There is a perfectly valid reason that I tend to avoid the scratch-off lottery tickets in my local supermarket, and it’s mostly because you’re pretty much guaranteed to lose, and all you’re really doing is throwing money away whenever you buy one. Still, I secretly really enjoy doing scratch-offs, and that’s why I’ve become obsessed with Scritchy Scratchy. 

This delightful little indie ‘clicker’ game is under development by Lunch Money Games, and the demo is available now. Despite it being a demo, I’ve amassed almost four hours of playtime, and I’ve realized that I might have a bit of a dormant gambling problem, because I find myself unable to stop.

More than just a clicker

Scritchy Scratchy is more than just your average clicker game, not least for the fact that it involves a surprisingly small amount of clicking and a huge amount of mouse wriggling. If you’re looking for a way to exercise your wrist (and your mind isn’t in the gutter), Scritchy Scratchy is a bizarrely addictive way to work towards an RSI or carpal tunnel, but we can ignore that because it’s so fun. 

You start out with your ‘day job’, which is cleaning plates that have evidently been used for spaghetti. Each cleaned plate will pay you a small amount of money, as long as you don’t break it, and then you can unlock and purchase new scratch cards by leveling up the ones you already have. Leveling up makes the prizes for each card increase, but the cost remains the same, so you can quickly progress to making the big bucks. 

But it’s not that simple, either. There’s planning to be done, and tactics to be adopted. It’s all weirdly strategic, or perhaps I’m overthinking things. Either way, there’s more to Scritchy Scratchy than first meets the eye. 

Win, lose, or go bankrupt

One of the tools in the demo for Scritchy Scratchy is the Auto Scratcher. This little bot buddy sitts in the corner of your desk and you feed scratch cards into it, letting it do the work for you. That’s fine for early cards that can only either make you money or not, but that becomes a problem when the scratch cards begin to include traps that actually end up costing you money if you reveal them. 

This issue starts with the Apple Tree card, which features a worm that will suck away some of your funds if you uncover it, and it’s a pretty common feature after that. With the Lucky Cat card, you need to avoid revealing a black cat. It becomes a real issue with the Scratch My Back card, which happens to be my favorite of all the ones I’ve unlock so far. 

The Scratch My Back card is a turtle with a segmented shell, each segment being a scratch-off panel. Underneath, you could find a Jellyfish worth over 100 million, or you could find a plastic bag that looks almost identical aside from the tentacles, and that will remove over 100 million. To avoid that happening, you must develop tactics.

Getting tactical

When you first unlock a new card, your scratch power and the size of your scratches will be pretty weak compared to how they were on the previous card. This can work to your benefit when it comes to trap cards, as you can skim over each panel and reveal a glimpse of what’s underneath. If you spot the trap, avoid that panel and scratch off the rest to win some money and not end up bankrupt. 

When it comes to Snake Eyes, which I have never managed to make a profit on yet, but I’m still determined to keep trying, the tactic is thus: The ‘one’ will make you lose a lot of money, but it’s also the only dice face that doesn’t have a dot in at least one corner. So, scratch off the corners first, and if there’s no dot, that’s a one and should be avoided. You’re welcome. 

I have a virtual gambling problem

Scritchy Scratchy is one of those games that is a constant provider of dopamine. Winning, regardless of how much you win, feels good, and getting the jackpot feels like a strangely rewarding rush. Sure, you might have spent 20 million on the card itself and only won 15 million back, but you still won 15 million, and you can ignore the five million deficit because it’s not real. 

You’re not at risk of losing the roof above your head or going to end up with no money in your bank account, because losing virtual money doesn’t affect your real-life balance. Still, there’s something utterly addictive about it, perhaps because it is harmless. I know I’m never going to win the lottery, and playing is a fool’s game, but Scritchy Scratchy lets me feel just a fraction of the joy I’d feel if I played and won. 

There isn’t a release date for the full version of Scritchy Scratchy just yet, but I know I’ll end up going back and playing the demo for a few more hours before it finally arrives. You can also play the demo free in-browser on Itch.io!