The New Mexico Lottery’s Zozobra Scratchers have received the Buddy Roogow Best New Instant Game Award from the North American State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL). This marks the fourth consecutive year, and the fifth time in a decade, that the New Mexico Lottery has been recognized with this industry honor.
The award is given for efforts to develop and market innovative new games with strong sales potential. The New Mexico Lottery was evaluated alongside larger lotteries such as those in New York, Texas, British Columbia, Kentucky, and California.
New Mexico Lottery Board Chair Reta Jones commented on the achievement: “As one of the smallest lotteries in North America, the New Mexico Lottery’s success is commendable. Our state is honored to be recognized and considered a big competitor nationwide.”
Zozobra Scratchers were inspired by Zozobra, a 50-foot-tall marionette burned each year during an event in Santa Fe. The Burning of Zozobra takes place annually on Labor Day weekend and is organized by the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe. The event involves burning items symbolizing memories or troubles from the past year.
In 2024, Zozobra marked its 100th anniversary and attracted significant media attention. Karla Wilkinson, Director of Gaming Products at the New Mexico Lottery, initiated a partnership with the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe to promote both the lottery game and the annual event.
Three artworks by local artists Raymond Archuleta, Elizabeth Dominguez, and Rene Leninger were selected from nearly 200 entries for use on tickets. Scientific Games provided a transparent holographic overlay featuring flame patterns for ticket design. Non-winning tickets could be entered into a second-chance promotion managed by Alchemy3 for prizes ranging from $5,000 to $100,000.
New Mexico Lottery CEO David Barden stated: “Thanks to our incredible partnerships with the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, Scientific Games, and Alchemy3, we were able to create a game that fueled sales to help raise money for our beneficiary, the Legislative Lottery Scholarship Fund.”
The Zozobra Scratchers sold out within 20 weeks.
Other recent winners of NASPL’s Best New Instant Game Award from New Mexico include Dia de Los Muertos Scratchers (2016), HGTV’s My Lottery Dream Home Scratchers (2022), ORO Scratchers (2023), Guy Fieri Flavortown Fortune! Scratchers (2024), and now Zozobra Scratchers (2025).
Since 1996, more than $1.09 billion has been raised by the New Mexico Lottery for education programs in the state. Over 155,000 students have attended college using Legislative Lottery Scholarships funded through these proceeds.
