A Scratch is a small card, usually made of cardboard, where one or more areas contain hidden information: this area are covered by a substance that can not be seen but can be scraped. Applications include gambling (lottery games mostly), quick questions, and to conceal PINs for telephone cards and other prepaid services.

In some cases, the area to scrape need (or can be) scratched to see whether a prize has been won, or reveal a secret code, the result for the cardholder does not change based on the parts being scraped or not. In other cases, the selected areas have to be scraped, which may be applied in a contest, where the area corresponding to the correct answer is scraped, or play, depending on what or which areas are scratched, the player wins or loses.

In these cases the card becomes invalid if too many areas are scratched. After losing the player can scrape all areas to see what we could have won with this card. Such cards are vulnerable to devices that allow unscrupulous individuals to see through the substance of concealment.

The simple Scratch card requires that the player guesses the same numbers or images. If this is achieved, the player wins. The more complex Scratch cards are from several different ways to win for each card. Another method involves matching symbols, pictures or words, or adaptations as popular as blackjack, poker or Monopoly. The games also are adapted to popular tunes such as Harley Davidson, sports, NASCAR, cartoons, FIFA World Cup.

The Scratch cards games are a very popular due to its low price. Players can also win instantly unlike expected to involve many lotteries.