Kniv Studio Announces Pachinko Roguelike High Roller Penny
The announcement follows Kniv Studio's May release of STARDUST: Wish of Witch, a turn-based strategy RPG that received high praise, positioning High Roller Penny as the studio's next project in a genre that has gained popularity in recent years.
Key Facts
- Kniv Studio announced High Roller Penny on August 13 for PC via Steam.
- High Roller Penny is a pachinko-style roguelike where players drop balls onto a pegboard to earn scores and clear target quotas.
- Failing to achieve the target score in High Roller Penny results in immediate execution of the protagonist.
- The Steam store page for High Roller Penny is live with wishlist registration available.
- Kniv Studio is a South Korea-based studio that released STARDUST: Wish of Witch in May 2026.
Reporting from 3 sources: GAME Watch (Impress), Denfaminicogamer, Automaton.
Kniv Studio announced High Roller Penny on August 13, a pachinko-style roguelike for PC via Steam. The game casts the player as a debt-ridden protagonist abducted by Penny, a bunny girl who also works as a debt collector, to an underground pachinko parlor run by a shady organization. Players drop balls onto a pegboard to earn scores, with each peg hit adding points. Clearing a round requires hitting a target score within a set number of balls; failing means immediate execution. Success clears rounds and advances the player to stages where other bunny girls await as opponents. Rewards earned from cleared rounds can be spent at a prize exchange shop on special pegs and balls, which can be placed anywhere on the board. Pegs include wide types that bounce balls upward and special effects like duplicating balls on contact. Balls also carry various traits, and passive skills combine with pegs and balls to create synergies. Players can sell pegs, balls, and tickets, balancing steady earnings against risky big wins. The goal is to climb ranks, defeat the bunny girls, and wipe out all debts. The release timing is undecided, but the Steam store page is live with wishlist registration.
Kniv Studio is a South Korea-based developer. Its previous release, the turn-based strategy RPG STARDUST: Wish of Witch, launched in May and drew strong reviews. The studio frames High Roller Penny as a death game built around gambling-addicted bunny girls, a genre angle that has picked up traction in recent years.
The underground organization running the games is called Yami-Pachi, and it secretly controls most casinos while staging illegal life-or-death matches against debtors. The protagonist is forced into a high-roller battle after Penny, who works as both a bunny girl and a debt collector, abducts him. Winning matches and climbing the ranks clears the protagonist's debts and brings Penny glory.
The prize exchange shop offers a random selection of special pegs and balls. Pegs placed on the board earn more score than standard ones. Players can sell possessions, tickets, pegs, and balls, making risk-and-return choices central to each run. The game supports Japanese display and was announced for Japan alongside the global reveal.
GAME Watch's Yuma Kondo covered the store page opening on August 13. Automaton and Denfaminicogamer both note the release timing is undecided, with Denfaminicogamer describing the launch as scheduled for the near future.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.