It is genuinely possible for you to make money when you play 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.

Who wouldn't want to make money playing games online while sitting at home on the couch?

1. We love to play games online. They’re super addictive. They’re great time-killers. But we found ways you can actually make money playing games online. Play Games, Make Money. We’re probably not talking about a ton of money. But it’s possible to scratch up a little cash and/or save some money playing games online.
2. The best part about it is that you make money for playing them. This is a unique opportunity to discover the best mobile games AND earn cash. We also offer amazing deals as well as letting you watch videos, complete surveys and check out new apps. Simply download a game you like in the app PlaySpot. Play and Make Money.
3. Swagbucks ($5 Bonus) Where to play: iPhone, Android, and Swagbucks.com How much can you earn: $2 – $4 per hour How much does it cost to play: $0 for most games. Some have cash entry costs.

If you are ready to have some fun making money from home, then keep on reading. There are so many opportunities to use new online gaming sources to generate gaming-based income. Not only are there different sources for making money, but there are also different ways and formats!

You can earn cash rewards by playing mobile games, taking surveys, and shopping online. Nothing is more satisfying than when you earn gift cards and other rewards or get that extra cash via PayPal.

Free Games To Play To Make Money

Sit back, relax, and check out our top money making apps to earn free cash playing your favorite games from home!

Table of Contents

• 1 Best Apps to Play Games for Money
• 2 Best Game Apps to Win Real Money
• 3 Additional Apps that Pay You to Play Games
• 4 Alternative Apps to Earn Free Money
• 5 More Ways to Play Games for Money
  • 5.3 Play Games for Money FAQ

Best Apps to Play Games for Money

1. Mistplay

This application actually pays you to play online games. Mistplay is an Android-specific application that offers users the opportunity to play video games in exchange for monetary reward.

The app launched in 2017, focusing on providing users an environment in which they can participate in games in exchange for prizes. Through the earning of points, users can join in in-app games to receive gift cards to various retailers such as Amazon, Google Play, and even virtual Visa gift cards!

With Mistplay, you are eligible to start earning money from the minute you start playing online games. You can even play with friends and level up your avatar to unlock achievements and earn units faster. They also support user communications and staying connected by offering a chat feature, encouraging connections amongst participants.

Another important note is that users will not pay any fees to download, join, or play games in Mistplay. Play certain games and make money online today!

2. Lucktastic

Lucktastic is like a virtual scratch-off ticket. Just download the app, and you'll get free tickets to play every day.

You can use your tickets to try to win huge cash prizes, like $5,000, $10,000, or more! If you earn anything between $1 and $100, you can redeem it with a Dwolla account.

The best thing about this app is that you still earn points every time you play, even if you don't win a cash prize.

Those points can later be redeemed for gift cards to Amazon, Restaurant.com, and more.

New: Gamehag

Play free online games to collect Soul Gems and exchange them for rewards! Earn free Robux, Steam Wallet, Prepaid Mastercard, and more!

Play games, Complete tasks, Get rewarded!

Best Game Apps to Win Real Money

Are you looking to win real cash playing your favorite video games? Mobile game lovers can get paid cash rewards and gift cards every day with these free apps.

3. Lucky Level

Lucky Level brings you free scratch cards and even a spinning wheel for a chance to win money and gift cards. Play tens of scratcher cards every day for your chance to win up to $1,000. Thousands of players have already enjoyed risk-free winning experiences. Spin the LUCKY WHEEL and enter our WEEKLY RAFFLES for even more chances at winning cash and gift cards.

• Win money: the more you scratch, the better your chances! Receive payment directly into your Paypal account
• Get gift cards: redeem the tokens you earn every day for gift cards from your favorite brands.
• Free to play: no purchase nor deposit necessary
• Compete on daily leaderboards: earn tokens by finishing up on top of the daily leaderboard.
• New scratch cards are released 3 times a day.
• New raffles every week: there's always a winner!

4. Wizard of Oz Slots

Wizard of Oz Slots is the only FREE Vegas-style game from The Emerald City!

Play new games with Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion as they travel the Yellow Brick Road to see the Wizard of Oz.

Relive the classic movie and win HUGE PAYOUTS with FREE SPINS and MEGA WILDS in all-new casino machines.

Collect millions of free credits every day and keep spinning to get bonus credits in the best free machine games around!

• Wizard of Oz Slots (IOS)
• Wizard of Oz Slots (Android)

5. Game of Thrones Slot Casino

Winter is coming.

The great houses of Westeros are preparing themselves for an all-new adventure: Game of Thrones Slots Casino.

Are you ready to spin the machines on your way to the ultimate glory: The Iron Throne?

Test your skill in one of the most immersive machine games to come out of the Seven Kingdoms. Relive memorable moments by experiencing machines with classic sights, sounds, and beautiful art, all based on Game of Thrones!

Dive into a mix of classic games and enjoy never-before-seen social features, where teamwork on the machines can aid your quest to sit on the Iron Throne.

6. My Konami Slots

The thrill of winning is in the palm of your hand. Play top-ranked My KONAMI Slots anytime you feel the need for a little social casino fun or a quick escape. My KONAMI features some of your very favorite machines straight off the casino floor.

Download the app for iOS to play free social casino games and start having fun in so many ways, including free spins, big bonuses, progressive jackpots, and working your way up in VIP status.

Play My Konami Slots (IOS Only)

7. Willy Wonka Slots

Willy Wonka Slots is your lucky ticket to FREE authentic, casino-style games and the iconic cast of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! Spin to win amazing prizes in this scrumptious free game!

Create your very own garden of crazy Wonka creations in Sweet Candy Crops, our newest mini-game. Spin in machines to find the best seeds, plant, grow, and watch the Credits roll in!

Play is sweeter than ever with free games, fun mini-games, and slot machines! Join Charlie as he tours the most eccentric and unusual candy factory of all, Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

8.DoubleDown Casino Slots

Casino action thrills are free—and right at your fingertips!—in the world's biggest social game app.

Win big on over 100 authentic machines, from 3-reel classics to the latest Las Vegas hits, and the same name-brand Video Poker, Blackjack, and Roulette you know and love from the floor.

9. Zynga Poker

Join one of the world's most popular online poker games with more tables, more cash tournaments, more jackpots, and more players to challenge than ever!

It’s so easy getting paid to play poker game tournaments with Zynga Poker! Whether you prefer casual Texas Holdem Poker or competitive tournaments, Zynga Poker is your home for authentic gameplay.

Play Zynga Poker (Android Only)

10. InboxDollars

InBoxDollars is a cash-based online rewards club. It’s one of the best survey sites. It's been an established and well-known company that pays for easy online activities, like taking online market research surveys, watching videos, reading advertising emails, searching the web, and completing offers playing games, printing coupons, and more.

They offer a generous $5 bonus for signing up with a payout amount of $30 via check, card, or gift card.

11. MyPoints

MyPoints is a platform that allows you to earn gift cards for answering surveys, playing free games, watching videos, and many other online activities!

MyPoints will also pay you to shop online! When you shop online at over 2,000 top retailers like Walmart, eBay, and Amazon, earn gift cards.

Cash-out your points whenever you want for your favorite gift card or get a transfer to your PayPal account.

You're going to buy things regardless, so you may as well buy them through MyPoints to save money and earn that gift card!

1. $5 Sign-up Bonus: Complete five surveys.
2. $10 Task Bonus: Make your first purchase of $20 or more and receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

Additional Apps that Pay You to Play Games

12. Swag IQ

Do you love the thrill of a good game show? Check out the free Swag IQ app for the chance to test your knowledge on a live trivia game show. You can earn playing video games and a grand prize if you answer all questions correctly.

In true game show format, you'll be presented with a series of trivia questions and multiple-choice answers for each one. You get only 10 seconds to select your answer. Be sure to choose before the 10 seconds run out, or you'll be out of the running for the grand prize.

Even if you don't make it to the top, you can earn Swag IQ's digital currency for answering questions correctly. You can use it to get a second chance to win the grand prize or redeem for cash or gift cards.

13. Bananatic

If you would like to be one of the first to play a new game and provide your feedback, check out Bananatic. Game developers use this app for testing their latest games and getting reviews and suggestions on improvements.

It's also a fun community of gamers who can meet each other through the app, discuss the games, bugs, game development, and so on. What is more, you get rewarded in the game's virtual currency for playing new games, advancing levels, and writing reviews.

You can redeem your winnings for digital content, premium games, and even gift cards.

14. PerkTV

Like Swagbucks, Perk offers lots of ways to earn points: watch videos, take quizzes, play games, search the web, shop, and more. Each feature has its app, and like Swagbucks, but the app you want to use is Perk TV,

It rewards points for watching videos. Watching videos earns you minimal (a point or two each, which amounts to fractions of a penny); you can run Perk TV on your phone, and it will autoplay videos while you do other things, making it one of the lowest effort apps on this list.

If you use it regularly, that can result in some genuine cash over a month.

15. CashCrate

CashCrate is another reliable get-paid-to site where you can take surveys online, play games, and perform different tasks to earns a few dollars.

The sign-up process is surprisingly easy, and luckily also FREE! You can expect to get 2-3 survey invites every day. Furthermore, if you want to take part in more, you can always visit their website where dozens are available.

Spend some time on this append you can make some extra cash to enjoy a fancy meal or buy a movie ticket for friends on a Friday night.

16. VeryDice

VeryDice is a free mobile app that pays you to roll dice from your smartphone. If you're looking for a quick and easy way to earn money playing games, this is by far one of the best ways to go.

When you first register for the app, you're given 50 freerolls. Each time you roll, you're given a certain amount of “tickets” that can be used to exchange to earn real cash prizes (shipping is always free).

17. HQ

Do you love showing off your trivia knowledge? If that's the case, you should give HQ a try. This fun, fast-paced trivia game allows you to compete and win cash prizes. Players have 10 seconds to answer each multiple-choice question.

The app takes the form of a live game show, which airs at 9 p.m. Eastern Time daily. There's usually another show at 3 p.m. Eastern on weekdays as well. You'll need to answer 12 questions to be entered to win the grand prize, which goes to the person who answers all of them correctly.

However, if multiple people answer all questions correctly, the prize is split between all respective winners. Daily prizes go up to $5,000, with a $25,000 prize on Sundays. Occasionally, prizes can be much higher — up to $400,000.

The HQ app is available on Google Play and in the iTunes App Store.

18. PCHGames

The Publishers Clearing House or PCH runs this app for short. Go to PCHGames to get access to scratch cards and instant win games where you could win up to $2,500.

Some of the games available within the app include mahjong, solitaire, slots, and more. You'll earn tokens that can be used to enter prize drawings. If you're fortunate, you could win prizes up to $1 million.

Aside from getting lucky with a top prize, you can also redeem your points for fun giveaways such as gift cards and merchandise.

19. Long Game

While Long games can be a fun way to pass the time, it can also help you achieve your financial goals. To get started, you need to verify your identity and link your bank account to the app.

Next up, you need to set a savings goal, such as saving for a car down payment. Then decide on how much you want to be added to your account each payday. Every time you add money to your account, you'll earn coins to play games for cash prizes.

All the money you're putting into your in-app savings account belongs to you. The account is FDIC-insured for an added layer of protection and peace of mind.

20. Brain Battle

Brain Battle has already given away tens of thousands of dollars to lucky players. They do this by sharing back a portion of the advertising revenue with one lucky winner. There are no in-app purchases and no paying to win.

All you need to do is download this free app and play any games to collect tickets. You need to get at least one ticket to be entered into the cash prize drawings. The more tickets you have, the higher your chance of winning the grand prize. The money is paid out through a Paypal money transfer.

Brain Battle is available in the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store.

21. Gamesville

Gamesville is a free web-based gaming website on the internet. You get awarded GV rewards for playing and winning games and getting high scores. From there, you can get your GV rewards into cash and other awesome prizes.

Additionally, Gamesville offers pure cash competitions for those who do not want to earn the GV rewards.

22. WorldWinner

WorldWinner is a skill-based gaming website that allows you to compete against other people for real money.

You can play in heads-up matches against other people or participate in large tournaments for cash prizes. The games list at WorldWinner includes a variety of arcade-style games, card games, sports games, strategy games, and word games.

Some familiars such as Bejeweled 2, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Tetris, Spades, and Scrabble.

This website does require a deposit of $5, 10, or 20 at a time to begin to test your skills.

23. Verasity Gamestore

With Verasity, for every minute of gaming, players will receive digital tokens that are exchangeable to Amazon vouchers and many other rewards. There are already thousands of games available from more than 550 game publishers, ensuring a wide variety of genres.

The platform is part of the Verasity. Tv online portal, which also hosts a Watch&Earn program and several B2B tools. Publishers use Verasity's's rewarding-technology to improve aspects such as engagement and monetization.

With the Verasity GameStore, you can play as a single-player, try a PVP game, or even create your tournaments and challenge your friends worldwide, right from your living room.

Alternative Apps to Earn Free Money

Make Cash Playing Games App

What's better than being a paid game player??? How about stacking your game winnings with cash back apps for big-time cash. These apps help you earn automatic cash back when shopping online.

24. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is an excellent rewards site that gives you many ways, free gaming included, to earn Swagbucks to redeem for tons of gift cards or PayPal cash.

It's even better now that it's on mobile and you can earn rewards wherever you go!

If you shop online with your mobile device, you can visit Swagbucks first to check its cashback offers. Click on them before you shop to earn a percentage of your purchase order back in the form of Swagbucks!

There are several gift cards to choose from to please just about any interest! These include Walmart, Target, and Visa.

25. Fetch Rewards

The Fetch Rewards App is a free mobile app that gives you cashback for taking pictures of your grocery receipts. The main difference between Fetch Rewards and other receipt scanning apps is that it doesn't matter where you buy your product.

Each time you scan your grocery receipt, you are given a specific amount of points. The amount of points you earn depends on the offers that are on your receipt.

The points you earn can be converted into real cash prizes such as gift cards to popular retailers such as Amazon, CVS, and Target. You can also choose to donate your earnings to the Red Cross. You need a minimum of 3,000 points (USD 3) to cash out.

26. Rakuten

Another favorite way to get a gift card is by shopping with Rakuten. This is a one-time deal in terms of gift cards, but you can continue getting cash back from nearly any online purchase.

When you first sign-up for Rakuten, you can choose to receive a $10 Walmart gift card or a $10 Rakuten cash back bonus.

You receive the bonus after making your first $25 purchase with Rakuten.

It is possible to earn cash back from over 2,000 online stores and at over 30 brick and mortar retailers. Your gift card will ship once you complete your first purchase.

Otherwise, Rakuten will send your cash back rewards by mail or PayPal every quarter each time you earn $5 in your cash back balance. It’s a great way to earn some money easily!

27. Ibotta

Ibotta is a great app that helps you save on your groceries, which is a substantial monthly expense for most people!

Not only can you save money on your purchases, but you can also make extra money by completing bonuses!

It's easy to make money with Ibotta, especially when you team up with your friends.

You and your team can earn money together and qualify for more bonuses when you meet specific goals each month.

You only need $20 in your Ibotta account to redeem it for PayPal cash or your choice of gift cards.

Download Ibotta on the App Store or Google Play. If you're a new member, you can get a free $10 just for signing up!

28. FeaturePoints

The FeaturePoints app helps you learn about new apps you might like to use on your iOS or Android device.

You can earn points just for downloading partnered apps, but you'll receive even more if you try them out for a bit.

This app rewards you with various gift cards to places like Amazon, PayPal, and Xbox. You can also choose to use your points to get paid games for free!

The referral program here is excellent, so be sure to invite your friends.

You'll earn 50% of everything they make after signing up using your code.

29. Toluna

The popular survey site, Toluna, is on both Google Play and the App Store.

You can join the Toluna community to participate in polls and online surveys where you'll get to share your opinions on various subjects.

Toluna gives you points for participating, which you can then redeem for cash or a variety of gift cards, including Redbox, Banana Republic, Overstock, and Groupon.

Toluna also has daily sweepstakes that give you a chance to win cash or prizes!

30. Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is a website where users to take surveys in exchange for points that can be redeemed for gift cards or a deposit into your account. Signing up for the site is quick and painless; you can use your plus account or your email to log in

While playing new mobile games, you will be presented with surveys to complete in exchange for monetary rewards. Sound simple? That's because it is!

More Ways to Play Games for Money

Stream on Twitch

Twitch is a streaming platform where millions of people come together, live every day to chat, interact, and make entertainment together. Twitch is a subsidiary of Amazon and serves as the leading video live streaming service.

Mainly, the service is for streaming video games, whether live or broadcasting previously recorded games. If you want to know more about Twitch, check out this more detailed post.

Apps that Pay

Now you have a ton of options to start earning cash rewards with all those money-making apps!

We have provided you with the best apps with free games to start making money while having fun. The best part? You aren't limited to just the games. You can try taking surveys, shopping, scanning receipts, and even streaming on Twitch!

How you decided to make that extra money is entirely up to you. You can try one or try them all!

Let us know your favorites in the comments!

Play Games for Money FAQ

What Apps Pay You Real Money to Play Games?

There is a wide selection! Swagbucks, Mistplay, Perk TV, and many more!

What Game App Pays the Most?

Swagbucks is the higher with a $5 payout and many ways to earn.

Can You Win Money on Game Apps?

You sure can! Check out some prime ones on the list like Mistplay and Swagbucks!

What Apps Let You Win Real Money?

If you are looking for straight cash, check out Swag IQ.

Do you love playing video games? Do you enjoy making money?

With all the ways you can get paid, have you considered monetizing your gaming habit? It’s one of the newest ways to make money online, and unlike other side hustles and side jobs, it can be tons of fun.

Play video games, get paid. Play video games; post it on social media, get paid. Pretty awesome, right?

Despite what your 8th grade English teacher might have told you, you can earn extra cash playing video games. Many people turn their love of Grand Theft Auto, Pokémon, and mobile games into part-time or even full-time income, again, all by just being able to play video games.

If you're already gaming, why not take it to the next level and monetize your fun and help pad your bank account?

Here are several ways you can earn and game at the same time.

Table of Contents

• 1 How to Make Money Playing Video Games?
  • 1.8 7. Stream on Twitch

How to Make Money Playing Video Games?

In recent years, they are far more opportunities for monetizing your video game hobby than you might imagine.

We have pulled together the top 15 ways to work toward making money playing your favorite video games!

1. Get Paid Directly to Play – Try Mistplay!

Mistplay is an excellent app available on Android that is a great way to monetize playing video games on your phone.

The app's main focus on providing users an environment in which they can participate in games in exchange for prizes. Through the earning of points, users can join in in-app games to receive gift cards to various retailers such as Amazon, Google Play, and even virtual Visa gift cards.

With Mistplay, you are eligible to receive compensation from the minute you start playing. You can even play with friends and level up your avatar to unlock achievements and earn units faster. They also support user communications and offer a chat feature, encouraging connections amongst participants. Another important note is that users will not pay any fees to download, join, or play games in Mistplay.

There are several other options for apps to monetize gameplay, but Mistplay is definitely at the top of our list!

2. Gamehag

Play free online games to collect Soul Gems and exchange them for rewards! Earn free Robux, Steam Wallet, Prepaid Mastercard, and more!

Play games, Complete tasks, Get rewarded!

3. Video Game Coaching

One of the coolest ways to make money playing video games is by offering to coach your favorite competitive game (such as League of Legends).

Video game coaches make anywhere from $20 to $200 per hour, depending on how good they are and how in-demand their services are. For example, Metaphor (a League of Legends coach mentioned in the YouTube section) offers coaching services for $50 to $80 per hour.

Getting started as a coach typically means gaining an audience through a platform like YouTube and offering your services to your audience.

4. Game Tester

The most basic difference between a Quality Assurance tester and a ‘Game Tester' or ‘Beta Tester' is that QA deals with a product that is already met a certain level of quality as desired by the developers.

Being a ‘Tester' involves trying to ‘break' a game or find out ways to mess it up or analyze why it may or may not be fun for users.

5. Become a Professional Gamer

Pro Gamers are now competing worldwide and winning millions at events sponsored by the Major League Gaming circuit, the International Dota 2 championship, and Intel Extreme Masters. MLG has built arenas across the country from which to host and stream live professional gaming events. It even has scouts and communities on the internet to find the best, untapped players.

The best advice for getting involved is to pick a game, namely one you consider yourself already good at playing, and become an expert at it. From there, work on building your reputation as both a skilled player and a team player. Then it is time to participate in eSports games!

6. Start a YouTube Channel

YouTube

We've mentioned YouTubers a lot over the past few months, and it's because the financial gain in the YouTuber-verse is full of possibilities. If you're looking for a way to earn money while gaming, YouTube is a great place to start.

Through YouTube, you can build your channel to a level in which you are monetizing your content. If you haven't already, check out our piece here that gives you the insight you need to become a successful YouTube content creator.

Once you've mastered the steps required to monetize your channel, you can take your content in any direction you choose. Whether you want to live to stream your gaming, critique others' gaming, or offer tutorials on gaming tips and tricks, YouTube is an excellent platform to use to address all of these subjects.

We recommend using YouTube to further your gaming research, too. If you're looking for in-depth information on monetizing your gaming habits, YouTube is a wealth of knowledge for that topic, as well. Whatever your approach is, starting with YouTube is the way to go.

7. Stream on Twitch

Many gamers stream their online play to turn a profit. The most common platform for doing so is Twitch, an online streaming mecca for players worldwide.

Twitch has a monetization structure similar to YouTube. It requires you to build a following and apply for monetization status once you've established yourself as a gamer who can drive traffic to the site. Money-making your streaming comes from adventures like Google Adsense, and you get paid for the number of views you’ll get towards your videos.

Ads

When you've reached your status as a monetized streamer, Twitch will compensate you in various ways. For every subscriber who visits your channel, you will receive $5.00.

You will also have the option to add a Google Adsense-like set-up with your channel. This will enable you to receive monetary compensation for ads placed on your page. For every 1,000 ad views you receive, you'll earn $3.00.

Amazon Affiliate Links

Twitch allows its users to capitalize on Amazon affiliate links. This means that gamers can recommend products and items available for purchase on Amazon. They can offer direct access to the products to their viewers via an affiliate link.

Every time a product purchase occurs utilizing the link, the gamer receives payment for creating this connection. It's a passive income generation method for players to advertise items and products they like to anyone who views their channel.

PayPal Donations

Many successful gamers have found that they can market and receive PayPal donations from loyal fans or sponsors.

Yep, you read that right. You can ask for money, and people will give it to you to keep playing your video games. The thought process behind this is that gamers will invite fans to help them continue to game at the intensity they are doing so.

Part of enabling this commitment is assuring that financially, the gamer can satisfy their basic living needs. Okay, maybe some of their needs aren't so “basic,” but we're going to trust that you get the picture.

The reason many gamers will receive PayPal donations is that viewers want to learn and replicate the tips and tricks the player uses. If you think of gaming as performance art, then the idea of donating to a gamer's PayPal account becomes much more reasonable.

It beats the thought of giving some cash to your younger brother for playing video games.

Practical Tips to Increase Revenue When Live Streaming

Much like we mentioned above, thinking of gaming as performance art is the best way to understand how to achieve the highest level of success. Live stream gamers need to be engaging.

They should have larger than life personalities that attract a high volume of views. This goes hand-in-hand with having a voice that is enjoyable to listen to. If a gamer isn't pleasing to listen to or is dull, both of these will turn viewers off.

Another facet of the live streaming puzzle is creating regular content. You'll want viewers to know when they should tune in to your streaming. Keeping a regular schedule will help them start watching you on a particular day and time.

Networking is the final piece to the trifecta of tips and tricks of live stream gaming. Interacting with your viewers, fellow live streamers, and sponsors are some of the most effective methods to advance your reputation as well as your bankroll.

Much like business networking, live stream gaming requires an equal, if not more, amount of investment in your relationships.

8. Contact Potential Sponsors

After you get a following for your stream, whether it's on YouTube, Twitch, or elsewhere, to generate more revenue, you will likely want to contact sponsors. This is very similar to how television producers used to seek sponsors for programs.

To acquire sponsors, the first thing you need to do is prepare to impress them. Make sure your channel displays precisely what you envisioned. You will then want to search for brands that you like that might be interested in sponsoring you. It is also essential to consider whether or not you would use their products. This is important as you will be marketing for that brand!

The most crucial part is that you are presenting yourself as someone that would be a great fit to sponsor their brand.

9. Provide Game Play Tutorials

Providing gameplay tutorials is a great way to grab new viewers and monetize gameplay. Your YouTube channel or streaming site will earn money with every person that clicks on it. Advertisers pay Google, for instance, to display ads on videos. Google, a division of Alphabet, owns YouTube.

To start, open an account at AdSense, and link it to your YouTube account. Choose whether you want video or banner ads to display.

It does take more time to make money off the concept of video game tutorials. You will want to grow your audience into the thousands to make decent money off this concept.

10. Compete in Tournaments

While not a consistent source of money (unless you're incredibly talented), winning game tournaments for competitive games like Call of Duty, League of Legends, Fortnite, etc., can net you some serious cash.

One of the world's top e-sports competitive, Timothy Miller (aka “Bizzle”), earns around $322k per year participating in Fortnite tournaments.

This is probably the easiest way to make money playing video games and not a big earner unless you're really good at the game and consistently win.

11. Quality Assurance Tester

Video games are ultimately the result of computer programming. Getting a computer to react to the developer and gamers want it to, look right, and perhaps feel as realistic as possible. To achieve this, game design companies need some independent people to tell them what is good, what is bad, what works, and what doesn't.

That's where being a QA tester comes in. The designers and developers need to know how users feel about a new game or upgraded design, not just technical problems. They're not testing the wiring or circuitry or power supply. Like kids with a new toy, they're testing how much more fun a new or upgraded game is for players than those already in the market.

QA testers don't just play a game through to its highest possible level. They play different designs; different builds multiple times until they can find nothing to object to and report if they had fun!

Think of working in QA as being paid to solve multiple puzzles. Any glitch or mistake or thing wrong in a program must be reproducible, so developers can figure out how to eliminate it.

Much of QA work is contract work, but it still could pay between $10 and $15 an hour. That's is a pretty good wage for playing video games!

12. Become a Game Developer

Another way to earn as a gamer is to develop the games yourself. Game developers at major companies like Ubisoft or EA earn an average salary of $83,000. However, jobs for major game companies are notoriously stressful and tend to force you to work long hours and holidays.

Alternatively, you can become a solo game developer and make money through game sales and in-game purchases. For example, Minecraft was developed solely by Markus Persson under his company Mojang. Mojang sold to Microsoft for a whopping $2.5 billion.

13. Work as a Video Game Journalist

Another avenue is through journalism. Most video game journalists earn around $26,000 per year, making it one of the lowest-income opportunities on this list.

But if you love games and love writing and reporting, this is a great opportunity, and you can earn much more as your skill increases!

To get started as a journalist, you'll most likely need at least a bachelor's degree in journalism and some journalistic experience (like the school paper and/or an internship). Speaking of internships, an unpaid internship is a great way to get your foot in the door as a game journalist!

14. Work in Customer Service for a Game Company

Like every other industry, gamers also need customer support. Becoming a customer service rep for a game company is a great way to get paid in the video game industry. The average customer service representative makes $13.64 per hour, with some making up to $20 per hour.

Like Blizzard, some companies even have in-game admins who play the game and deliver support via the in-game chat function.

Landing this job is more about your customer service skills than your gaming skills. You have to be good with people and have excellent communication skills. Getting an internship is one of the best ways to get started on this career path.

15. Create & Sell Video Game Inspired Merchandise

Possibly one of the coolest ways to get paid to play is by creating and selling your own game-inspired merchandise. Just go on Etsy and type “Legend of Zelda” — you get over 16,000 results of t-shirts, figurines, coffee mugs, and more.

If you take this route, it means you're creating a business. The sky limits how much you can make, but getting to $50,000 per year is possible with the right product and excellent marketing skills.

To get started on this, you'll need to figure out precisely what type of products you want to sell. That will then give you the list of what you will need to make those items.

16. Farm In-Game Currency

Many MMO's have a farmable in-game currency that people who don't feel like spending their own time earning can pay you for it.

This is probably the most time-consuming and lowest-paying opportunity on this list next to customer service work — there are gold farmers in countries like China who do this all day for a fairly low amount. This is not the most popular form of getting that extra cash through gaming, but it is worth noting on this list as an option.

Game On!

Now that you have an entire list of options to choose from go ahead and explore which ones are best for you.

Try not to forget that it will take some time and effort to make substantial money while playing those awesome games.

Consider trying several different outlets at once! For example, you could give both streaming and doing game tutorials a try.

Time to grab your controller and start on your journey toward making money playing your favorite video games!