I was discussing my latest project the other day with a friend, who told me about something he heard about where you could win $10,000 in scholarship money, just by tweeting.
It turns out that he was talking about a CollegeScholarships.org offer to award students a little over $1000 in a Twitter-based raffle. (The $10,000 figure given in their press material is inconsistent with what the site says).
When I was very young, the idea of winning the lottery fascinated me. With a chance to be lucky enough to become an instant millionaire, who could resist the allure of buying lottery tickets? My opinions luckily changed as I learned more about probability and behavioral psychology, but I still frequently see entrepreneurs pitching ideas that involve some element of a sweepstakes, or a contest, or a raffle.
I’m definitely interested in game mechanics, but not these types of games. If being a winner of your game involves a special rare stroke of luck, it’s probably a game that’s best left unplayed.