Idle Games That Pay Real Money
- This collection of games that pay real money gives you a complete overview of the best titles (and variants) available online.
- Free games that pay real cash prizes are fun - but you should never forget that gambling isn't a way to get rich quick. Also, always check the terms and conditions of a casino before you start to play and not only when you want to cash out your winnings.
- Pick a scratch-off to play quick games for real money or go to the blackjack table to challenge the dealers. The choice is yours!
- Idle Games That Pay Real Money Glitch
- Which Games Pay You Real Money
- Idle Games That Pay Real Money Instantly
Idle Games That Pay Real Money Glitch
Playing games online is not what it used to be — that's for sure.
The app pays you real money for completing gigs available near you. Your car probably sits idle at least some of the time and the idea behind Turo is to put that idle time to use — and earn. What apps pay you to play games? Several apps pay you to play games. They also seem to pay the fastest of any app on this list when you're ready to cash out. Usually, they pay you within a few hours. Some other ways to make money from FeaturePoints beside playing games include watching videos, shopping online, referring others (earn 50% of whatever they earn), doing free trials/offers, and taking surveys. I have played various ‘money-making’ phone app games – I figured out was a scam – got to $98.03 – but then my ‘congrats was you get $.0 x 4, etc. – so I only played a minute or so then stopped playing. Real money, that is, but often converted from Bitcoins, Western Union payments or via more popular cash payment platforms such as PayPal. Playing virtual world games is fun and has soared in popularity over the last 5 years or so. And now that there is real money to be made from some of the games online, its popularity is definitely not on the.
I still remember the days I'd load a cassette (!) in the cassette player of my Philips MSX (yes, I am THAT old) and wait for minutes for a game to load. Eventually.
That frantic wait has now been replaced by the Fortnite, the Call of Duty and the Super Mario Kart that load in a snap and throw you in the middle of epic and fantastic adventure within seconds.
In 2020, games are everywhere.
We play on our mobile phones, on our desktops, on our gaming consoles, on our smart TVs…and sometimes even on our watches.
The gaming industry keeps growing one boom after the other, and the quality of the games we play is nothing like the games used to be.
And this isn't true only for the Pong or Tetris that rocked our childhood evenings on an Atari or a Nintendo Game Boy. The same also applies to online games for money.
The games where you can win real money in 2020 are nothing like those where you'd try to score some cash a decade ago.
The graphics are better and the gameplays are more sophisticated.
This list of games that pay money gives you direct access to some of the best titles to play online in 2020. All the sites we suggest offer a bonus on registration to all the players who want to play games for real money online.
Whether you're into games like online blackjack or you prefer to try your luck on slots, this list has something for you.
Best Online Games that Pay Real Money in 2020
Choosing the best casino games to play for real money is not easy.
With so many new Slots and new online casinos popping up all the time, it takes time and sweat to find the best games that pay real money online.
Unless you have a trustworthy source *cough* like CasinoSmash *cough* to help you.
Rank | Game | Type | RTP | More info | Play Game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jackpot Slots | Slot Machine | N/A | More info | PLAY GAME |
2 | Blood Suckers | Slot Machine | 97.6% | More info | PLAY GAME |
3 | Turn Your Fortune | Slot Machine | 96.24% | More info | PLAY GAME |
4 | Live Blackjack | Card Game | 99.46% | More info | PLAY GAME |
5 | European Roulette | Table Game | 97.3% | More info | PLAY GAME |
6 | Casino Hold'em | Card Game | 99.18% | More info | PLAY GAME |
7 | Mad Max: Fury Road | Scratch Off | 95.48% | More info | PLAY GAME |
8 | Luxor Scratch | Scratch Off | 92.3% | More info | PLAY GAME |
9 | Monopoly Live | Game Show | up to 96.23 | More info | PLAY GAME |
10 | CS:GO | e-Sports | N/A | More info | PLAY GAME |
Casino Slots That Pay Real Money
Jackpot Slots
This is a slippery slope, I know. Of all the online casino games that pay real money, jackpot games aren't the one with the best odds — by a mile.
Playing jackpot slots is expensive and risky. The RTP of these games is below average, and since you always need to bet the maximum to hit the jackpot…these can become the most expensive online games that pay real cash. Easily.
Sites like 888casino and partycasino run daily jackpots where you can get decent winning odds. All the info are right on their sites, so don’t forget to look at volatility and RTP of each game before you play.
I am not a fan of progressive games because I cannot afford them. But if you are looking for online games that pay real money and you are OK with playing two spins instead of 100 — these might be up your alley.
Remember to play responsibly.
Blood Suckers
Table and card games tend to be everyone's first choice when looking for games that pay real cash to play online.
Why? Because they offer better RTP and so more chances to win. Or fewer to lose, you decide what's most appropriate here.
However, some online slots can also rival the best card games for real money available for online play.
The Blood Suckers video slot is one of those. Featuring an RTP of 98%, this game gives you a higher return than many of the table games offered by most online casinos.
Blood Suckers (a five-reel game by NetEnt) includes special features like free spins which are granted to you once you land three Vampire Brides as well as bonus round, where you get to slay vampires in a spooky tomb and are granted cash in the process.
Turn Your Fortune
Spin the reels and turn your fortune with this great NetEnt slot machine game!
The Turn Your Fortune slot launched in 2019. Since then, this real money game online has proven to be a massive hit for the Malta-based gaming company.
Turn Your Fortune features five reels, four rows, and 40 fixed paylines. And it wouldn't be a NetEnt slot if it didn't have top-quality graphics, beautiful animations, and bonus features that pay well — of course.
Take the Fortune Respins feature, for example.
Not only you get a free respin after a win, but the winning symbols also increase the multiplier meter on the left of the screen.
Each time it fills up, you move to another Fortune Wins level — getting the opportunity to trigger multipliers for up to x200.
* The Return to the Player (RTP) is the percentage of how much wagered money on the game theoretically goes back to the players.
If a slot has an RTP of 96 per cent and players spent €1,000 playing it, €960 will go back to the players in winnings while the House will keep the remaining €40.
Casino Table Games That Pay Real Money
Live Blackjack
Of all the games that pay real money, live casino blackjack is probably the most exciting and the one where your skills can help you with your winning chances.
Join players from anywhere in the world in an endless battle against a live blackjack dealer. Super HD cameras and incredible locations make live blackjack the king of all online games that pay real cash.
If you want to discover why everyone says live dealer games are great (and you should), this is the best site to play live blackjack games that payout real cash prizes.
European Roulette
It doesn't matter if you in it because you are a high-roller or you just want to play for fun. There's nothing like a game of roulette for real money.
You can learn how to play online roulette in minutes and you only need to use this roulette strategy to master the game like an expert.
The difference between American and European Roulette is all about your winning chances.
In short, you have more chances to play casino games and win money if you play European roulette.
Casino Hold'Em
Casino hold'em is easy to learn, fast to play, and it gives you better odds than most other casino games online.
No need to work on your bluffing skills, though. In this casino poker game, you always play against the dealer, not with other players.
In a game of casino hold 'em there three types of bets: the mandatory Ante bet, the Call bet and side a bet called AA.
- You make Ante bet if you want to play,
- Call bet if you think your hand is good enough to win,
- AA bet if you feel like a pair of Aces (or better) combo will appear among your cards and the flop (first three community cards).
Tip: Never waste your money on AA bets. These real money wagers decrease the return to the player percentage to 93.74 per cent.
Casino Scratch Cards That Pay Real Money
Mad Max Scratch Cards
There's something almost wrong in calling Mad Max: Fury Road a 'scratch card' — because this game offers a lot more.
Licensed by Warner Bros this online game that pays real money features a random progressive jackpot and a scatter symbol that triggers 10 free games with real money prizes.
The player's percentage of theoretical expected return is 95.48%, which is one of the highest in its category of online casino games.
If you are up for the top prizes, keep in mind that the progressive jackpot needs to be north of $750 to trigger.
Luxor Scratch
With tickets starting at 0.10, Luxor Scratch is one of the cheapest free online games that pay cash that you can play online.
For it to be free, however, you need to use the welcome bonus at 888casino first.
Egypt-themed music and graphics make this a delightful game — too bad for the piss-poor 92.30% RTP!
Other Casino Games That Pay Real Money
Monopoly Live!
Did you know NetEnt found a way to turn everyone's favourite board game into one of the best games that pay real money in 2020?
Bringing together the best of game-shows like the DreamCatcher and all the elements that made Monopoly famous, Monopoly Live is an exciting adventure to discover.
This is for sure one of the most immersive casino games that pay out real money available online in 2020 and is also one of the most fun games to play. The gameplay brings together elements of the classic wheel of fortune games and Monopoly — and that's fun already.
But wait until you see what the talented presenters chosen by NetEnt can do to entertain you! If you want to give Monopoly Live a go, this is where you need to register to access the game.
CS:GO (or e-Sports Betting in General)
Ladies and gentlemen…e-Sports are finally included in the list of the best games that give you real money in prizes!
Pioneered by Betway the world of real money e-sports and e-sports betting is a thriving new dimension of real money gaming online — one that most of you have yet to discover, I am sure.
Watch people play (you need to register toped the live stream) and place your bets on popular games like CS:GO, DOTA 2, League of Legends, and more!
Disclaimer: Gambling is a game of chance and there's no sure-fire formula that guarantee winnings. You can improve your winning chances by using the right in-game strategies but there is no way to predict when a machine or a Casino game is going to pay. Also, this page contains affiliate links. If you click through and play, we might earn a commission. That’s what allow us to keep CasinoSmash free and bring you the best online Casino bonuses!
In this guide, we lay out in simple terms how to make an idle clicker game when you’re not a developer yourself.
Contents:
Incremental games took the mobile gaming world by storm in 2013. Today, clicker games remain popular, and their return on investment continues to steadily increase.
How did incremental games, also known as clicker games or idle games, become so popular? And how can you build an incremental game? If you’re interested in answers to these questions, you’ve come to the right place. If you decide to outsource your clicker game design to a development company, here’s what you’ll get.
What are incremental games?
Incremental games, clickers, idlers, self-playing games — these games go by many names. But no matter what you call them, the core idea of these mobile games is that progress can be made without a player’s constant involvement. You start with furiously clicking (or tapping) the screen to earn in-game currency and buy upgrades. After that, you can put the game away and just check it once in a while; your purchased upgrades will earn money for you.
The mechanics are exceptionally easy. Idlers require a single action: clicking. You click to receive currency and click to spend it on upgrades. That’s basically it.
Sounds way too simple to be truly engaging.
Why have a game you don’t really play?
Surprisingly, clicker games have high retention rates, and among core gamers to boot. Users continue to come back to them even after weeks of playing. Why?
The psychology behind mobile incremental games
Fun fact: One of the first clickers — called Cow Clicker — was built to mock what the creator (Ian Bogost) saw as the oversimplification of social games. And it became a hit in no time. The inexplicable logic of this phenomenon is bugging people to this day.
But if you really think about it, the concept is tempting. Who wouldn’t want to get money without lifting a finger? Quite literally. You go about your regular business — work, school, maybe even some other game that actually requires your attention. And when you check your clicker, you’ve got more currency than when you left. If only real life was this easy.
At the same time, idle games still pose a challenge. Upgrades get more and more expensive with each new level, and eventually, a player has to choose which upgrade to spend their currency on. Which investment will bring in revenue faster? What upgrades should you combine? This choice allows players to feel smarter by being better strategists.
Another major selling point of idlers is that they let a player take as long of a break from playing as they want. There’s no pushing you to come back when 'your energy has been restored' — which also always happens when you’re busy. A clicker can play itself in the background for hours, days, or months. You can go back to it when you’re ready. In the end, players come back sooner rather than later. And, what’s more important, they come back to stay.
What’s in it for game owners?
Entrepreneurs and individual developers alike are jumping on the incremental game bandwagon. There are many reasons for developing an idle clicker game:
- It can be done fairly quickly
A Cookie Clicker game clone for mobile devices (iOS or Android) would take a skilled development team about two months of work, give or take. A game like Tap Titans 2 would take about six months. Compared to most mobile apps, let alone games, this is really fast.
- It doesn’t cost too much
Since developing an idle clicker game takes relatively little time and effort, the costs aren’t too high either.
- The revenue from a well-made clicker can exceed development costs several times over
The retention rate of idlers is high, meaning that ROI is steady.
From whatever side you look at them, incremental games are a win for owners. That is, if they’re made professionally and marketed properly.
If you are intrested in idle game development, you can always contact our team for a free consultation.
Examples of popular idle clicker games
When talking about idle games, the first that comes to mind is Cookie Clicker. This game, not too surprisingly, invites you to tap on a big cookie! Each tap on the screen earns you cookies with which you can buy upgrades: Hire grandmas to bake more cookies, build cookie factories and mines, and more. The upgrades will then earn you cookies even when you’re away and the game is in the background. No need to tap anymore. With more cookies, you can buy more upgrades and speed up cookie making. Rinse and repeat. Endlessly.
Cookie Clicker is a pretty straightforward idle game. It’s also fairly easy to design. Hence, the idle game market has hundreds of Cookie Clicker clones. Developers have to get more and more creative.
Games like Tap Titans 2, for example, take longer to build. Tap Titans 2 has more refined graphics, and its gameplay includes level bosses, pets that help your hero, and faeries that drop gold if you’re there to tap them. It’s still pretty straightforward, but already there’s more complexity to it.
Let’s talk about the process of creating an incremental game and what you’ll need to consider before you get started.
How to create your own clicker game
Creating an incremental game is relatively simple. Developing a game for browsers is the easiest. Mobile games are tricky.
It’s just clicking, you say. How difficult can it be?
But, as with many seemingly simple things, behind the curtain everything is a bit more complex.
Discussion
The first thing you need to do when you hire developers to outsource your clicker game idea is, of course, to explain the idea to them. All major details of the game should be considered.
- Game type
Idle games have evolved fast since Cookie Clicker was introduced. Cookie Clicker is a simple linear incremental game. But today’s market already offers all kinds of idle clicker RPGs, simulations, arcade games, mergers, and management games. It’s not even surprising to find clicker games with a full story behind all the activities. So you’ll have to go into detail about which type of incremental game you want.
- Game setting and concept
Mobile incremental games have little to no limits when it comes to settings. Cookie Clicker is simply a cookie; Tap Titans 2 can probably be considered a fantasy RPG — you do have a hero who kills monsters, after all. If you look up idle games on Google, you’ll probably find a clicker in every possible setting, from sci-fi and space to jungles, mines, dojos, and stock exchanges.
- Metagame
How will users interact with the game? What can they do? What upgrades are available? What decisions can they make? Things like this will have to be outlined.
- Monetization model
How are you going to make money with your idle clicker game? Ads, in-app purchases, pay-per-download: all monetization options are open for you in the gaming section. Choose one or combine several.
This is also the stage where you can expect a very rough estimate of the time and cost to develop your idle game.
Which Games Pay You Real Money
Next comes the design of your idle game. If you make your own idle game with the help of a development company, you can expect your development partner to provide you with the following.
Art
When it comes to gaming, visual appeal is arguably the most important part. Even more so if we’re talking about mobile games, which usually lack plot depth compared to computer and console games.
That being said, we’re not saying that to be successful you need to create an idle game with the graphics of Shadow of the Tomb Raider :) For starters, most smartphones and tablets can’t handle that level of graphics.
There’s beauty in simplicity as well, and idle games are a perfect example of that. Depending on your concept, game type, setting, and designers, the visuals can be more high-end or less.
Before starting to write code for your game, your team will offer mockups of visuals. Drawings of backgrounds, character designs, objects, animations, 2D or 3D graphics — there’s a lot that needs to be taken into account.
Game design
The game design stage is the most important. You may or may not know this — it’s a fairly common misconception among non-developers — but “game design” not only determines how a game looks but also how it works. The game design stage is about defining the core mechanics and user experience as much as it is about visuals. Sometimes more so.
- Core mechanics
Core mechanics are those actions players repeat: running, jumping, collecting loot, building houses. Whatever actions can be considered main are core mechanics.
In clicker game development, core mechanics are simple. Basically, these games are about clicking (or tapping or swiping) and waiting. Players start by clicking as fast as they can to generate some sort of resources to purchase upgrades. Then they wait as upgrades start generating resources themselves.
- Core game loop
The core loop is the sequence of actions the game goes through. Most idlers have a simple core loop: Click to earn cookies/kill monsters/collect money –> upgrade –> click more. When a certain level is reached, you earn a prestige level and go back to the beginning but with bonuses. Then you repeat the loop. Here’s the core loop of an average idle game:
It’s possible to build an incremental game with more complex mechanics and a more complex core loop, of course. However, one might say it kills the purpose. Simplicity is one of the selling points of clicker games, after all.
Only when all parts of the game have been designed and approved does the actual idle game development start.
Development
Idle Games That Pay Real Money Instantly
We won’t tire you with too much technical information. The list of game development technologies is nearly endless, and programming languages and frameworks pop up semi-regularly and deserve their own articles. You can ask our product developers for details if you’re interested in that. Or we might write a separate article later. For now, we’ll just scratch the surface.
- Game engines
The two most popular game engines today are Unity and Unreal Engine. Both are common among developers and are really good options. Unreal Engine offers better graphics, especially in 3D. Unity’s 3D graphics aren’t half bad, though. Unless you’re into making an Assassin’s Creed idle clicker with the graphics of the original (which — why would you do that?), Unity is a perfect engine for incremental games.
High processing power requirements make Unreal a go-to choice for PC games rather than mobile. Most mobile game developers would make an incremental game in Unity.
Besides, there’s the money issue. While developing on Unity can be a little expensive initially (the free version is workable but abridged and Pro versions come with a subscription), Unreal Engine is completely free to use but takes 5 percent of your revenue after you publish your game. This can be a nice chunk of your money in the long run.
- Backend/server
The server side of your game can be written in Python, Ruby, or Elixir. However, we’re talking about how to make a simple idle game, and chances are you don’t really need a server side. Incremental games are light enough that most data can be stored on players’ devices or in the cloud. So you won’t need servers, and thus you won’t need a backend.
Soft launch
A soft launch is a test run of a completed game. If you’ve ever dealt with regular app development, not game development, you might compare a soft launch to launching a minimum viable product. There are differences, of course.
A soft launch is performed to test new features. Usually, the game is launched on a limited territory — a single state or country — to test the waters. Will people pick it up? Can it hold their attention? What will be day 1 retention? How many users will return to play after a week?
During a soft launch, your incremental game development company will monitor the game’s KPIs to see if it performs well. If everything is peachy, it’s time to do a full release and promote your game.
If all is not peachy, you can analyze the data and go back to square one: the design or development stage (depending on what the analysis says).
Repeat this cycle until the KPIs are good.
Game release
Congratulations! Your idler is up and running, taking the world by storm because it’s awesome.
Now you can rest. (No, you can’t.)
Post-release, you’ll need to run marketing campaigns and advertise your incremental game to catch the eye of more players. Your journey is only beginning. May it never end.
How much does it cost to develop an idle clicker game?
It’s more difficult to estimate the cost of game development than it is to estimate the cost of developing almost any other mobile app. And simple as they are, clicking games aren’t an exception. The development cost will depend on the complexity of your concept, the visual design, and the number of people involved.
Let’s say you go for a Cookie Clicker clone. It requires few people:
- Game designer: 1
- 2D designer: 1
- Sound designer: 1
- Unity developer (for Android and iOS both): 1
With a team like this, it will take about two months to make a clicker game like Cookie Clicker, and the approximate cost will be $5,000–10,000.
However, if you’re aiming at something more complex — like Tap Titans 2, for example — the development will take longer: around three to six months. And the cost will differ significantly due to the longer development time and possible involvement of more people. Expect to pay about $20,000–40,000.
The more complexity you add, the longer the development time and the higher the cost. But chances are your revenue will also be higher when the game is launched.
Conclusion
Right now, incremental clicker games are still all the rage. Are they here to stay, or are six years on stage enough and will idlers burn out soon? The forecast looks good, if not perfect, so the best time to make idle games might be right now.
At Mind Studios, we have a game development department. If you’d like to know more about how to make a Cookie Clicker game or wish to know the precise cost to develop an idle game, contact us and ask any questions via the form below.