Thank you Single Cell Productions for providing us with a review code!

As I wake up to another uneventful day, in the same apartment I’ve rented for years, I stare outside pondering where exactly did it all go wrong? Life just seems to get duller and duller for every second I grow older and the sun doesn’t shine as brightly—or as warmly as it used to. My surroundings look grainy, but I did just wake up after all. Before I let the existential dread set in and cripple me for the day, I turn my attention to my radio.
“I should probably buy an iPhone one of these days” I think to myself.
Who still relies on a silly little radio in this current year? I guess that’s a bit rhetorical as I still do. Maybe I just can’t be bothered with that touchscreen nonsense. I like the tactile feel buttons give off. This over reliance on touchscreens get on my nerves. Even cars are relying more and more on touchscreens. But what do I care—I don’t even own a car!

The radio is almost like a time capsule. It plays many classical tunes that soothe my soul. I look fondly on the past, as those were times where I was happier. The piano vibes through my apartment as just for a moment, I even forget the situation that I got myself into. I forget about the situation the world is in. There is beauty in music as it’ll make you feel deep emotions. You can just get lost in the rhythm of music. I nearly let myself be taken by the symphonies and melodies playing on the audio box, but just then, my nose is assaulted by a pungent smell.

I look to myself, and what I see shocks me right to reality.
“AAAAAAAA! Dang it! I forgot to take out the garbage again!!”
I’ve never been a morning person. Not when I was a kid, and surely not now. My body works in ways most people don’t. Despite me waking up, my other functions take time to sync with my body, and my arms and legs move with automation and pure muscle memory. Not like my brain is fully functional in the mornings either. Just enough so I don’t outright forget to breath. How it goes is that my eyes start to function, then my ears, my nose, and then my brain is booted up to 100%. The downside of my nose functioning late is that I’ll tend to be nose blind, and this resulted in me forgetting to take out the garbage. It’s all piled up with the stench of rotting meat taking up air residence. Now I gotta go find an open dumpster to throw all this out.

As I open up the window to let the apartment air out, I acknowledge I will sacrifice climate comfort for a decent-smelling room. It’s really cold out today. I just hope it doesn’t rain. I take the bags of garbage and head down to the shop to see if Mick left his dumpster open. Sometimes, I think Mick leaves the dumpster unlocked on purpose. Maybe he noticed my situation. Sorry Mick. I don’t mean to be such a burden on you. I know how crazy the homeless and animals can get during this time of the year.

After tossing the trash, and pulling out a small bottle of cologne out of my pocket to cover up the smell just a little bit, I enter Mick’s humble little shop.
“GOOD MORNING BUDDY!” Mick yells out in his jolly voice. “How you doing this wonderful day?”
“Hey Mick.” I respond back. “Same stuff, different day. I’m alive and that’s all that matters.”
“Good to hear my friend!” Mick lets out with a small chuckle.
Of course I’m lying to Mick. Day didn’t start off well, and it’s only gonna get worse once I get to work. But Mick’s a good guy. He’s up there in age, slowly gaining weight, and his full head of hair and facial hair are now a snow white. In spite of his age he always stays positive no matter what happens. I’ll have to admit that his positivity does rub off on me, and I’m gonna need some of that for what will come next. I silently thank Mick.

“So, what will you have today?” Mick says to me.
“Get me the usual,” I respond back.
Mick grabs a bag of unsalted almonds, a bottle of unsweetened tea, and 5 lottery tickets. I’ve made an effort to eat and drink healthier after spending much of my younger days gorging on fast food and tons of snacks. It took a while, but I’m actually starting to enjoy the taste of this stuff. I’ve cut down heavily on the junk, only eating it once every two weeks if I do.
“Alright, that all comes up to $14.72” Mick replies. I hand him exact change due to me accumulating a lot of coins over time.
“Have a very blessed day!”
“You too Mick. See ya tomorrow” I say to Mick with a small smile creeping up on my face.
I sure am going to need some blessings to get through another shift.

I arrive at work, 10 minutes early as usual. I head up to my desk on the 4th floor and boot up my computer. I work as tech support and my main job is to answer the ever increasing stupid questions of the populace. Half the time, they ask me questions that have nothing to do with my job or my company. I don’t even work for Facebook! Stop asking me why you have zero friends on that website! Maybe it’s because you’re really annoying and that’s why no one wants to be your friend! The dumb questions don’t end there. “Whyaretherenospacesbetweenmywords???” “My printer is on fire, help me!” “Why is my turkey dry?” People think they can just call for anything these days! The work is absolutely mind numbing and downright depressing at times. They only pay me $500 a week too, but I guess the upside is that there isn’t much of a thought process to it.

After finding out more reasons as to why humanity needs a hard reset, my shift thankfully ends. I head home just in time for the newspaper to arrive. I look at today’s lottery numbers to see if I won and… of course I don’t. I’ve been playing for years at this point, why would today be any different? But that’s why I keep playing, because I’m sure it’ll happen one day. I mean, there are winners after all who become millionaires over night. One of them will eventually be me, right?

I skim through a rather interesting article about a Bee Protection Act being passed in Argentina, and then turn my attention to the Offers/Wanted section. People have the strangest requests. Like a guy saving up bubble wrap for at least a decade to put in his pool, and wants another person to swim with him. Taste testing chips that may or may not have been tampered with by the government. Some whacko talking about how “the simulation failed” and it’s time to reset. What a weirdo. I look through more of the section and something very interesting catches my eye.

“No way, that can’t be real.” The words softly squeeze out of my lips.
“Write for the newspaper! Great pay!” I used to write for a website for some time, so I do have some experience. And anything must be better than this soul-sucking tech support job. So I apply for the reporter position and end up getting it pretty easily. I’m a little skeptical of the job due to how easily I got it, but whatever. I’ll cross that bridge when it gets there.

My new position began the following week writing for the newspaper. It’s a lot more upbeat and I have quite a lot of freedom with the stuff I report, just as long as its around 1500 to 2500 words. I can already tell this is going to be better than the tech support. I also get paid $1200 a week, which is more than double than I was previously making.

Although I was making more money than ever these days, I still bought the usual stuff and didn't splurge on that iPhone I previously pondered over. However, ever since taking the job, some events in my day were playing out rather strangely. I seem to have less control over where I wanted to go. I kept thinking about wanting to go home and I’d find myself at the shop. I’d want to go to work, but then I walk home. I didn’t really understand it, but I just chocked it down to nerves over how my life was surprisingly getting better. With the money coming in, I would buy more lottery tickets. A lot more.

I’m pretty sure Mick also noticed my drastic increase in purchasing lottery tickets.
“Hey friend, are you alright?” Mick would say with concern at times.
“Of course Mick! I’ve never felt better in years!” I would say right back to him while grabbing 50 lotto tickets.
“Well, if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here for you.” Mick quietly said. “You have a blessed day.”
“Haha, I plan on it!” I laughed out. “See you tomorrow!”
I head out with a pep in my step, not knowing that that would be the last time I’d see good ol’ Mick for a good while.

Now back in my apartment, I'm reading the newspaper and listening to the radio. There’s some article about a Bee Protection Act, and I get a weird case of deja vu. I could have sworn I read that same article a few weeks back. Funny enough, I’m not even seeing the articles I’ve written up, but I just hand waved it to be in another newspaper. I didn’t really care as I was being paid either way. Suddenly, I hear a knock at the door. I walk to my door and slowly open it to find two police officers standing outside. The burly officer in front holds up a paper and introduces himself.
“I’m Officer Markov, and we have a warrant for your arrest.” he says in a low-pitched voice. “You were given ten days to vacate the apartment after failing to pay the rent for over two months now.”
And then it hit me. I spent so much time just basking in that one win I’ve gotten over the years, that I neglected my duties. I failed to pay rent and utilities. I spent all my money on lotto tickets and I didn’t even end up winning. Where did that get me? In a cell.

I had no defense, and no way out of it. I couldn’t even pay for my bail, and I had no one to ask. I simply let the two officers handcuff me and take me away.

“I’m back to square one. Well worse than square one. I don’t even have a house anymore.” I say to myself in the cold, empty jail cells. All you can really do in jail is just ponder your thoughts. There’s nothing to pass the time when in a cell, so I just kept thinking and comparing. Like what represents freedom more? A forest full of trees or a huge building? What represents happiness more? A church or a mountainside? These thoughts helped me grip onto what little sanity I had left.

After about 30 days or so (the days blend in when you’re all alone in a cage), I finally get out of jail. I’m glad to be out, but I lost my job due to being incarcerated. I walk aimlessly through the city just to stretch my legs. I gotta figure out a place to live, but that can wait for a bit. I have a little money on me, so after a few hours of just walking, I head over to Mick’s shop.

“What a sight for sore eyes! I haven’t seen you in ages!” Mick yelled out. “What happened buddy?”
“Oh, hey Mick. I got arrested, but I’m out now. It’s no big deal.”
Mick had a shocked look on his face, with one hand covering his mouth.
“Oh man, I’m sorry to heard that, but I’m glad to see you’re doing well now.” he said after a few seconds lost in though.
“Thanks Mick, you sure know how to make a guy feel welcomed.” That was the truth. Mick just has a way with people that I simply can’t describe.
“So now that you’re back in the land of the living, what can I get for ya?” Mick lets out with the same enthusiasm he always has.
“Come on Mick, you know me!” I exclaimed. “Get me the usual.”

* * *

Lotto Life is an extremely unique game by Single Cell Productions as it goes into the life of a gambling addict, as well as the dangers of letting chance rule over your life. There are tidbits and trivia about how the lottery system preys on the weak and how many winners end up in the situation they once were after a year or two. It’s very realistic as events have to be done a day at a time so playing only takes five to ten minutes a day. And just like in real life, you’re very unlikely to win.

Even though it captures that feeling of relying on a lottery and has a bunch of satirical humor injected into it, Lotto Life is also an extremely hard recommendation as not only as the appeal of a lotto simulator is a niche one, half the mechanics either don’t work or won’t work as they are supposed to. The newsletter is supposed to update with articles every day, but I only managed to get one article despite playing for over two months. There’s a glitch that you can be immediately sent back to jail after being released, and starting a new game (resetting your character) puts you in an infinite loop of going to jail, which can only be removed by going into the save files of your computer and deleting the save from there. Trying to buy more than 8 lottery tickets at once has you spend the money but not obtain any tickets. I tried to reach out to the developers but haven’t gotten a response.

There is a ton of effort and research put into Lotto Life, but due to how it (doesn’t) function, and the lack of response from the developers, you may actually be better off playing the lottery in real life. Okay, maybe not, gambling is considered by many to be a sin after all.