Games That Actually Make You Money

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Do you have trouble making time for your goals?

Jun 13, 2019 Bananatic is a free money making online game site that lets you play, test and review games. Yup, you're actually getting paid to review games. Isn't the internet a great place? You can earn virtual currency called 'Bananas' and even take surveys or watch ads to earn more Bananas. Apr 22, 2021 Nintendo is known to produce some of the most super-fun games like Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong. You can now earn more money by playing Nintendo games. When you become a game tester, all you have to do is test development software, examine products for content guidelines, document quality assurance checks and look for programming issues. Mistplay is one of the most popular ways to make money playing mobile games, and the app is definitely taking over this category of apps in general. Mistplay is really a “loyalty program for gamers” that rewards you for trying out new games.

I’m usually the happiest when I have a lot of side projects going on at once. But finding the time to focus on them can be a major problem, especially when it comes to balancing career-related goals – like learning to code – with personal goals, like cooking at home more.

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Many people say that the best way to actually achieve your goals is to form new habits. (There’s an interesting book about this). The point is to re-wire yourself so that you do the things that you want to do on autopilot, without it having to be this huge effort each time that requires planning.

Right now, I tend to spend my “autopilot time” reading silly articles on the internet or playing games on my phone. It’s not what I want to spend my free time on, it’s just what my brain thinks is fun. To help combat this, I’m always looking for new ways to make being productive feel more like the fun, entertaining stuff that I tend to waste time on.

Luckily, there are number of tools that were created to make reaching one’s goals feel more like a game. It might be a mind trick, but it’s a highly effective one! Here are a few that I’ve found recently:

HabitRPG

HabitRPG is a productivity app that turns your to-do lists into a role playing game. You decide which daily habits will give you health and experience points (making your lunch, going to the gym, etc), and which bad habits will take points away!

When you check off a to-do or complete a project, you’re rewarded with experience points and gold, just like in a real RPG. The more productive you are, the more features you’ll unlock and levels you’ll reach.

Games

Fitocracy

I’ve always been a firm believer that exercise is better in a fun format, whether that means playing sports, rock climbing, or taking up sailing. But even just regular ol’ workouts can become a game with the right motivational tool.

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Fitocracy is a workout app that utilizes game-like elements to make getting in shape more fun. Users can accumulate points to level up, perform quests, unlock achievements, and follow other users on Fitocracy’s social network.

Zombies, Run!

Zombies, Run! is another awesome resource. Available on iOS or Android, this running app immerses you in an action-based game that’s mixed with your own music. To escape the hordes of zombies, you have to increase your running speed (and get a serious workout at the same time).

The app has over “100 runs of gripping story and gameplay.”

Epic Win

EpicWin is an iOS app that, like HabitRPG, uses a video game-like setting to encourage you to complete your to-do list. (As their website puts it, ‘life is full of little quests’). Users create characters in an on-going quest to level-up, gain riches, develop skills, and move to new locations. This app has particularly advanced graphics!

Duolingo

We’ve written about Duolingo before, but I particularly love this app so am going to mention it again. Duolingo is a language learning app for French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. It’s very entertaining, and it’s totally free! Use Duolingo often to unlock achievements and keep up your learning streak.

SuperBetter

Jane McGonigal is a world-renowned designer of alternate reality games. She specializes in games that challenge players to tackle real-world problems such as poverty, hunger, and climate change. She’s even developed games and secret missions for the American Heart Association and the International Olympics Committee!

Her last game, SuperBetter, was one she developed for herself to help overcome debilitating after-effects from a concussion injury. McGonigal put the game online with instructions so that other people could play and use it to tackle health issues such as cancer, depression, or chronic disease.

You can learn more about SuperBetter and Jane McGonigal’s game research in this fascinating TED Talk:

Freelancers, have you tried using games to achieve your goals?

Antonia Blair likes all things related to art, design, or tech. Follow her on Twitter @AntoniaBlairArt

Most people spend money to play video games. A small segment of the population actually does things the other way around: They make money by playing video games. If you’ve ever wondered how you could turn your gaming hobby into a paying gig, you’ve come to the right place. Here are four ways you can make money playing video games.

1. Streaming

Thanks to the advent of video streaming sites like Twitch and YouTube Gaming, some lucky (and smart and talented) people are raking in cash by broadcasting their video game play sessions on the internet. It’s a good job if you can get it.

How to do it: Turning streaming into a lucrative business is a bit more complicated than it might sound at first blush. After all, building up a sizable audience willing to watch — and, ideally, pay for — your content is no trivial task.

First you need the gear. While PlayStation 4 and Xbox One let you stream games over Twitch using their built-in apps, most pro streamers use a game capture box and a PC to do the heavy lifting. And once you have your gear, you’ll also need to be charismatic and entertaining if you want people to keep coming back to watch you. Once you have that down, you’ll want to start streaming on a regular schedule so viewers know when they can tune in to catch you. Oh, and having a background in business won’t hurt, either, since once you have an audience you’ll probably want to work on partnerships and promotions.

For a detailed look at all aspects of how to stream, check out this article from Tom’s Guide.

2. eSports

Source: Capcom

If you’re exceptionally skilled at certain games that are big in the competitive multiplayer scene, you can make money by competing in tournaments. Games like Dota 2, CounterStrike: Global Offensive, and Street Fighter V are all popular eSports games with tournaments that offer millions of dollars in prize money to the best players. You can find a list of eSports games, with information about their tournaments and prizes, here.

How to do it: This is one of the tougher ways to get paid to play video games because it’s all based on how skilled you are at the games in question. To get started, you’ll have to get good a game and start competing in tournaments. You can win money all by yourself in solo games, but for team-based games you’ll have to join up with a team. Many eSports players also earn money from sponsorships by companies like Red Bull and Adidas.

3. QA testing

Every major game developer has a team of quality assurance testers on staff to play games at various stages of development and comment on them. The thing is, QA testers don’t play games like normal customers do. They’re looking for bugs, so they have to spend lots of time in each section trying to “break” the game. Then they file reports based on their experiences.

How to do it: Look at job board postings at major development companies like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Nintendo, and any other company that makes games you like. The downsides of QA testing are that you’ll almost certainly have to live near the studio to be a QA tester, and it’s an entry level job that doesn’t pay much.

4. Writing

Hemingway definitely would’ve written about video games if he’d been born later. Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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If you have a talent for the written word, you can get a job writing about video games. Of all the jobs on this list, writing about games involves the least amount of time spent actually playing games. You’re being paid to produce words rather than to put time into video games. People who write about games spend much more time doing research, interviews, reporting, email, and actual writing than they do playing games.

Still, playing games is an essential part of most video game writing gigs, so if you enjoy shaping words into sentences and paragraphs, it’s a great way to get paid for doing two things you love. Also, writing about games means you’ll get many games for free, usually before they’re released to the public.

Games That Actually Make You MoneyComputer games to make money

How to do it: If you want to get started writing about video games, the best thing to do is to start writing, period. You’ll need writing skills before anyone will pay you money to write about video games (or anything else, for that matter). Start a blog or start contributing to blogs on big gaming sites. Once you’ve written a few articles that prove you can write and you know what you’re talking about, start pitching story ideas to editors at gaming sites, using your blog posts as clips. If they’re accepted, you’re on your way to a job writing about video games.

Follow Chris on Twitter @_chrislreed
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Games That Actually Earn You Money

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