# Phone games that pay you money - how does that work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-games-that-pay-you-money-how-does-that-work/1026804>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [January 18, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-games-that-pay-you-money-how-does-that-work/1026804 "2026-01-18T18:46:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-games-that-pay-you-money-how-does-that-work/1026804/1 "2026-01-18T18:46:31Z")

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Or I guess I should ask, how is it _supposed_ to work? Since I’m sure it’s a scam.

Every so often I’ll get an ad on my phone for some sort of game that is allegedly free, has no ads, and pays you to play. Seems like a guaranteed money losing combination! If the game is free and there are no ads, where’s the revenue stream coming from? In-app purchases? And there’s no way they are paying out $250 or $350 or whatever ridiculous amount they show in the ads . It can’t be more than pennies would be my guess.

So what’s the straight dope on these games?

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-games-that-pay-you-money-how-does-that-work/1026804/2 "2026-01-19T01:11:23Z")

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WAG, you’ll have to pay _something_ before you’ll be able to win anything, or at least anything substantial.

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-games-that-pay-you-money-how-does-that-work/1026804/3 "2026-01-19T01:16:36Z")

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Looking at the first site that popped up when I went looking for more info, here’s some snippets:

> **[I Tested 4 Apps That Let You Earn Money Playing Games. I Only Kept One. —...](https://www.zuliewrites.com/blog/i-tried-4-apps-that-claim-you-earn-money-playing-games-i-only-kept-one)**
>
> Want to earn money playing games? These apps claim to let you do it. I spent a full day playing games to find out the truth - for science.

> After accidentally spending a jaw-dropping two hours playing it (whoops), I earned a grand total of 842 gems. This was enough to purchase me not one, but _two_ 50c Amazon gift cards.

> I earned 19,450 points before giving up [after an hour]. I needed 45,000 points to earn the minimum, which was a $5 Amazon gift card.

> _you have to deposit at least $5_ to enter the tournaments that let you win money. Unbelievable. Embarrassingly, I played for 20 minutes before I realized this. Basically, you can earn money playing games by first _paying_ money to play games with this app, AKA gambling.

> But you have to deposit money first to enter the games where there’s a chance to win actual money. [snip] I’d have to play for _over seven calendar years_ straight to earn the $100

To be fair, the reviewer isn’t against playing the games, just saying that it’s not going to make you any real money.