In an instant lottery ticket game structure having a lottery administration host computer that includes a ticket validation file containing prize codes for at least some of the lottery tickets, provision for instant lottery tickets having variable redemption values can be made by allowing the prize codes in the validation file to be changed under certain predetermined circumstances. At least some of the lottery tickets in the game, whether printed or electronically simulated, can be provided with play indicia under a removable coating that indicates that the redemption value of that lottery ticket is variable. Using the host computer, a lottery administration can change the prize codes and therefore the redemption value of these instant lottery tickets according to the predetermined criteria such as the termination of a game. In some cases, a player can have the option to redeem an instant lottery ticket for a first value or wait until after termination of the game where a possibly higher redemption value might be assigned to that ticket due to the host computer randomly selecting that ticket to change its prize code to a greater value.