Hoosier Lottery Pulls Space Invaders Game Over False-Win Tickets

• Indiana forklift driver Mike Fields scanned a new “Space Invaders” scratch-off displaying a $100,000 jackpot, only for the lottery computer to validate it as a $20 winner
• The printing error prompted the Hoosier Lottery to immediately halt sales of the $5 game after multiple players showed up at headquarters trying to cash false high-tier prizes, including a $2,500 ticket that turned out to be worth nothing
• Officials blamed a disconnect between the symbols printed on the physical tickets and the backend database, instructing burned players to mail in official protest forms for review

The Hoosier Lottery has recalled tickets for its newly launched Space Invaders Cash Invasion scratch-off game after some players were mistakenly led to believe they had hit big prizes.

One was Indiana forklift driver Mike Fields, who believed he had won $100,000 only to have the rug pulled from under him by the lottery. Fields told local FOX affiliate WXIN that when he took his ticket to Hoosier Lottery headquarters in Indianapolis, he was informed that his prize was just $20 because of a printing glitch.

Space Invaders Cash Invasion, which launched June 2, includes a rocket ship symbol, which will enable players to win any prize listed underneath.

Lottery officials said in a statement that a “technical error” meant the ticket’s printed symbols did not match the game’s official validation records.

“They never told us, ‘No.’ They just said that we wouldn’t be paid today, and no other information really, except that we would be informed by mail within 30 days,” Fields told WXIN.

Out of Luck

He was not the only player to see their big win converted into loose change by the error – or, in some cases, into nothing at all. Glendon Jones, from Richmond, Ind., was led to believe he had hit a $2,500 prize. He drove 80 miles to Indianapolis to claim only to be told his ticket was worthless.

I get here, and they say it’s a mess-up, a misprint, and that I’m pretty much out of luck on it,” Jones told WXIN.

Both men claimed they had trouble getting a straight answer from lottery officials. It’s currently unclear how many players are affected by the gaffe, but a statement recently posted on the Hoosier Lottery website indicated there are more than two.

The lottery is urging impacted players to submit protest forms, including evidence of their ticket purchases.

‘Slap in the Face’

“The $5 Space Invaders Cash Invasion Scratch-off launched with a technical issue. We halted the sales of the ticket to ensure the game experience upholds the integrity we strive to provide,” lottery officials said in the statement.

“All information must be thoroughly completed for review to occur, including mailing the purchased ticket with the completed form no later than November 30, 2026.

One affected player posting on Reddit described the fiasco as a “huge slap in the face to us and their public they lean on to buy tickets.” They urged the lottery to “have some integrity” and “stand behind your players.”