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As iLottery continues to slowly expand its footprint at lotteries across the U.S., many states are still years away from offering online or mobile game purchasing options. But it seems there may be a creative workaround. As one jurisdiction faced with these restrictions, the New Mexico Lottery has adopted an innovative way to deliver many of the same features and benefits players enjoy through digital engagement—without selling tickets online. The key to this strategic initiative lies in the addition of interactive engagement tools provided by Alchemy3 (A3), the Lottery’s longtime partner. Working hand in hand, the New Mexico Lottery and Alchemy3 effectively transformed the Lottery’s traditional second-chance promotional pages into engaging, entertaining destinations that attract high volumes of participation and encourage players to purchase and enter more tickets.
The New Mexico Lottery is one of a handful of state lotteries across the country that operates under a strict set of constraints, including a mandatory 30% return to the state and no ability to offer a mobile app. Meanwhile, the lottery faces tough competition from tribal casinos that offer on-site sports betting and racinos. The product portfolio in New Mexico is heavily traditional, offering terminal-based draw games and scratch tickets priced between $1 and $20.
In this restrictive environment, player engagement for the New Mexico Lottery is critical. Once players have been engaged, it’s more important than ever to ensure continued participation. That’s where A3 stepped in, providing not just the background mechanics but a strategic vision for adapting iLottery-style features in a non-iLottery state.
“Players are deliberately visiting digital instant sites to be entertained,” says Carolyn Cabell, COO at the New Mexico Lottery. “In the absence of iLottery, we worked with A3 to create second-chance platforms that serve as a destination entertainment hub for the New Mexico Lottery.”
A3’s partnership with New Mexico spans multiple services, including a promotional engine that utilizes A3’s proprietary Collect ‘N Win platform, certified drawing and audit services, prize management fulfillment, and gaming content that brings “play-for-fun” entertainment to life.
Second-chance promotions have become the centerpiece of this strategy. By adding a digital game to a physical ticket’s second-chance promotion, the team was able to measurably improve the experience for players.
To date, A3 has delivered digital game content as online extensions to several New Mexico Lottery games. Recent programs, including Flavortown, Jaws, and Zozobra, utilize a Match-3 style prize reveal that is fun, interesting, dynamic, and repeatable. The team also tested hybrid ‘partial skill’ mechanics to further deepen player engagement.
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An example of this mechanic was the Lottery’s Pink Panther Crossword game, which paired a skill-based solve with a non-skill outcome reveal. In another example, a Skee Ball interactive game encourages players to come back time and again to enter tickets and try to score enough points to make it onto a game leaderboard in a friendly competition.
“Content like this can be free on the lottery site or tied to ticket entry. Either path delivers familiar brands and modern, entertaining feedback loops,” says Paul Guziel, CEO, A3.
With these innovative interactive add-ons, players can engage, compete, and win prizes without placing a digital wager. The design pattern is simple. Make the second-chance entry destination a fun place to play and be entertained, not just a static, two-dimensional stop for entering ticket codes.
Analysis of these interactive platforms has confirmed their popularity with players. New Mexico compared a set of $5 games that included an Alchemy3 gamified second chance component with a benchmark pool of nine other $5 scratch tickets that did not. The key performance indicators were participation, engagement, and shopping basket measures. “We did an impact analysis. The numbers are just incredibly amazing,” Guziel says.
The comparative analysis showed that participation for the games that included an interactive component increased by 119% as significantly more players entered tickets. Repeat play was key, reflected by a 27% increase in the number of tickets entered per participant. The share of non-winning tickets entered increased from 7% to a whopping 16.5%. Shopping basket metrics also grew. The average value entered per participant increased by 27%, and the total ticket value entered rose by 178%. For a state that cannot sell online, these numbers represent a material uplift directly tied to repeatable interactive play mechanics.
The proven success in New Mexico demonstrates A3’s ability to bridge the gap between traditional products and modern digital play. Even lotteries constrained by current statutes can borrow proven elements from iLottery states and apply them in a controlled environment. By rethinking second chance as a true entertainment destination, A3 shows how any lottery can keep players engaged.
For lotteries nationwide, the message is clear: with the right partner, digital innovation doesn’t have to wait for new laws. “If iLottery is not in your near term, do not pause your digital plans,” says Guziel. “Play-for-fun mechanics let non-iLottery states feel digital. The experience is what matters, not the checkout.”
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