Selected by the publisher of "Joker", another exciting game with Roguelike gameplay has emerged.

Since the release and subsequent popularity of The Joker last year, a new framework has emerged for Roguelike gameplay. Under this framework, many games have targeted gameplay beyond Texas Hold'em, including mahjong, dice games, chess, pachinko, etc., all of which have demonstrated unique creativity.

Some time ago, the domestic game Raccoon Coin Pusher launched an open beta on Steam and quickly caught the attention of Roguelike enthusiasts. It also received 50,000 wishlists within a week.

This game also integrates Roguelike elements and selects the coin pusher as the core gameplay, bringing a more visually impactful and exhilarating experience.

As a classic arcade game, the coin pusher has the advantage of being easy to understand. Players basically only need to insert tokens. As the tokens drop one by one, the game accumulates and releases pressure on players, offering a gameplay experience different from other The Joker-like games.

Although the content released in the trial version of Raccoon Coin Pusher is currently limited, one can still sense the potential of this game.

Coin pushing is inherently an "addictive game"

In reality, many coin pushers incorporate the striker element of pachinko, making the falling points of tokens more random and increasing players' token consumption. However, Raccoon Coin Pusher doesn't intend to make things difficult for players. Therefore, the game adopts a more traditional and easy-to-understand coin pusher gameplay.

Raccoon Coin Pusher offers a sufficiently exhilarating and stress-relieving experience in its core coin-pushing gameplay.

In the game, the tokens inserted by players are launched from the pipes on the left and right sides and fall onto the pushing platform. Tokens inserted from the left will fall on the right side of the platform, and vice versa. If tokens are inserted from both sides simultaneously, they will collide with each other and stay in the central area of the platform. The platform moves back and forth periodically, squeezing the tokens off the platform and onto the machine.

The game features realistic physical effects. The landing points of coins may vary slightly due to collisions. This adds a bit of variability to the game process without spoiling the gaming experience.

Different from real-world coin pushers, the game's machine doesn't have hidden slots on the left and right sides. Hidden slots usually cause tokens to drop without providing rewards, resulting in token waste. Therefore, Raccoon Coin Pusher has eliminated the most annoying part of coin pusher gameplay.

Players start with 20 tokens by default in the game. At the end of each round, the remaining tokens are cleared, and 20 tokens are replenished at the start of the next round.

Therefore, players need to choose the right time to insert tokens according to different situations. If players want to score points, they should insert tokens when the platform moves forward, so that the tokens fall on the empty area at the end of the platform. If players have passed the current round, they should insert tokens when the platform moves backward, so that the tokens fall on other tokens, avoiding waste caused by continuous token dropping.

In other words, Raccoon Coin Pusher has unique gameplay skills that players need to explore on their own, and currently, the game doesn't provide step-by-step tutorials.

Whenever a token falls from the machine, players earn points corresponding to that token. The specific score is calculated as "token score" × "score multiplier". Similar to The Joker, the game has a specified target score for each round. After the current round is settled, players enter the store interface and prepare to challenge the next round. If players run out of tokens without reaching the target score, the game is considered a failure.

The economic system design of Raccoon Coin Pusher also differs from most Roguelike games.

The game combines the theme of coin pusher gameplay. When tokens fall, they not only settle scores but also provide corresponding "tickets" as rewards. Tickets mainly serve two purposes: one is to purchase items in the store, and the other is to exchange for tokens.

Tickets

When players run out of tokens, they can continue to challenge levels by exchanging tickets for tokens. By default, players have 4 opportunities to exchange for tokens in each round, with a fixed exchange of 10 tokens each time. The exchange ratio changes as the number of rounds increases. Initially, players only need 10 tickets to exchange for 10 tokens, but later, each exchange may cost 20, 40, or 70 tickets.

Notably, similar to the scoring mechanism, tickets also have a "ticket multiplier" setting, which determines the multiplier for converting each token into ticket rewards. This means that the game not only provides a sense of exhilaration in scoring but also allows players to feel the numerical inflation in economic development.

Token exchange

Combined with the coin pusher gameplay, Raccoon Coin Pusher fully showcases the characteristics of "numerical inflation" and "numerical visualization".

For example, the game has a combo mechanism. Whenever players push down a token within a limited time, the score multiplier increases by 0.05. The multiplier returns to the default value only when players fail to push down a token within the specified time. This means that even if the score of a single token is not high, if players can push down a large number of tokens at once, the score will increase rapidly.

In addition, players gain 1 grid of roulette energy every time they achieve 8 combos. When players obtain 3 grids of roulette energy and end the combo state, the game automatically awards a roulette prize.

Roulette prizes include dropping items, automatically launching tokens, placing token towers, etc. Excess roulette energy is repeatedly calculated and converted into a reward multiplier, with a maximum of 5 times. If players pass the current round during the combo time, the roulette prize is reserved until the start of the next round for settlement.

Some roulette prizes are very effective. For example, when players push down a large number of tokens at once, the reward multiplier accumulates. If players are lucky enough to win the token tower prize, a large number of tokens will be generated on the machine again, making it easier to achieve a high combo next time and thus prolonging the sense of exhilaration.

Pushing the token tower

Raccoon Coin Pusher also leverages the advantages of an electronic game to further reduce the difficulty of coin-pushing gameplay.

When players clear a portion of tokens on the machine through special means, the game automatically replenishes tokens in the air (10 replenishment opportunities per game), ensuring that there are always enough tokens on the platform for players to push down.

When players run out of all tokens and have no other means of operation, the game automatically presents the "desperate shake" option (1 shake opportunity per game). By shaking the machine, players can settle the scores of some tokens, providing a glimmer of hope for passing the level when they are just short of the goal.

Desperate shake & Automatic token replenishment

From a core gameplay perspective, the coin pusher gameplay has stronger visual impact compared to card and board games. Therefore, Raccoon Coin Pusher retains the easy-to-understand characteristics of coin pusher gameplay and amplifies the exhilarating experience. With the effect of numerical inflation, the coin pusher gameplay itself is quite addictive.

Breaking the stereotypical design of Roguelike games

For a Roguelike game, build construction is an indispensable part of the gaming experience. In most The Joker-like games currently, the concept of a "deck" is equally crucial, as it is the main object of build construction.

To some extent, Raccoon Coin Pusher breaks through this stereotypical thinking. There is no conventional "deck" in the game, which leads to three differences in its Roguelike gameplay.

Firstly, the player's build continuously changes.

After each level settlement, all tokens on the coin pusher and their positions are retained for the next round. From another perspective, all tokens on the coin pusher constitute the player's "deck". However, since players must eliminate tokens to score points during the game, the build is bound to change continuously.

Players can clearly feel the difference when they reach the round target. At this time, players can still insert tokens and use items, and then enter the store interface. This process is equivalent to adjusting the existing "deck".

This relatively rare design is a double-edged sword. The advantage is that players have more flexibility in the build process. For example, in the middle of the game, players can choose tokens with average effects for the transition and eliminate them later. The disadvantage is that the growth that the build should bring may fluctuate, and the excess scores after players pass a level may be wasted.

In Raccoon Coin Pusher, the player's build mainly depends on 37 types of special tokens with different effects.

The usage of special tokens is different from that of ordinary tokens. During the coin-pushing process, players can insert a specific type of special token, which appears from the swinging launch port in the center of the machine and directly lands on the lower-middle part of the machine after entering, bypassing the pushing platform. Therefore, special tokens are more likely to be pushed off the machine, and the player's build is more likely to change.

Special tokens are divided into types such as "Rational", "Celestial", "Chaos", "Elemental", "Plant", and "Animal". Depending on the type, some special tokens can form clear synergistic effects.

For example, among the "Rational" special tokens, the "Alliance Coin" can convert "Reward Tokens" within a certain range into "Alliance Coins". Moreover, for each additional "Alliance Coin", the base score of all "Alliance Coins" increases by 10. With the rapid spread, the total score doubles.

Alliance Coin

Another example is among the "Animal" special tokens. When two "Rabbit Coins" touch each other, they can produce 1 - 2 new "Rabbit Coins". "Rabbit Coins" and some other animal tokens are the prey of the "Wolf Coin". After a predation, the total score increases. If a "Wolf Coin" preys around a "Fox Coin", 25% of the "Wolf Coin"'s score is immediately settled.

Players need to choose a character before starting the game, and different characters correspond to specific token pools. For example, the Manager character mainly corresponds to "Rational" tokens. Some "Animal" tokens only appear occasionally, and some "Animal", "Plant", and "Elemental" tokens never appear during the game. Conversely, the Biologist character corresponds to frequent appearances of "Animal", "Plant", and "Elemental" tokens.

This design is similar to Millionaire Pinball. Through the mix of token types, the game can prevent players from drawing useless tokens and provide guidance on gameplay archetype construction.

Simply put, the character determines the types of tokens players can encounter, and the token types determine the player's gameplay archetype. Even if players are unfamiliar with the game content when they first start, it's easy to assemble a set of effective token combinations by randomly mixing them.

Secondly, the player's build is more strongly associated with the economic system.

Players can only obtain special tokens by purchasing them in the store or using items. In the early stage of the game, players can hold a maximum of 2 special tokens. Later, they can also consume tickets in the store to expand the token holder and increase the token capacity.