Mitch L.Remember when playing video games was considered a waste of time?
These days, you can put those hours to good use and actually get paid to play online games, and it doesn’t even matter if you’re not much of a gamer.
Learn how to make extra money in your spare time with the following online games.
Online Games
This first section reviews sites that award you cash to play flash-based games like Solitaire, Virtual Slots, or games that you might play on your tablet or smartphone for fun.
Some games are tournament-based while others allow you to play alone and earn rewards after completing specific objectives or challenges.
1. Swagbucks
Swagbucks is more than a platform to play games online. You can also get paid to surf and search the web, watch videos, and take surveys.
With each activity, you get paid rewards points called “Swagbucks.” There are a few free games that allow you to earn Swagbucks.
There are memory games and also action games where you guide a character to jump over pits and obstacles to gain points.
If you do “pay-to-play” online games on GSN, Swagbucks will pay you up to 18 bucks per $1 spent on games ranging from the various slots games, Bejeweled 2, and games based on shows like Super Plinko from The Price is Right game show.
Whether you win or lose, you can earn a little extra money by playing on GSN using Swagbucks.
You can spend the accumulated bucks on gift cards to nearly any restaurant or retail store. A second option is to exchange for PayPal cash.
2. Inbox Dollars
You can also earn money by playing games online with Inbox Dollars.
There are free games and paid games offered through GSN where you earn extra reward dollars when you play through Inbox Dollars.
In addition to getting paid for playing games, Inbox Dollars will also pay you for taking surveys, entering contests, performing web searches, shopping online, or redeeming coupons.
You can get a bonus of $5 when you sign-up with Inbox Dollars and get paid once you earn $40 in rewards.
3. Bananatic
Bananatic is a website that lets you play, test, and review games. In exchange, you’ll earn bananas, the virtual currency awarded for in-game quests and writing game reviews.
Bananas can then be exchanged for games, prepaid game content, steam wallets, Amazon gift cards and more.
There are currently over 260,000 users who’ve redeemed rewards worth over $165,000.
4. Cash Crate
With Cash Crate, you can earn money by playing games, taking surveys, shopping online, testing new products and websites, and interacting with other users.
Cash Crate has been around since 2006 and has more than 2 million users.
You can earn extra points by entering tournaments. If you win or meet specific objectives, you earn bonus points.
There are 12 different game tournaments to choose from ranging from Solitaire, TriPeaks, and Blocks.
Using Solitaire as an example, you can earn points when moving a card from the deal pile to row pile, 25 points for turning a card over, and 100 points for moving a card to the suit piles.
You will need to act fast as you lose two points every two seconds on the timer and 100 points when you refresh the deck.
Tournaments cost one or two points to enter. You can earn points by first completing surveys and additional product offers.
Completing an activity can earn anywhere from $0.25 to $50! Once you earn $20 in rewards, you can receive a cash payment and earn an additional cash reward for taking a picture of your check. And, you get a $1 bonus when you sign up.
5. Lucktastic
Lucktastic is a scratch card app you can download on iPhone or Android in the United States. It’s free to download and play.
However, before you can play there are quite a few ads you have to watch before each scratch card.
You can early daily rewards, play scratch cards, refer friends, and enter contests to earn money tokens. There are also additional ads you can watch and surveys you can enter.
Some scratch cards will reward you with cash and others will reward you with tokens.
Cash can be withdrawn with Dwolla or a check by mail, or you can opt for a Visa, AMEX, or Walmart gift card. Tokens can be redeemed for gift cards to lots of different places, including Amazon, Bed Bath and Beyond, restaurants, and more.
6. LaLaLoot
LaLaLoot has a very similar feel and appearance to CashDazzle. You can join for free, and they have free virtual slot machines too. You can also pay for cash prizes on the virtual slots and other casual games.
For the first five days of membership, you will get free tokens. You can earn more tokens by participating in surveys and other activities from LaLaLoot’s advertisers and sponsors.
LaLaLoot states they pay out $1000’s in cash prizes daily.
7. Pogo
Pogo has free games and paid games for every platform (PC, mobile phone, Wii, Xbox, PS3, etc.).
Game categories range from your traditional games like Backgammon and Poker to the latest arcade games. There are two different prize payouts with Pogo.
You can enter to win a $50 daily drawing or a jackpot of up to $500.
By joining Club Pogo for $6.99 per month, you can also participate in tournaments to earn additional points and gain exclusive access to 40 games. Plus, you won’t have to look at ads either.
8. PCHgames
You still might get a knock on the front door with an award check, but Publisher’s Clearinghouse also has PCHgames to earn money as well.
PCHgames has instant win games and token games that allow you to win $1000 in prizes. They offer additional tokens if you are a frequent player. For example, you earn 2,500 bonus tokens by playing at least one game daily for an entire week.
The more games you play and playing consecutive days in a row helps you to earn even more tokens.
You cannot redeem tokens for prizes directly. However, they can be used to buy entries for sweepstakes to win gift cards, merchandise, or even the $1,000 daily sweepstakes.
9. Bingo Zone
Now you no longer have to go to the Bingo Hall each night to play. Bingo Zone is completely free to play. There is continually a bingo round in play, so you never have to wait long to join in.
The minimum payout is $1, and the prize continues to increase until somebody wins.
Other gaming sites offer bingo, but very few allow you to play and win for free.
10. Paid Game Player
Paid Game Player is like Swagbucks except with a smaller following. There are over 600 games to play, and you compete for cash against other players.
They pay $250,000 in daily cash and prizes for game tournaments and other activities. You can also earn money by completing surveys, reviewing games and products, and referring your friends to play as well.
There are two different membership levels. The free membership allows you to participate in the cash tournaments.
For $4.99 a month, the premium membership gives you a 2x point bonus, full game access, and a 1,000 point sign-up bonus.
11. Long Game
Long Game makes finances fun by giving you coins to play mini-games whenever you save money in your FDIC insured savings account.
Save with Long Game and get coins that you can use to play mini-games or enter drawings for cash. Get rewarded with Coins for saving, plus earn bonus Coins when you reach financial goals.
Use your Coins to play games and win more Coins, or even win cash prizes up to $1,000,000. Earn interest, play games and win cash.
12. Exodus 3000
Exodus 3000 is a popular RPG (role-playing game) that has paid out over $65,000 since 2006.
The setting of Exodus 3000 takes place 1,000 years in the future when the Earth is uninhabitable, and you now live on Mars. In the game, you explore the Martian surface, form alliances, and also combat with enemies.
You earn money and prizes in Exodus 3000 with a digital currency called Mars Dollars. These dollars can be earned by mining volcanoes, searching ruins, and attacking other players.
You make your first 5,000 Mars Dollars when you join the network. With the current exchange rate, 300,000 Mars Dollars equals $20 in cash rewards.
For gamers who don’t want to install yet another program onto their computer, Exodus 3000 doesn’t require any additional software. You can start playing as soon as you complete the sign-up process which only takes a minute.
13. SecondLife
If you played The Sims, then SecondLife is an interesting parallel that allows you to earn money. You get paid real money by creating a digital business on the SecondLife platform.
Other users can pay you to buy clothing, furniture, or other material goods. It’s also possible to make money by renting or selling real estate and creating experiences such as amusement parks or nightclubs.
A third way to make money is to get a job on SecondLife by being a salesperson at a digital store or a DJ at a club for example.
Any way you can make money in real life allows you to earn Linden Dollars on SecondLife that can be exchanged for real dollars. In fact, one person became a real-life millionaire from playing and selling digital goods on SecondLife.
There are over 2 million SecondLife users. Each user creates their avatar that they control to explore the city and participate in activities. You can earn Linden Dollars by selling products, real estate, and getting a gig.
SecondLife also has different activities like searching for gold coins on the map or fishing for coins to build currency. These activities are also a great way to friend other users who eventually might buy a product from you or hire you for their business.
14. Gamesville
Gamesville is a leader in the online game arena and has been around for a long time. It was created by Lycos (if your memory goes back that far in Internet history).
With Gamesville, you can get paid in two different ways. The first way is through free tournaments for just about any game, including bingo. A second way to earn money is to play individually in games where you race against the clock. Some games even have progressive jackpots.
When you win a game, you are awarded GV Rewards. The rewards can be entered for prize drawings. They also have a cash tournament section where you do not receive GV Rewards.
15. CashDazzle
CashDazzle is certain to have many of your favorite games. Registration is free, and you can also play for free. Their most notable game is the Wheel of Cash which has a progressive jackpot.
You can earn additional tokens and spins by participating in surveys and viewing commercial ads. Their daily sweepstakes pay more than $1,000 in prize money.
16. Bingo for Money
Bingo for Money is a pay-to-play site that lets you win cash prizes for bingo, virtual slots, keno, video poker, and pull tabs. You can win with each hand, and they also have four different jackpots.
At the time of this writing, the smallest jackpot was $4,335 (Desperate Housewives), and the largest jackpot (Supernova) was $931,387.
Card costs for bingo range from 25-cents per card to $2.50. Naturally, the more expensive cards have higher payouts and jackpots. There is also a free Bingo card with 50-cent prizes as well.
17. Free Slots 4U
If you like virtual slots, Free Slots 4U has an interactive slot machine feature. Unlike regular slot machines where you keep spinning until you match the same three images, interactive slots (i-slots) have a storyline.
In a way, you get to write the adventure as you continue playing. There are also bonus rounds consisting of traditional card games like Blackjack to earn extra money too. It’s free to join, and you can win a $20 jackpot prize.
Free Slots 4U has virtual slot tournaments that you can participate in as well.
18. Givling
Are you full of useless knowledge? Givling is a trivia game that pays you money when you win. You can play for free twice a day. After that, each round costs 50 cents. The daily payout can be anywhere from $100 to $1,000. It depends on how much money was raised the day before.
Givling also has a social mission. A portion of the trivia proceeds are used to crowdfund student loans for one lucky person. So far, Givling has helped three people repay their student loans in full and paid $376,000 in prizes.
It’s not every day that playing games can also help somebody in need, so why not test your smarts at Givling?
19. Clip2Play
Clip2Play has daily tournaments for flash-based games that vary in type. They range from action, puzzles, adventure, strategy, to driving. Not every game has a tournament.
You can also earn 10 points by referring friends. You can create an avatar, save high scores, and meet new friends too.
20. Slingo
Slingo is free to play and has tournaments that can give you cash. Membership is worldwide, so in reality, you can meet and play against people from all over.
Tournaments are one hour long and cost 5,000 coins, and there are two ways to win a prize. The player with the top score and the player with the highest cumulative score can both win a jackpot. Rewards can be exchanged for cash.
21. XY Gaming
XY Gaming requires you to use games you already own on your computer or console, but you challenge other players on their site. You can get paid cash or redeem your rewards for other prizes when you win tournaments. Some tournaments pay the winner at the end, and other tournaments choose a winner at the end of the week or month.
There are also three different types of tournaments. Free tournaments have no entry fee and allow you to win cash or a prize. A second option, 50/50 tournaments, reward all players who finish in the top half of the standings.
The final tournament option is a “Double Up” tournament where the recipient pool is smaller, but you earn double the entry fee (i.e., $5 entry fee equals a $10 prize).
To help keep the competition as fair as possible, XY Gaming matches you with opponents of similar skills levels. They also have a score verification system to prevent fraudulent victories.
22. QuikRewards
QuikRewards is another multi-faceted option to earn rewards from playing games or performing additional tasks such as watching videos, taking surveys, visiting websites, shopping, and completing offers.
This site is more flexible in rewards payouts than some of the others as you can get paid for cash rewards with a balance of one cent or redeem your points for gift cards starting at $5.
23. Play and Win
Another popular gaming site is Play and Win. You can play arcade games, bingo, puzzle games, matching games, card games, and multiplayer games. You can also enter tournaments and challenges to earn additional rewards points.
When it comes time to redeem your rewards points, you can receive PayPal cash or enter sweepstakes.
24. Dollar Candy
Dollar Candy is a puzzle game that allows you to earn up to $300 per game. You are placed in tournaments consisting of no more than four people. Entry fees are as low as nine cents per round. As with most games, the prize is higher with larger entry fees and higher levels of difficulty.
The level of difficulty determines how easy it is to win the pot. Some tournaments allow you to earn a prize even if you only beat one or two other players.
The pot size is also contingent on whether the game is casual, medium, or intense. Casual games allow three of the four players to earn a prize, albeit the total amount is smaller compared to medium and intense games. With intense games, the winner can double or triple their money.
25. Game Loot Network
Game Loot Network is a fun addition for mobile gamers. There are nine different games to choose from ranging from a memory game, air combat, trivia, and action.
By participating in daily, weekly, or monthly tournaments, you win tickets that you can exchange for prizes, redeem for auction bids, or spend on game upgrades to increase your probability of placing higher in a tournament. If you finish in the Top 20 of a tournament, you automatically qualify for a prize from the Loot Cove.
26. App Cent
You can get paid to download mobile apps and play their games with App Cent. By downloading featured free apps, you earn digital coins that can be redeemed for gift cards or paid apps.
Some apps have larger reward payouts than others. For instance, you can earn 250 coins by downloading one game and only 70 coins with the next option. The next time you want to look for a new game to play on your phone, you can get paid to download it.
27. BitcoinBandit
If you want to earn the digital currency Bitcoin and have an Android device, then BitcoinBandit is a perfect option. Gameplay is a weeklong tournament where you navigate Bandit the Rabbit to collect coins while avoiding bees.
It’s free to play, and the top 10 players win a bonus cash prize. Also, you earn 1 Bitcoin for every 10,000 coins you collect in the game.
28. World Winner
You can win cash by playing in tournaments at World Winner. Tournaments are available for casino, arcade, game show, strategy, and word games. Whether you are a crack at Scrabble, Bejeweled, Wheel of Fortune, or Solitaire, there’s a tournament for you.
Until you feel confident enough to play in the tournaments, you can play each game for free. Once you are ready to join a tournament, World Winner will match you up with an opponent of a similar skill level with their Fair Matching System. When you win, congratulations! World Winner awards up to $500,000 daily in tournament winnings.
Video Games
It’s also possible to make money playing video games online. Some of these methods might require a little entrepreneurial drive, but the income potential can be notably higher than some of the other sites mentioned earlier.
29. Become a Video Game Coach
A term that’s becoming more common is “esports.” Video game tournaments are a growing trend that doesn’t appear to be going away. It might only be a matter of time before we have the equivalent of a Heisman Trophy or Olympic gold medals in esports.
How can you capitalize on this growing trend? Become a video game coach.
This is one of the most exciting online side hustles for teens and avid video game players. Full-time video game coaches can make more than $50,000 a year! That’s a full-time salary just for teaching others how to play games online and win. Parents pay for video game tutoring sessions for their children to become expert players.
Several online places are hiring online video game coaches including GameCoach. You will need an internet connection, headset, and video capability to teach your students how to master the game.
30. Razer Cortex
If you own a video game that is in the Razer Cortex library, you can get paid for every minute you play. Razer will pay you in their currency (zSilver) up to 900 zSilver per day. That’s 300 minutes a day as the current rate is three zSilver per minute.
You don’t have the option to be paid in cash, but you can redeem the points for zSilver merchandise like headsets or other accessories. Plus, it’s better than some of the other websites that are purely games of chance and payment isn’t always guaranteed.
31. Game Testers
You can get paid to test video games with Game Testers. There is a small amount of work involved before you can get paid to play. There is a test to pass before you can become a tester, and there are different testing position needs.
Testing a video game is more than determining if the game is fun or boring. Some testers test the game for bugs and glitches while others analyze the spelling for any errors. Others test the game for compatibility on a particular device or operating system configuration.
If you get selected to be a game tester, you can earn anywhere from $50 to $150 per hour. That is not bad pay, especially since it is a part-time job.
32. Gaming Jobs Online
You might also want to give Gaming Jobs Online a try as other testers have done since 2008. Not only can you try new games and potentially earn at least $30 an hour, but you can also get paid to watch movie and game trailers, take surveys, and participate in focus groups.
You might even be able to make this game playing a full-time hobby as the Gaming Jobs Online website says it is possible to earn $39,000 as a professional video game tester.
33. YouTube
This option allows you to earn passive income by creating a personal YouTubechannel. Teens and adults look for video walk-throughs to get through difficult levels and boss battles that seem all but impossible.
Their primary help resource is YouTube where they can watch videos from others who have beaten the game. You can be that person who shows them how to win.
You can earn money in two different ways. Ads and affiliate links that you post in your videos. Regarding affiliate links, you might include a link to your favorite headset or controller.
If the person buys that product after clicking your link, you earn a small commission. This option can take some time to start earning passive income because you need to build an audience.
Unlike other methods where you only get paid each time you play a game, you only have to play it once while recording the video and upload that video to YouTube.
You can literally earn money from ads and affiliate links three or four years after you originally posted the video if people continue to play that game and refer to your video for help.
34. Twitch
Twitch is a YouTube alternative that is dedicated to video games. By creating your own channel, gamers can watch you play a video game live and also talk with you. By becoming a Twitch Partner, it’s possible to earn money from advertisement based on the length of your videos and the number of views.
You can also earn money if other Twitch members choose to buy a monthly subscription to your channel because you get a portion of those proceeds.
35. Build a Blog
In addition to creating a YouTube and Twitch channel, creating a blog can also be a good way to earn money by helping others play games through your experience.
You can create a blog using a hosting service like Bluehost for $2.95 a month. Your blog can focus on a franchise of games like Call of Duty where you provide guides, reviews, and videos of how to beat the game or show special secrets.
You can earn affiliate income from your blog by recommending various consoles, games, and accessories. Depending on the interest of your audience, you can even create your own products and guides to sell that visitors can buy with the Shopify digital cart.
Tip: Learn more about Shopify with their free online training!
36. Player Auctions
You can also make money by selling your account info online at Player Auctions. This site has been helping gamers swap account information since 1999. After doing the hard work of beating the game or earning all the available badges or coins, you can reap your cash rewards by selling it to the highest bidder.
It’s possible to sell your accounts for a variety of games from sports games, action games, and RPG franchises like Runescape or Final Fantasy.
37. eBay
You can always sell your game credentials on eBay too. It can be another way to reach players that don’t necessarily know that the other P2P (Player-2-Player) video game sites exist.
When selling on eBay, you can do a “Buy It Now” sale with a fixed price or an auction where your account goes to the highest bidder. Auctions can be more exciting and generate more enthusiasm, but you are not always guaranteed the highest selling price.
38. PlayerUp
PlayerUp is another P2P video game account marketplace. They pride themselves on being “the first company devoted to legally protecting Player-2-Player Account Transactions.”
If you desire to ensure you get paid for your hard work securely, this can be a good site to use because of their payment protection guarantees.
39. Own a Game Server
If you have the capital to host a Minecraft, Guild, or Clan server from Enjin, you can make money when others play online with you. Monthly hosting pricing range from $0 to $29.99 depending on your needs from Enjin.
You could charge each player who belongs to your server a fee to offset the hosting fee. It allows you to keep the difference as profit. You might even be able to find advertisers and sponsors for your server too.
Before trying to monetize your game server, be sure to read the guidelines from the game manufacturer. Generally, you cannot accept “donations” or payments that alter the gameplay and could compromise the integrity of the game.
It usually is legal to charge server access fees if they are the same amount for each player or offer add-ons that don’t affect gameplay.
Online Casinos
If you like to gamble and are willing to bet money, it’s possible to get paid from these virtual casinos that cater to “high rollers.”
Other websites mentioned in the first section also allow you to get paid for playing casino games like poker or blackjack, but this is for people who are willing to bet real money to earn more than a few dollars at one time.
40. Bovada
Bovada has a casino section that allows you to bid on jackpots for a variety of games like Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, Video Poker, and Virtual Slots.
There are 300 casino games in all. You can bet on horses and sports as well.
They also offer matching welcome bonuses when you make an initial deposit.
41. Red Flush Casino
Red Flush Casino offers 700+ online casino games and has been in business since 2008. They have online slots and table games including blackjack, poker, baccarat, and craps.
They also have free versions of the games to test your skills before you begin playing for money.
Summary
It is genuinely possible for anybody to make money by playing games online. Whether it is playing bingo or solitaire, downloading featured mobile apps, or joining high stakes casino games, people make money each day by playing games online, and you can make money in your spare time too.
Angela R.
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