Campaigns such as scratch-card advent calendars or characters like Koning TOTO use bright colors, friendly mascots and game-like aesthetics to present gambling as harmless entertainment. This visual language contrasts sharply with the reality that gambling is an 18+ activity with a high risk of addiction.

 

Hearts & Minds reinterprets the logic of gambling through a physical, mechanical installation. The machine takes the form of a wooden box filled with small metal buckets. Participants must use a fishing rod to carefully lift one of the buckets out of the container. The task requires precision: if the bucket touches the edge of the box, an alarm is triggered and the attempt immediately fails.

 

If the participant successfully retrieves a bucket, they receive a card containing a message such as:

 

"Congratulations, you lost more than you won."

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Instead of promising rewards, the machine reveals the statistical reality of gambling.Participants could earn a free attempt by presenting a purchased scratch card or other lottery product from a Dutch Lottery retailer. In doing so, the project directly connects the playful promise of gambling with its underlying mechanics of loss.

 

By mimicking the structure of a game while subverting its reward system, Hearts & Minds functions as an anti-slot machine. The project exposes the tension between the cheerful branding of gambling and the psychological systems designed to keep players engaged.

 

Through humor, physical interaction, and irony, the machine invites participants to reflect on how gambling is marketed—and who ultimately wins.