One of our players wrote to us on Facebook to ask about how we come up with game ideas here at the lottery, and we LOVE the idea he offered up after we answered his question!
The player asked how the Iowa Lottery comes up with the names and themes of its scratch games, and who designs them.
The short answer is that it’s often a team effort to find just the right game. There are times when just one of us at the Iowa Lottery comes up with something good, and other times we borrow from popular culture. The companies that print our scratch games also offer suggestions for games and ticket designs. Those companies print tickets for lotteries all around the world, so we’re glad that they share their expertise with us.
There actually is quite a science to choosing lottery game names, themes and colors. Part of it is common sense: If every scratch game for sale is green, people could have trouble telling them apart. So, we want to have a mix of game colors on the market at any one time.The same goes for the themes of our games. It’s good to have a few seasonal games each year, some holiday games, some gaming themes and maybe the theme of a popular movie, too.
But when it’s all said and done, people just like what they like. That’s why we have lots of different games for sale at any one time so you’ll have choices.
Over the years, a couple themes have always done well here in our state: Iowa and animals. The Iowa part is easy to understand: We like Iowa and we’re proud of our state! As for the animal part, maybe it’s because pets are such a big part of our lives, or because Iowa has a strong agricultural heritage.
The player who contacted us then gave his own suggestion for an Iowa-themed game. He said it would need to include artwork of corn stalks, pigs, the Eastern Goldfinch and Scotcharoo bars. Hey, we think Scotcharoos make everything better, so why not lottery tickets, too?
In any case, we’ll keep coming up with new game ideas, and we invite you to keep letting us know how we’re doing!