A game that's better than the sum of its parts.

Boiled down to it, the Coin Game is primarily an arcade game simulator. If it was just that, it would be a one and done deal. You go in, play the games, and then leave. But the Coin Game is so much more than that. You can tell that so much more love and care has been poured into this game, despite the lack of polish. The way the game presents itself right down to its survival mode gameplay loop all captures the feeling you had as a kid going to the arcades around town.

More specifically, that feeling of awe and inspiration of the early gambling addictions, but of course in a good way. Having the machines cost a relatively high amount of coins (Larry's arcade, the first area, has machine costs around $1.50) your coins earned from the part-time "jobs" (around $10 depending on what you do of course) adds some real value to what arcade games you decide to play that day. A min-maxxer will play the arcade game that gives the highest return, but playing it through the lens of a kid at the arcade you have to deliberate and choose which arcade games to try out, as you can't always play all of them. There's even the meta decision of deciding to invest in a "building up to a major prize" game like Dunko or the hockey one. It really adds a layer of immersion.

You earn tickets from the arcade, which can be used to purchase prizes. Prizes can be kept for vanity, stored in your house, or sold off at the pawn shop. The decisions you make as to what prizes to get, to keep in your limited inventory, and which to sell adds another layer to the game. Seriously, for this being an arcade simulator game there's a lot to consider. Then there's the time management aspect of your continually lowering energy and health, in the early game these are commonly the way to lose!

The part-time jobs you can do are a more direct exchange of time for coins. Unlike the arcade games these are a bit less polished and more time-consuming, such as mowing lawns or cleaning a house. But it's not necessarily a bad thing. The jobs are the Coin Game's safety net for players who mismanaged their prizes or incurred big losses at the arcade games. They are a punishment, not the focus of the game, so the fact they aren't as enjoyable make the anticipation of going back to play the real arcade games even greater.

Now the more objective parts. The graphics. You can tell this was made primarily by one dev, but I think devotid has done a great job of understanding scope and not trying to be too ambitious. The graphics are accurate where they are important; the arcade machines look superb, each counter/ball/token is perfectly round, the simulated physics react accordingly, the text is sharp and legible on the machines. There's also a great atmosphere built up by the lighting, the arcades themselves are dimly lit, with the machines themselves providing most of the light. The outside day/night cycle is a bit intense, maybe too much, but it's a good reminding as to how much time you have (in survival mode) and gives actual purpose to your flashlight beyond whacking the robots with it. It's the weakest outside, seeing large stretches of repeating textures. It serves the purpose of being the landscape the buildings are placed in. Thankfully this is the area you should be seeing the least as you should be spending most of the game in an arcade instead. But even then, it's all handcrafted, which already places it above some triple-A games.

The sound design is top-notch, with the one exception of all the voice-acting seemingly being done by one person, the dev himself. But honestly, considering there isn't much dialogue in the game, and that he hams it up just like a carnie would, it adds charm to the game. I couldn't imagine anyone who would be genuinely disappointed by it. As for the more functional sound effects, the ambience of the machines and the crowded cheers of onlookers is balanced just right; not too loud that you get a sensory overload but not too quiet that you feel completely alone and isolated. You can tell devotid has worked with racing games before as the vehicles have pretty good engine and tire sounds.

I seriously did not expect to be thinking this much about the Coin Game but it's really captured me. It has some understandable flaws, but I absolutely love it, and would highly recommend it to any arcade-goer out there.

I love this game so much! It's such a fun little world to explore and it's a great way to play arcade games and get silly prizes like I used to as a kid without spending a ridiculous amount of money on stuff that isn't worth it in the long run and clutters my home. I'm excited for multiplayer, I especially think laser tag with a group of friends would be a lot of fun.

Another fantastic indie game. I love arcade machine and just general type environment they make, and sadly as they become rarer and rarer, this scratch the itch. I think this game is underrated, fantastic, fun time killer (a lot like an arcade itself). if you got the time and the money to kill, this is infact a solid recommendation.