I will admit that when I was younger, I used to dabble in a little bit of gambling. Nothing major, or anything like that: a bit of Texas hold’em here, a slot machine there, and all-sorts in-between. I suppose that’s why I gravitated towards the likes of Balatro, CloverPit, and Scritchy Scratchy, as they satiate that itch without any of the potentially devastating loss.
So, when I heard the news that Playstack, the publishers that brought us Balatro, were putting out another gambling roguelite themed on those old seaside coin pushing machines, I started to feel pretty hyped for it. It was an unusual premise, but I was ready for it to become my next addiction.
Many thanks to Playstack for the review code.
PUSH IT REAL GOOD
For those unfamiliar with coin machines, these devilish contraptions are filled with coins and a back wall that pushes the coins forward. The idea is that you have to insert a coin, and with a little bit of luck it will be positioned in such a place that it’ll push some coins onto the lower area, and then hopefully push some more coins into the exit slot. The aim is to get more coins out than you put in, but usually you’ll find your coins end up on top of the previous stack or inexplicably don’t have any effect on the rest. It’s a pretty low risk, low reward, type of machine – which feels perfect for modern roguelike shenanigans to help spice things up a little.
In an attempt to make a pretty dull concept more exciting, you’re targeted with hitting a set monetary target that gets increasingly higher over the course of fifteen rounds. There’s a limit to the number of coins you can insert, but the ability to exchange tickets for coins a handful of times each round makes it far more achievable.
If you want to get past the first few rounds though, you’ll need to make use of special coins, gifts, and extra bonuses to help increase your multiplier. Perhaps coins have an increased chance to earn you tickets, or selling items activates a coin sucking UFO that can help you get some higher value coins in tricky positions. There are loads of items available, and good synergies can help you squeeze your way through to the next round.
There’s certainly a lot of content here, and – just like Balatro – it will take you quite some time to see it all. However, there’s just something about it that made the concept not click with me, even after hours of play. Sure, it has some flashy visuals and high numbers that feel like they should be putting my dopamine levels off the charts, but I just found myself largely getting bored instead and becoming slightly indifferent as to whether I’d pass or fail. Sure, it does raise a smile when a stray coin or a last-minute shake helps you hit the goal even after the game warns you that you’ve failed, but I can’t say I ever found the game all that fun.
So, what’s the problem? The game isn’t terrible, and it contains all the same flashy gimmicks and variety of power-ups that other genre favourites have. However, it just lacks something that the others seem to have: a sense of agency. Sure, Balatro (sorry to keep comparing the two games, but even the publisher seem to be promoting this game based on their similarities) also requires a hefty amount of luck, but you also need skill too. What cards do you need to filter out of your deck? What should you play? You feel like the epilepsy-inducing lights indicating high combos are a result of something you earned, rather than luck from a coin that just so happened to fall when you needed it to.
And for some people, that’s probably alright. But if you want something that actively keeps you engaged, then you may end up falling off this one quite quickly – no matter how hard you try to like it.
For those wanting to play the game on the Steam Deck, the game runs as well as you’d expect for a smaller indie title. There aren’t any noticeable frame drops, and the visuals are just as pleasant on the small screen as a larger monitor. But, there are some slight caveats to be aware of. First of all, the text can be quite small at times, and the mouse cursor used to select and apply items can be rather fiddly to use. Button presses are available for these, but I found those even less intuitive to use than the touch screen. None of these issues are a major problem, but something to be aware of at the very least.
