builds to enjoy.
FAQs
RACCOIN was developed by Doraccoon and published by Playstack.
RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike is a strategic arcade roguelike that revolves around coin pusher machines.
RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike is difficult in its later stages, but it’s not tricky to get into and understand.
RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike came out on March 31, 2026.
