RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike is one of those indie games that sounds weird on paper, then suddenly everyone on Steam is playing it. A coin-pusher machine mixed with roguelike decision-making? Very arcade kaki meets Balatro brainrot — and somehow, it works.
Developed by Shanghai-based Doraccoon Games, RACCOIN launched on Steam for PC on March 31 at USD $11.99. For Malaysian players, that puts it roughly in the “one decent mamak session plus drinks” range depending on Steam conversion and local pricing — not exactly impulse-buy cheap, but still very indie-friendly if the replay loop clicks.
The early numbers were strong. Not long after launch, RACCOIN passed 10,000 concurrent players and earned a “Very Positive” rating on Steam, with more than 90% positive user reviews. That is already impressive for any indie release, but the story gets more menarik when you realise this was Doraccoon’s first commercial game, made by a core team of just three people who had only recently graduated from university.
According to Automaton Media’s interview, the idea started when Doraccoon producer ManKemono was introduced to coin-pusher arcade machines in early 2024. Around the same time, Balatro was blowing up in China, and the team began asking the important indie-dev question: what if we smashed these two ideas together?
That is how RACCOIN’s foundation formed — coin-pusher physics on one side, roguelike combos and build-crafting on the other. The team had already imagined special coin effects early on, including rabbit coins that create more rabbits and bomb coins that clear out coins on the machine. After graduating, they chose to build the game themselves instead of taking job offers, then started full production in July 2024. The prototype reportedly came together in just two to three weeks.
Doraccoon also studied other coin-pusher games like Old Coin Pusher Friends and Coin Dozer, alongside roguelike-adjacent titles such as Ballionaire and Lucky Landlord. You can see why that matters: RACCOIN is not just nostalgia for arcade machines. The appeal is in turning a simple physical toy-like setup into a system where every upgrade and coin drop can snowball into chaos.
Behind the scenes, one key supporter was COREBLAZER, a game development support team established by Hypergryph, best known as the studio behind Arknights. But COREBLAZER is not described as a standard publisher or outsourcing house. Its role is closer to long-term support: funding, business advice, development feedback, and market knowledge, especially around China.
For small SEA and Asian indie teams, this part is honestly the most interesting. Many fresh studios can make cool prototypes, but struggle with business, publishing, production discipline, or knowing how to position a game beyond their local bubble. Doraccoon said COREBLAZER helped with those areas without forcing creative decisions. Instead of saying “do this,” the advice was more like “maybe try this approach.”
COREBLAZER reviewed Doraccoon’s builds monthly, pointed out bugs, flagged design issues, and suggested improvements. Some feedback focused on bigger-picture concerns, such as whether parts of the game might be too hard for new players. Meanwhile, publisher Playstack handled more detailed feedback, including UI clarity. Doraccoon said the two sides did not clash, because their roles were different and neither side tried to override the team’s vision.
That is a healthy model, bro. Too many promising indie games die not because the core idea is bad, but because the team has no support structure after the prototype stage. RACCOIN’s success shows how much difference it can make when a small team gets funding, feedback, and business guidance while still owning the creative direction.
COREBLAZER is also looking for more development teams to support, including Japanese and international studios, and will appear at BitSummit PUNCH from May 22. For Malaysian and SEA indie devs watching from the sidelines, RACCOIN is a useful case study: a niche arcade idea can travel globally if the execution is sharp and the support network is solid.
Source: Automaton Media