Lovely little game. Nice art; it's cute; it's polished. I enjoyed playing it, thanks.
But in regards to the theme, I think it's not a smart interpretation, because most if not all games get harder the closer you are to winning!
Failing reduces the number of coins to be collected in the next try. So failure leads to progress but only in the next try. Perhaps that should have been made to be a bit clearer. But thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed it! :)