If you go to your local gas station, odds are they have those scratch-off tickets right next to the front counter.
Scratch tickets can be fun but the odds of winning are ridiculously low and they can cost up to $20 for the higher-prize ones. Most people don’t win anything and just lose money.
Fortunately, if you want the thrill of playing scratch-off and number tickets but don’t want to lose money, then you can try out Lucktastic.
Lucktastic is basically a gaming app for Android and iPhone that lets you enter sweepstakes and play scratch-off tickets for real money. The best part is that it’s free to download and use.
This Lucktastic review covers how it works and its pros and cons.
What is Lucktastic?
Lucktastic is a mobile rewards and gaming app that lets you enter contests and win gift cards and other rewards. Lucktastic allows small gambling games but is free to use. So you get all the fun of gambling with none of the risks of losing your money.
With Lucktastic, you can win cash prizes through sweepstakes and games. Some prizes go all the way up to $10,000!
Some people have even won $1 million+ using the app, like this man from Las Vegas back in 2017.
Lucktastic first launched back in 2014 and since then has paid out over $3 million in free rewards, prizes, and gift cards.
There are a few restrictions to note, though, with using this app.
First, you have to be a US citizen to play, and you have to be at least 18 years old. Also, you will have to share your location while playing in order to be eligible for prizes.
Lastly, before playing any game, you will have to watch a 30-second ad. These ads are annoying, but it is how the creators can manage to keep Lucktastic completely free to use with no in-app purchases.
If you are looking for a better-paying game app than Lucktastic that works in the U.S. and Canada, take a look at Mistplay (Android only).
How Does Lucktastic Work?
Making a Lucktastic account is easy. All you need is an email address, name, and password.
Once you enter those details, you can confirm your account via email and start playing games.
The creators highly recommend registering your account, as that will enable you to recover any lost tokens if you delete the app in the future and reinstall it.
1. Scratch Cards
Every calendar day, you will get a finite set of scratch cards you can play. Scratch cards reset every day at around 5 AM when the entire system updates the cards. Lucktastic also offers various bonus cards between 1-5 PM and after 9 PM.
When you want to play a card, find one on the selection screen and select it. You then swipe your finger across the screen like you are scratching a real card.
Matching symbols is how you win prizes. The scratch cards allow you to win cash prizes or tokens (more on those later).
Lucktastic also gives some extra bonuses the more cards that you play. If you play at least one card a day for 4 days in a row, then Lucktastic will give you a daily $5,000 card. If you play a grand total of 150 cards, they will give you a free $10,000 card.
2. Tokens
Sometimes scratch cards give tokens instead of cash prices.
Tokens are basically Lucktastic’s version of reward points and can be redeemed for gift cards and other rewards prizes.
Gift card options include some of the more popular retailers out there, such as Amazon or Dunkin Donuts.
Before redeeming tokens, you need to have at least $5 in tokens worth redeeming. Currently, 30,000 tokens are worth $5, which comes out to much less than 1 cent a token.
As you can see, tokens are worth very little in cash rewards, so you definitely should not rely on getting tokens to earn prizes and cash on the platform.
3. Contests
Lucktastic also has contests, sweepstakes-like events that you can enter with just a handful of tokens.
The prizes for the sweepstakes and contests are pretty varied and can include things like iPads, cash prizes, gift cards, more tokens, money for groceries, and much more.
You have very little chance of winning any contests or sweepstakes, but they cost so few tokens to enter that you won’t really miss out on anything entering as many as you can, even if you lose most of them.
How Can I Redeem Lucktastic Prizes and Rewards?
Lucktastic keeps a running balance of all your cash prizes and tokens. When you make more than $5 in prizes, you can start redeeming those values.
For balances between $5-$14.99, you can redeem prizes in the form of digital gift cards for various retailers.
Balances over $15 can be sent to you via a paper check, which you can then deposit into your bank account like normal.
For balances over $100, you can opt to receive a prepaid Visa debit card.
It takes a long time to earn anything substantial on Lucktastic, so most users will probably stick with digital gift cards most of the time.
How Much Can I Win With Lucktastic?
Lucktastic claims that so far, it has paid out over $3 million in prizes to over 220,000 winners. Of course, when it comes to winning scratch cards, luck is all there is to it.
You are unlikely to win much, if anything at all, but there is the possibility of winning big, like the guy from Las Vegas that won $1 million from Lucktastic.
According to Lucktastic’s FAQ section:
For the instant win scratch-cards, the odds of winning depend upon the number of people playing the cards. For contests, the odds of winning depend upon the number of entries received.
So ultimately, the odds of winning are determined by how many people are currently playing.
The good part is that even though the odds of winning anything are very low, it doesn’t cost anything to use Lucktastic, and there are no in-app purchases.
Everything is 100% free to download and use, even all the contests and such.
Note that Lucktastic will make you watch 30-second ads before playing any card, but these ads are tolerable and allow the app to remain free to play.
So even if you don’t win anything, you are not losing anything either, unlike with physical scratch cards.
Is Lucktastic Legit? Is It a Scam?
Lucktastic is a legitimate app, and it’s not a scam. You can actually win money with the platform, and the app is not just a trojan for people to steal your personal information.
Lucktastic does collect some personal info, such as your location, when playing games, but they claim that they do not sell this information to third parties.
Lucktastic might publish your first name and last initial in their promotional materials if you win a big prize and they share info in line with federal and state tax reporting obligations.
We should mention the customer reviews, though. Lucktastic has pretty low reviews on both Trustpilot and BBB.
There are two major complaints that we found: First, a lot of people complain that they have been using the app for a while and still haven’t won enough money to redeem.
To all these people, we say: What did you expect? The whole point of scratch cards and sweepstakes is that you are ridiculously unlikely to win them.
The other major complaint is that you often cannot redeem gift cards. This is a legitimate complaint and a serious one.
Many people claim that they frequently cannot redeem digital gift cards because they are “out of stock.”
Interestingly, many people complain that the platform used to be much better about these things and that it has only recently gotten difficult to redeem gift cards.
Lucktastic Pros and Cons
Pros
- Free to play. Lucktastic is 100% free to play; no subscriptions or in-app purchases.
- Win real money. You can win real cash by playing Lucktastic games.
- Wide selection of gift cards. With Lucktastic, you can choose between a large selection of gift cards from the most popular retailers.
- Ads are bearable. You have to watch ads before playing every game, but they are short and can mostly be ignored.
Cons
- Low odds. The odds of winning any prize are very low, just like a real scratch card.
- Technical problems. A lot of people report technical issues with the app, such as being unable to redeem points or being unable to download gift cards.
Conclusion
So, is Lucktastic worth it? It depends.
It is free to use, and even though there is little chance of winning, you won’t lose anything.
The most annoying thing you may have to deal with is being unable to immediately redeem gift cards with tokens or cash prizes.
Otherwise, Lucktastic (Android or iOS) is a fun free app that can kill some time and get you some fun rewards.
If you are interested in making money from game apps, you can also try the free Mistplay app.
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Lucktastic is a waste of time..I been playing this game forever and still have not won anything..I think they just want your information..I would not recommend this game