Hello there Sea Changers and welcome back. Did you know that in 2019, the iTunes App Store offered over 903,000 gaming apps for download? I guess that means that games apps are popular but did you also know that some of them will actually pay you money to play them? I didn’t… But as I do now I thought I should probably check it all out and see what you have to do to get your hands on some of the green stuff as you work through these games… So on that note, let’s check out my list of 10 game apps that pay money to play.
As we have discussed above, there are quite a large number of gaming apps out there – and I from what I have found, a great many of them do actually pay out in some form to those who play them – even the free ones. So how have I picked my 10? Well… I really just wanted to give you a good cross section of what is out there so I did some searching around and checked a few out and chose them by looking at:
- What they are
- What they do
- What you need to do
- How much they cost
- How they pay out
What do we mean by making money?
When it comes to making money with smartphone gaming apps, there are a number of ways that this can be done. Some pay out cold hard cash in return for reaching certain levels, completing tasks (such as viewing videos or ads within the game itself), or even recruiting friends to download the game too. Others allow you to ‘make money’ via the redemption of discounts or coupons within the game for other items or for use within retail outlets.
It should be noted at this point also that Smartphone apps, especially those that deal in cash rewards and store gift cards differ from country to country. Some that are listed below may not be available within your own country or if so, by a different name. See instructions at the bottom of this post for information on how to find relevant apps for your region.
Why do they pay out?
If you are new to this world, you might be asking at this point why on earth an app developer would let you download a game for free, and then pay you to play it. Well it is not because they just feel like being nice that’s for sure (with all due respect to the developers of course). The reason is that in most cases, the more sets of eyes that they can get onto their game screens, the higher revenue they can earn from:
- In game advertising
- Data collection (i.e. demographics, geographic etc.)
- Game referral (i.e getting you download other games)
- Providing access to retailers (cash prizes in store cards etc.)
- In game selling (for bonus features and level ups etc.)
In most cases, these are simple online marketing methods that are relatively harmless to the user however you will generally need to provide some login details such as a FaceBook or Google Account (we could go into internet privacy but hey … I think we all know the answer to that). Do be careful however of games that won’t let you win anything unless you pay money – either via the purchase of ‘coins’ or other in game purchases – for example some will pay a prize for getting to level 3. However, you cannot get to level three unless you have 3 rubies – which you must buy. Trust me, the prize will not be more than the cost of the rubies.
Anyway, let’s have a look at 10 programs that I have found below:
1. Mistplay
Mistplay is an app that pays you to download and play online games. The app itself provides links to hundreds of games which are downloaded independently from the relevant app store. Points are then earned based on the games chosen and how long they are played (I played a game for 10 minutes and earned 20 unit points).
Once you have played long enough to generate at least 1800 ‘units’, you can claim payment in terms of prepaid visa and MasterCard (1800 = $5) or gift cards to major retail outlets as well. Extra units can also be earned for referring friends, subscribing to newsletters and following the app on social media.
How do you earn?: By playing online games on a smartphone.
How much can you earn?: There is no limit dependent upon how long you wish to play.
How do you get paid?: Prepaid credit cards or gift cards from well-known vendors and websites.
How much you need to make before cashing out: 1800 units will earn you a $5 prepaid Visa card.
Platform: iOS, Android.
Cost to Download: Free – games are downloaded separately with many containing ‘in app’ purchases.
Login with: FaceBook, Google
2. Coin Pop
As with mistplay above, Coin Pop works as a gateway to other games that you can download and play in order to earn coins. There doesn’t appear to be as many games to choose – in fact I could only see 3. These however pay coins out at a rate or 650 to 690 coins for every minute that you play them. All games are free to download but have in app paid upgrades – which based on the reviews, are probably required to make the games fully playable.
Once you reach 4999 coins (you get 4444 for downloading the app), you can claim your first prize which is $.50 via PayPal. A $20 PayPal payout will cost you 182667 coins which at 650 earned per minute will take you just over 4 and a half hours of playtime to earn – which is not bad compared to some others to be honest. Coins can also be earned by referring others to the app as well.
How do you earn?: By downloading and playing games.
How much can you earn?: There is no limit dependent upon the amount of time that you play.
How do you get paid?: PayPal.
How much you need to make before cashing out: 4999 coins.
Platform: iOS, Android.
Cost to Download: Free.
Login with: FaceBook, Google, Email, Cell phone number.
3. Bananatic
Bananatic (or BananApp in some countries) is another platform that pays you to download games and play. The app lists a myriad of offers that pay anything from 88 to 55000 ‘bananas’ dependent upon your activity with the app that you download. Lower paying games for example may require you to download and reach a certain level whilst the higher paying ones will not only require a certain (much higher) level to be reached but some in app purchases to be made as well. There are also some other non gaming options such as trivia and surveys and higher paying opportunities including the download of a bitcoin trader where a deposit of at least 200 Euros to invest can earn 135000 bananas.
There are a number of ways you can claim prizes here including cash, gift cards, game downloads and subscriptions. $5 cash via PayPal for example will cost you 2500 bananas whereas ‘skins’ and ‘cases’ for various games may cost as little as 200.
How do you earn?: By downloading and game, survey or investment apps.
How much can you earn?: There is no limit dependent upon how many apps you download and play (keeping in mind that payments are only made once certain levels are reached).
How do you get paid?: PayPal and via in game prizes.
How much you need to make before cashing out: 2500 bananas.
Platform: iOS, Android.
Cost to Download: Free.
Login with: FaceBook, Google.
4. appKarma
appKarma is a similar arrangement to Bananatic above in that once you have downloaded the app, you have the option to play a number of games to earn Karma points. These points vary depending on the amount of time you need to play the game to reach preset levels. There are also options to undertake surveys and trial software as well.
Karma points earned can then be cashed in for prizes such as a $10 PayPal deposit for 13500 Karma Points or a $20 iTunes card for 20000.
How do you earn?: By downloading any game, survey or software trial
How much can you earn?: There is no limit dependent upon how many apps you download and play (keeping in mind that payments are only made once certain levels are reached).
How do you get paid?: PayPal and gift cards
How much you need to make before cashing out: 13500 Karma Points
Platform: iOS, Android.
Cost to Download: Free.
Login with: Not asked for.
5. verydice
As the name suggests, verydice is a game where you roll the dice in order to win prizes. When the dice a rolled, tickets are won which can then be redeemed for prizes (electronics and gadgets etc.) or gift cards. Dice rolls are limited each day (between 1 and 50) however more tickets can be earned by ‘doubling’ roll prices or playing other games on the app.
In most cases, if you have 25 rolls in a day, you can earn roughly 100 odd tickets. Prizes can be claimed once you have reached about 4000 tickets – a $25 Amazon gift card will cost you 30,000 tickets.
How do you earn?: By rolling dice (and some other games)
How much can you earn?: There is not limit however the game will limit the amount of free rolls allowed each day
How do you get paid?: Gift cards, prizes
How much you need to make before cashing out: 4000 appears to be the minimum to claim a prize
Platform: iOS, Android
Cost to Download: Free with in game optional purchases
Login with: FaceBook, Google
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6. Play and Win
This next app comprises of a trivia game where your task is to answer as many questions as you can in the shortest amount of time. At the end of the game, a winner is declared who earns $10 with second and third getting $1 each. I played for 5 minutes and was on a ‘streak’ when the game ended so I am assuming that someone else finished and won the $$. There appears to be a new game every hour.
There are a lot of paid options within this app such as question assistance and the ability to use a life if you get a question wrong (which negates your change of winning). If you are good at trivia and can answer quickly – you may be able to rack up a few $10 wins.
How do you earn?: By playing trivia.
How much can you earn?: There is no limit dependent upon how many trivia games you wish to play.
How do you get paid?: PayPal or bank transfer.
How much you need to make before cashing out: N/A.
Platform: iOS, Android.
Cost to Download: Free.
Login with: FaceBook, Google.
7. Lucky Day
Lucky Day is an app that lets you “play real games, win real money” via completing any of the following:
- Play scratch and win games
- Pick some lotto numbers for their internal draw
- Download and play external games
- Complete surveys
- Watch videos
I played three scratch and win games in about 2 minutes and won $2 and 325000 coins – mind you, I did double my winnings by watching a video ad after each win – still, I actually have $2 in my kick!
Cash outs can be made once your balance reaches $10 or a 5 gift voucher to a department store will cost 5,000,000 coins.
How do you earn?: By playing online games, competing surveys or watching ads.
How much can you earn?: There is no limit dependent upon how long you wish to play.
How do you get paid?: Cash via PayPal or gift cards from well-known vendors and websites.
How much you need to make before cashing out: 5,000,000 coins will earn you a $5 prepaid gift card.
Platform: iOS, Android.
Cost to Download: Free – some ‘in app’ purchases available.
Login with: FaceBook, Google
8. Play to Win Casino
As the name suggests, Play to Win Casino gives you the opportunity to win money traditional casino slot machine games. Once you join, you are awarded coins which allow you to play any number of slot machine type games within the app. Cash prizes are won via bonus jackpots and special winning options within the games themselves.
I played for about 10 minutes and earned nearly 8,000,000 and ‘leveled up’ to level 12. This gives me access to more slot games with higher chances of winning. And if you do happen to bet big and loose all of your coins, you can purchase more in game starting at $7.99 for 9,000,000.
How do you earn?: Cash is won via bonuses and prizes when slot machines are played.
How much can you earn?: Base cash prizes range from $50 up to a grand jackpot of $10,000.
How do you get paid?: PayPal.
How much you need to make before cashing out: N/A.
Platform: iOS, Android.
Cost to Download: Free
Login with: FaceBook, Google (not required if you just want to play and not win the cash).
9. Brain Battle
Brain battle is quite a basic app where you are asked a number of maths type questions to win tickets. These tickets are then used to enter cash prize draws that take place every few days.
Doing the maths is fun, and to be honest, it would actually make quite a good educational game for kids – if there was no cash draw thing I guess. I played 1 round, got 20 out of 20 and earned 3 tickets to the draw of $3150 that take place in 2 days. I’ll keep you posted… You can also earn extra tickets by watching ads.
How do you earn?: Answering basic maths questions
How much can you earn?: Around $3 every few days (provided you win the draw).
How do you get paid?: PayPal
How much you need to make before cashing out: N/A but you need to earn tickets to enter the draw
Platform: iOS, Android.
Cost to Download: Free.
Login with: FaceBook, Email
10. Lucky Cat
Our final app, Lucky Cat, is almost like a compilation of many of the above with the ability to win cash and generate coins via games such as:
- Slots
- Spin wheels
- Lucky Knife
- Lucky Doll
- Scratch and win
Coins can also be won by taking surveys and watching videos and prizes are also doubled if you watch an ad straight away as well. I played this one for about 3 minutes and won 40,000 coins and $6.40 in cash. Cash payouts start once you reach $40. Cash payments and gift cards redemption starts at 30,000,000 coins.
How do you earn?: Playing casino and lottery type games, competing survey and watching video ads.
How much can you earn?: Unlimited – you just have to keep playing.
How do you get paid?: PayPal or Gift Cards.
How much you need to make before cashing out: $40 or 30,000,000 coins.
Platform: iOS, Android.
Cost to Download: Free – coins can be purchased in app.
How to find your own apps
As I have mentioned earlier, there are 1000s of apps out there that allow you to make money from them by playing games. My 10 above are a minute example of what is out there so if you are interested in making some money in this way and wanted to find some others, then all you need to do is go into your relevant iOS or Android app store and do some searches.
The best way to do this is to narrow down to whatever game types you wish to use to make some cash. Below is an example of a casino game app search:
From there you would simply run through them all until you find ones that outline payment of cash rewards.
Note: App store results are geographical in nature with some only available within certain countries in order to ensure that rewards are suitable in local stores and currencies.
Conclusion
So… There are 10 game apps to make you some cash this year. I hope it has been helpful and as usual, please do not hesitate to comment below if you have any questions, need some advice or have any experiences to share. Oh, and especially comment if you have any experience with these, or any other apps as well.
Until next time
Have fun
Paul
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