Easily amused
February 19, 2010 1:09 PM Subscribe
I love scratching off things that are like lottery tickets, for the "What could it be?!" entertainment value and the relative pointlessness of the answer. But I don't care about winning anything, and I have principled objections to paying the Bad At Statistics Tax. What are good options for getting scratch-off things that are not lottery tickets (or I guess are lottery tickets but not ones I had to pay for)? What are other similarly pointless small entertainments of this sort? I already get a big kick out of unwrapping empty boxes.
You could make your own: http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/02/11/diy-scratch-off-lottery-ticket-valentines/
(I haven't tried that)
posted by ghharr at 1:19 PM on February 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
(I haven't tried that)
posted by ghharr at 1:19 PM on February 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
You could always hang out here: Fatwallet Forums: Contests and Sweepstakes
There's even a search feature where you can type in "scratch" and see if you're a winner!
posted by circular at 1:21 PM on February 19, 2010
There's even a search feature where you can type in "scratch" and see if you're a winner!
posted by circular at 1:21 PM on February 19, 2010
I probably shouldn't admit this, but there is a Facebook game called Treasure Madness that I love for this very reason. In it you "dig" each square of an island to find treasure, assorted fruits (?), or a little extra game you can play (like tetris or bejeweled blitz rip-offs) to win various rare items that you can add to your "collections."
posted by cottonswab at 1:42 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by cottonswab at 1:42 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: When you buy clothes or books for yourself, take advantage of any free giftwrapping options the store might have.
Then when you get home (or a week later if you really want to build up the suspense) you'll have a present to yourself to unwrap!
posted by egeanin at 1:44 PM on February 19, 2010 [3 favorites]
Then when you get home (or a week later if you really want to build up the suspense) you'll have a present to yourself to unwrap!
posted by egeanin at 1:44 PM on February 19, 2010 [3 favorites]
There are a couple of puzzle book series that work using invisible ink, so you have a pen that reveals answers, clues, paths, etc.
A variety of them can be found here. Most are directed at a young audience, but some of the puzzle based ones like Fleet (Battleship clone) can be enjoyed by anyone.
posted by yellowbinder at 1:51 PM on February 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
A variety of them can be found here. Most are directed at a young audience, but some of the puzzle based ones like Fleet (Battleship clone) can be enjoyed by anyone.
posted by yellowbinder at 1:51 PM on February 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best answer: If you order stuff from Amazon or other internet retailers, get it giftwrapped! It probably won't be free, but likely will be fairly cheap. I too am easily amused, and get a lot of joy out of "presents" that come in the mail.
If you're in Canada, I recommend going to Tim Hortons during roll up the rim to win season, even if you can't stand the coffee (I do not enjoy it but I love roll up the rim). The possibility of winning a free doughnut or cookie or coffee is very exciting, and sometimes you will get like five winning coffee cups in a row, which is free mediocre coffee for a week!
posted by bewilderbeast at 1:53 PM on February 19, 2010
If you're in Canada, I recommend going to Tim Hortons during roll up the rim to win season, even if you can't stand the coffee (I do not enjoy it but I love roll up the rim). The possibility of winning a free doughnut or cookie or coffee is very exciting, and sometimes you will get like five winning coffee cups in a row, which is free mediocre coffee for a week!
posted by bewilderbeast at 1:53 PM on February 19, 2010
If you have a partner who shares your love of scratch-offs: this book.
posted by pluckemin at 2:35 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by pluckemin at 2:35 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
(Forgot to add -- link is very mildly NSFW in that it contains the word "Sex" in the title.)
posted by pluckemin at 2:37 PM on February 19, 2010
posted by pluckemin at 2:37 PM on February 19, 2010
At the right time of year, maybe Advent calendars would work for you.
posted by dilettante at 3:42 PM on February 19, 2010
posted by dilettante at 3:42 PM on February 19, 2010
Best answer: Cat!! Caaaaaaaaat! You're a cat! You're a cat! I bet you like to walk into open paper bags, too!
oh, maybe you aren't. Do you live someplace with lots of Catholic churches? late summer/early fall is Catholic church carnival season, and there are usually googobs of cool grab-bag prize things, and not just for kids. I remember one game booth that had like an eight-foot-long windowbox-looking container stuffed full with small bank envelopes that held small prizes, coupons, and, occasionally, a little slip that said, "Try again." it cost like a dollar to play, and all the area businesses donated coupons. you win, like, cups of coffee and free drycleaning and whatnot, and the churches fund their charities, building maintenance, scholarships, etc.
posted by toodleydoodley at 3:43 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
oh, maybe you aren't. Do you live someplace with lots of Catholic churches? late summer/early fall is Catholic church carnival season, and there are usually googobs of cool grab-bag prize things, and not just for kids. I remember one game booth that had like an eight-foot-long windowbox-looking container stuffed full with small bank envelopes that held small prizes, coupons, and, occasionally, a little slip that said, "Try again." it cost like a dollar to play, and all the area businesses donated coupons. you win, like, cups of coffee and free drycleaning and whatnot, and the churches fund their charities, building maintenance, scholarships, etc.
posted by toodleydoodley at 3:43 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Pulltabs and Scratch and Win on Facebook are two fun (free!) games for this.
posted by SisterHavana at 4:04 PM on February 19, 2010
posted by SisterHavana at 4:04 PM on February 19, 2010
Hello me!
I LOVED the sweepstakes mail Readers Digest would send to my dad (and now me) to get us to "be in the running for a chance at an opportunity for a potential to win A GAZILLION DOLLARS (if you subscribe to this random mag)". Why? Because they'd have all sorts of scratchies and stickers and random "ooo what is this" stuff.
Their older stuff used to be more creative (connect the dots!) but now it's just scratch-this.
There was an issue of National Geographic from 2000ish that was scratch & sniff with perfume from the days of Napoleon and Cleopatra. One other time they had 3-D glasses.
posted by divabat at 5:54 AM on February 20, 2010
I LOVED the sweepstakes mail Readers Digest would send to my dad (and now me) to get us to "be in the running for a chance at an opportunity for a potential to win A GAZILLION DOLLARS (if you subscribe to this random mag)". Why? Because they'd have all sorts of scratchies and stickers and random "ooo what is this" stuff.
Their older stuff used to be more creative (connect the dots!) but now it's just scratch-this.
There was an issue of National Geographic from 2000ish that was scratch & sniff with perfume from the days of Napoleon and Cleopatra. One other time they had 3-D glasses.
posted by divabat at 5:54 AM on February 20, 2010
Previous question about where to buy the scratch off stuff. You can get stickers with it, full sheets (cut your own crazy shapes), or apparently melt down silver-ish crayons... Not free, but cheaper than lotto. Also, you could have a friend print out a bunch of riddles and jokes and put the scratch off stuff over them (for maximum amusement, I recommend putting it over both the question and the answer).
posted by anaelith at 4:39 AM on February 21, 2010
posted by anaelith at 4:39 AM on February 21, 2010
Response by poster: AskMetafilter, I think I love you.
posted by dorque at 12:05 PM on February 21, 2010
posted by dorque at 12:05 PM on February 21, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
also - i'm the same way and i justify my lottery purchases by knowing that in oklahoma the money goes towards schools. so i get the whee! of scratching off and winning at most $5 and i get to help the rugrats buy books.
posted by nadawi at 1:18 PM on February 19, 2010