The Lottery mechanic is used in games when a group of players gamble against each other for the chance of winning a prize. The players can participate in these events using in game money or possible by using real life money. This can cause many problems as addiction can occur and also the age factor comes into play as players must 18 to enter into gambling. The lottery mechanic appears in most games in all different ways. For example it could be a literal lottery where the player can use gambling machines or games designed with the sole purpose of gambling.
The first example of a video game that uses the lottery mechanic is ‘Fallout New Vegas’. Since the video game is set within Vegas there are obviously casinos that the players can enter and interact with the different gambling tables. These include Roulette and Pontoon. The player bets on this games using the in game currency which he has spent time earning. The mechanic works as realistic as possible allowing the player to use the same responses as they would in real life.
Another good example of how this mechanic has been used is in World Of Warcraft. There are multiple ways in which this mechanic has been used in this game. The first is that when a group of player participate in what is known as a ‘raid’ at the end of it there are a certain number of drops such as equipment and food which the players can obtain. However to obtain these each player must press ‘roll’ which obviously rolls a dice. Which ever player has the highest roll wins the equipment. Another way in which this mechanic is used is not as a official mechanic but rather one the player have utilized int heir own way. There is a command called ‘roll’ which allow players to roll a random number between 1 and 10000. Players compete against each other b y betting with in game money, whoever rolls the highest number wins the money.
If I was to use this mechanic in a game of my own i feel like there are multiple ways in which i could do this. The first would be in a racing game. Players would use the in game currency to enter the race and whoever wins the race would win all of the money from the people that entered. Another way in which this could be used in a game is as a reward system in single players games where players use a scratch card for the chance to win a prize.
Ryan Green Arts 