New York Lottery to offer new instant game using cellphones

The New York Lottery has created a new instant game allowing players to use mobile phones in conjunction with a traditional scratch game—something lottery officials say is a first in the nation.

The game announced Tuesday is called Gold Castle. It contains a bar code that can be scanned by a smartphone to create an image of a castle on the phone screen. Players then touch the castle to reveal prizes.

The $5 game is sold at traditional lottery retailers and can be played like a normal instant game. Users wishing to use their smartphones to unlock the new features must download a free Lottery app.

Lottery Director Gardner Gurney says that if the game is successful the Lottery may consider other types of the augmented reality games.