Georgia Lottery launch online hybrid of social game and scratch ticket

The Georgia Lottery is the first US online lottery to roll out a new mobile product that its developer says will help appeal to the younger demographics that typically don’t play lotteries.

On Friday, the Georgia Lottery announced the launch of Star Match, a first-of-its-kind product from California-based mobile lottery developer LottoInteractive. Star Match, which is powered by International Game Technology’s iLotttery platform, combines a match-3 game with the chance to win cash via a digital scratch ticket.

Star Match mirrors a traditional gem-matching game, using Hollywood icons instead of jewels. The more matches you make, the more ‘star power’ you’re awarded. Play poorly and you get six stars, while good matchers will get the maximum 18 stars. From that point, you attempt to scratch and match three of your stars to earn prizes from free plays to $10k.

The product costs $2 per play and is available for desktop, iOS and Android devices. Players outside Georgia can demo a free-play version.