Do you want to make money by playing games on your phone?

1. Play Free Win Real Cash
2. Games That Pay You To Play

That sounds like it would be too good to be true, but there are actually a lot of apps out there that let you do it! In this post, we will be showing you the best apps that pay you to play games.

What’s the Catch?

Before you download any of these apps, you might be wondering a company would ever do anything like this or what the catch might be. I mean, why would any company pay you to play free games on your phone?

There are three common reasons that you would get paid to play games.

• The best part is that completing these surveys is generally pretty simple to do, making this an easy way to make money with apps. Below, we’ve compiled a list of best paying survey apps that pay.
• CashOut is on the top charts as players love playing the amazing game. This is one of the best games that pay real money through PayPal. CashOut helps individuals play mobile games, daily check-ins.
• Best for paid surveys and online gift cards. Swagbucks helps you earn quick bucks while shopping online, browsing the internet, and watching videos. You can also participate in online surveys, polls, or just play online games to earn more. You can redeem the rewards in the form of specific merchandise, gift cards, or cash.
• InboxDollars is another favorite here at Your Money Geek. The app is a cash-based rewards club that pays you for easy online activities. To earn points, you can take surveys, watch videos, play games, and so much more. One of the best features of the app is that it's easy-to-use.

1. First, companies pay money for people to use their apps to boost their player base and appear more popular on an app store. Because there are millions of apps out there, they need help from people like you to get higher rankings.
2. The second reason is that free apps often want people to play so they can get “hooked” on a game and buy in-app currency. They’re hoping that the few cents you earn from downloading the app will go directly back into their pocket. Obviously, the best way to avoid this happening is to ignore any purchase opportunities!
3. The final reason — and in my opinion, the sketchiest reason — is gambling. Some gambling apps will give you free tickets to play to win money. Then they’ll give you some “great deal” where you pay money on more tickets to gamble. The best approach to these apps is to accept the free tickets but never pay for anything they offer you.

Boodle (android only) is one of the best apps to win money and it is completely free. You can earn coins towards gift cards for playing new games, completing fun and entertaining offers as well as participating in fun daily polls.

Now, with that out of the way, here are the apps!

Earn Money by Playing Games on Android

Let’s start with apps that pay you to play game son Android.

1. Verydice

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

The premise is simple enough: you roll the virtual dice, win tickets based on what you roll, then redeem your tickets for prizes! You have a limited number of rolls per day, and they make their money by selling additional dice rolls.

2. InboxDollars

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

In addition to being a paid survey site, Inboxdollars has a whole section of games that you can play and get paid for! Basically, companies pay InboxDollars to find people to play their games, and the site passes a little of that money on to you.

Read our detailed review of InboxDollars for details and other ways to earn, plus a few tips on how to make the most money with InboxDollars.

3. Coin Pop

• Available on: Google Play

Coin Pop is a free app that rewards you in coins for every second you play games from their list. You can exchange the coins for gift cards or cash prizes.

4. CashPirate

• Available on: Google Play

This app offers a variety of ways to make money by downloading new apps, completing surveys watching videos and, yes, playing games.

5. Fitplay

• Available on: Google Play

Offering an experience with no deposits or in-app purchases, Fitplay is just here to reward you for trying new games. Just choose one off their list and start earning rewards.

6. AppStation

• Available on: Google Play

AppStation offers a variety of genres to choose from and get paid to play, like casual, action, strategy, puzzle or arcade. The games are all free to play, and your rewards are given by the amount of time you spend playing.

7. Lucky Miner

• Available on: Google Play

Featuring a cute user interface and a wide range of rewards, up to and beyond a $50 PayPal cash payout, Lucky Miner pays you by the minute to try new games.

8. Cash Alarm

• Available on: Google Play

Cash Alarm offers to give you your first gift card a few hours after you start playing one of their games, which is a big plus. You and your friends can also get bonuses for referring them to the app.

9. Golden Farmery

• Available on: Google Play

With new apps on offer every day, Golden Farmery will pay by the minute for you to play a variety of mobile games across all genres. Win rewards and cash out the next day.

10. Mistplay

• Available on: Google Play

Bored with your current game library? Mistplay offers mobile users recommendations for new games and even rewards you for playing them! The app also has a chat function to stay in touch with other players!

11. Cashout Rewards

• Available on: Google Play

This app lets you earn points by:

• Installing free apps
• Playing games
• Completing surveys
• Watching videos

You also get a guaranteed 10 points every day you log on. Once you have enough points, you can redeem them for PayPal cash and gift cards.

12. Bananatic

• Available on: Google Play

This app is specially made for people who are already into online games. Offering rewards like gaming mice and video games, this one’s perfect if you’re a gamer yourself or are looking to get a gift for one in your life.

Apps that Pay You to Play Games on iPhone

While there are many game apps that pay you real money for both Android and iOS devices, there are a few that are exclusive to iOS devices.

Some of the best include:

13. HQ Trivia

• Available on: iOS

Play a new quiz with word games and trivia every day with HQ Trivia! It’s actually a very popular app to play trivia and win cash. This app has had guest celebrities like The Rock, Robert De Niro, and more drop in, so keep your eyes peeled.

14. Toy Town Cash Money

• Available on: iOS

This app takes an interesting approach to earning cash by playing games. There are no in-app purchases or pay to win scenarios. All you have to do is play their games and earn tickets. The tickets let you enter into one of their many cash prize draws. If you win, you get the money paid to your PayPal. Pretty simple, right?

Best Apps that Pay You to Play Games

Here are applications that pay you for playing games.

15. Toluna

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

Toluna is a survey site with a hip modern twist, aiming itself at young would-be “influencers.” In addition to surveys, it offers a series of its own games which users can play and get rewarded for.

16. Swagbucks Live

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

From the popular online rewards site Swagbucks comes a trivia game that can earn you cash prizes! Answer all the questions quickly and correctly to qualify for a grand prize of up to $500!

17. Play and Win

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

Offering a grand prize of $50,000, Play and Win is a trivia game that offers cash prizes for its most knowledgeable players. A new game starts every hour, with players competing against each other.

18. Lucky Day

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

Love casino games but don’t like the crowds? Then Lucky Day is the app for you. Featuring scratch-offs, blackjack, and more coming soon, you can play to win real money!

19. Big Time

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

From WINR Games, Big Time offers real money to play their games. The money is handed out through a raffle, so the more tickets you earn playing games, the better your chances of winning big!

20. Lucktastic

Play Free Win Real Cash

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

Featuring a new contest to pay for your grocery trips, Lucktastic also offers Lucky Trivia Live, a trivia show that you the audience can participate in and win from!

21. Long Game

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

Long Game is a banking app that features a gamified rewards system. Every day, you can use points you’ve earned for using their card to play games and compete for up to a million dollars!

22. Wealth Words

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

Like puzzles? Wealth Words has crosswords, poem and story puzzles you can play to win 30, 200, even 700 dollars! The app offers secure instant withdrawal through PayPal for your winnings.

23. Brain Battle

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

Brain Battle offers players a chance to earn tickets by playing games. One ticket is all it takes to be entered to win cash prizes. Plus, the more people play, the bigger the rewards will be.

24. Appnana

• Available on: iOS and Google Play

Appnana says that it has paid over $10 million to its members over the years it’s been open. You play games they offer you, then you redeem your rewards for gift cards for places such as:

• Amazon
• iTunes
• Google Play
• Xbox

Final Thoughts

There are lots of apps that pay you to play games out there, you just need to install them and get playing! Just make sure you don’t fall into the trap of paying for in-app purchases while you’re having fun.

Have you used any of these apps before? Do you know of any other app that pays you to play games? Let us know if you liked any of them!

With a global market generating $100 Billion this year, it’s no wonder that many people want to get in on the game app action. But getting rich off of the App Store is only one of the many possible motivations! Who knows, you could simply be interested in creating something fun for your friends, or actually building a lasting piece of digital art.

Whatever the reason, this quick guide will show you what tools you can use to create a video game that’s playable on iOS and Android. Please note that we also have a complete overview of different game engines here, some of which even allow you to create games for consoles and desktop!

So what do I need to get started?

While we usually focus on app makers, you’ll notice that none of them are actually good for building games. What you’ll need instead is something called a game engine, or a dedicated software for creating games. Unlike app makers, you need to install them on your computer, which leads us to the first item in our checklist:

• A computer: you will need to install the game engine on your PC or Mac. Note that some game engines are only PC or only Mac. They don’t work on both.
• A smartphone (or two): you will need to test the game on your desired platform. It’s worth ensuring it plays nice on both an iPhone and an Android phone if you want to reach both markets – and it’s worth trying on low end devices too!
• A developer account: to submit your game app. It costs $99 per year for the App Store and $25 for life with the Play Store. Unlike with app makers, you’ll be in charge of updates and making sure the game works on all devices. This could mean several new updates per year.
• A way to create art: Whether you are going 2D or 3D, you will need game assets. You can find a ton of free resources online and some game companies have got their own marketplaces. But the best way to make your game stand out is to create things like the characters, background, music and menus yourself.

And a game engine too?

Yup. That’ll be your main tool. And now that you’re going down the rabbit hole of game making, you’ll see that there are a number of solutions, from the very very basic to the extremely sophisticated. Roughly speaking, you can categorize game engines with the following features:

• Game templates: the easiest way to get started – and also the most limiting. You won’t be able to change anything about the game except the characters, backgrounds, music, that kind of thing. In short, the mechanics of the game cannot be tweaked at all. For example, AppyPie or ChupaMobile offer templates (these are online solutions, by the way).

GameSalad is a drag and drop editor that also offers game templates

• Drag and drop: this is the best method for beginners. You have a list of behaviours (if this happens, then that happens) and you can just apply them to your game objects. For example you create a 2D square and create a behaviour that says “if I press on the screen, the square jumps”.
• Visual scripting: a more advanced solution that gives you all the flexibility of code without having to code. You basically create “nodes” that represent actions or events for your game objects. This creates a kind of diagram that represents everything happening in your game window.
• Coding: the pros will tell you this is the only serious way to get complete control over your game, especially if you want it to be complex. And if you’re interested in a career as an game developer, you might as well start learning while doing! The good news is that some game engines offer their own simplified scripting language that makes it easy to grasp the basics for beginners.

Can I make any kind of game?

Technically speaking yes. But of course that depends on your amount of time and dedication. However, it is worth noting that beginners will probably have more success creating mobile games such as:

• Puzzles / Word games
• Casual games
• Platformers
• Arcade games

More complex 3D game genres such as FPS (first person shooters) or a MMO (massively multiplayer online games) will not only require some code, but they are also not necessarily the best suited for playing on a smartphone or tablet.

Which game engine should I choose?

This is the big question, and obviously it will completely depend on your level of skills and the kind of game you want to make. But below is a quick overview of some of the engines we think would be the best suited for you, listed in order of complexity.

GameSalad

GameSalad falls into the drag and drop category, and it features an intuitive interface as well as very good documentation for beginners. The way it handles 2D physics is perfect for mobile games, and it’s worth noting that you can publish your results to iOS, Android and even desktops. They also have a “mobile viewer” app to let you test your game on different mobile devices!

Watch how to get started with GameSalad in 15 mins.

Main features: drag and drop, game physics, good documentation, has marketplace, comes with basic game templates. Ad monetization supported with the pro version ($25 a month). The basic version is $17 a month, but you get 50% off the pro plan as a a teacher, student, or military personnel.

GameBuilder Studio

Using visual scripting, GameBuilder Studio might be a bit more intimidating than GameSalad, as can be demonstrated in the tutorial video below. However the documentation seems equally good and exhaustive, and you can even take a free udemy course online to get started with the basics. The program is also fairly cheap, costing a full price of $99 for the pro version, and $199 per year for the pro plan with all the features + tutorials and extra plugins.

Watch how to get started with GameBuilder Studio in 15 mins:

Main features: visual editor, game physics, plugin marketplace, good tutorials, create 2D animations (or integrate with Spine for powerful 2D animations). Ads, multiplayer and other advanced features are supported with the Pro version.

BuildBox

This one is a newcomer on the game engine scene, but it’s making big claims. Buildbox has listed 100 games made using their platform that entered the top downloads in the App Store, including classics such as The Line Zen and Color Switch. It is drag and drop, and also comes with some basic templates to get you started. On the plus side, the interface is really nice and the features seem very robust, if a bit limited. On the downside, the subscription is very expensive ($99 a month or $84 if paid yearly).

Main features: drag and drop, game templates, great UI, 2D graphics (sprites) editor and animator.

ClickTeam Fusion 2.5

Moving on to the drag and drop and visual scripting method now, ClickTeam Fusion has been helping people create games since 1994! It is worth noting that they are not exactly focused on mobile games, and in fact you will have to pay extra to build your game for iOS and Android. However, one big pro of the program is that it has a big and enthusiastic online community, so you should be able to find the answer to any question you have about how to create your game. It also has a visual editor so you can create art directly in the program. Oh, PC only though.

Main features: drag and drop, visual scripting, PC only. Good online community and tons of extensions available.

GameMaker Studio 2

We now reach GameMaker Studio 2, a powerful solution that created hit games such as Hyper Light Drifter and Hotline Miami. On the plus side, it comes with a visual editor so you can create and animate the pixel art directly into the program, making it the engine of choice for artists. On the downside, you will need to code. Luckily, they use their own simplified language called GMS2. The documentation is also excellent. Like ClickTeam Fusion, it is also geared towards desktop computers and consoles, and you will have to pay for the full version ($399) to export your game to Android or iOS.

Main features: visual editor and animator, simplified code, powerful features. Excellent marketplace full of assets and extensions.

Stencyl

Stencyl is an interesting engine based on the MIT Scratch project. A few years ago, MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) developed a visual programming language to teach students how to code, and it is the same method that Stencyl uses. The elements are designed to fit like a puzzle so you will get a good understanding of how code works when you learn it. While it isn’t exactly a powerful engine, it’s definitely a great solution for simple 2D mobile games, and it seamlessly exports to iOS and Android.

Main features: visual scripting language, good for learning how to code, subscription model ($199 a year to publish to mobile platforms and desktop).

Unity

You’re now looking at a very powerful engine that uses a known scripting language (C#). By the way, you will be in company as Unity is the engine used by a ton of indie companies as well as AAA studios, from games such as Temple Run to Assassin’s Creed. And the good news is that you won’t necessarily have to code to create your game in it. This is because you can find a number of plugins for Unity that use a visual editor. These solutions are not always beginner friendly, but it's a start. They include FlowCanvas, uScript, Adventure Creator or PlayMaker. And Unity not only lets you build to iOS and Android, but you could also port your game to consoles and desktop!

Main features: free to use until your game makes more than $100K, paying visual editors, popular with indie developers, huge asset store, great tutorials and documentation

Unreal

Games That Pay You To Play

The main competitor to Unity, Unreal is also a powerful engine used by AAA studios for games such as Abzu and Kingdom Hearts III. It comes with a visual editor called Blueprint, and it’s known to push the limits in terms of beautiful graphics, even for mobile games. Like Unity, you can publish your game to desktop and consoles as well as iOS and Android. The downside is that Unreal created quite heavy games that target high-end mobiles. It's also a complex beast that you will need months to understand and get to grips with.

Main features: comes with visual editor, good for big mobile games, free to use and 5% royalty if your game makes more than $3000 per quarter.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, it’s worth noting that there are many levels of what you can call “a game app”. If you want to use a ready-made template, you can. If you are more serious about game development, it’s also fully available to anyone with a computer, a bit of time, and online resources. And there seems to be more and more solutions available all the time.

So the good news is that you won’t necessarily have to code to create your smartphone game, especially if it’s a simple one. And the better news is that the best games, especially in the mobile world, are not necessarily the most complex!

Any questions? Feedback? Would you like us to feature another solution for creating game apps? Let us know in the comments below!

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