About Play and Earn
Play and Earn is a fast, retro-styled arcade space shooter called Space Attack. You fly a single ship against formations of enemies, clearing them wave by wave while the difficulty climbs, and you earn a coin for each level you clear.
It is built to be picked up for a few minutes at a time. You get ten plays a day, your best score and recent games are tracked on the home screen, and your coin balance shows its cash value as it grows.
Worth knowing before you start: the app is funded by advertising, and the coins are a share of it. There is a banner at the bottom of the screen, and short videos - a video adds three to nine coins to a level you have already cleared, where the level itself pays one. Clearing a level never needs one, and the gap between those two numbers is what an ad-funded reward app looks like from the inside.
Screenshots
How it works
- Tap Play Space Attack to start a run - you get ten plays a day.
- Clear formations of enemy ships. You have three lives, and you can switch between touch and joystick controls.
- Clear a level and you earn a coin for it. Getting further into a run means more cleared levels, so it means more coins.
- Watch your balance build on the home screen, which shows what it is worth.
- Once you reach 2,000 coins you can cash out to PayPal, then 5,000 after that.
Features
- Fast, retro arcade space-shooter gameplay
- A coin for every level you clear
- Progressive difficulty as you advance
- Touch or joystick controls, switchable mid-game
- Best score and a running list of recent games
- A live cash value on your coin balance
- First cash-out at 2,000 coins ($2.00), then 5,000 ($5.00)
What it actually pays
This is the one app of our four where we cannot give you a clean number, and saying so is more useful than an average. A level cleared pays one coin, you get ten runs a day, and how many levels a run reaches depends entirely on how well you play. So there is no honest coins-per-day figure to publish: the earn rate is a skill, not a rate.
What is fixed is the other half. A coin is a tenth of a cent, the first cash-out is 2,000 coins, or $2.00, and every payout after that is 5,000 coins, or $5.00. A video adds three to nine coins to a level already cleared, which is a wider gap here than in the other three — not because the bonus is bigger, but because the base rate is the thing we cannot quote.
By the test this site applies to everyone else, that makes Play and Earn the weakest of our four on disclosure: we publish what a coin is worth and not what an hour is worth. It is the same criticism we make of Mistplay, at a much smaller scale and for a duller reason — theirs is undisclosed by design, ours is a score in an arcade game. Judge it as a game that occasionally pays rather than as a way to earn.
Frequently asked questions
Is Play and Earn free?
Yes, free to download and free to play, with nothing to unlock. It's paid for by advertising - a banner, and short videos - and the coins are a share of that. Clearing a level never needs a video, and an ad never sits between you and a run.
What do I need to run it?
An iPhone or iPad on iOS 15.0 or later, or an Android phone or tablet. The App Store rates it 9+ for mild cartoon action. Google Play rates it Mature 17+, which is about the cash reward rather than the shooting; the listing carries a Cash Rewards label beside it. PayPal requires account holders to be 18 in either store.
How do I earn coins?
One coin for every level you clear, so getting further into a run earns more. The game is paid for by advertising, and a short video after a cleared level adds 3 to 9 coins to what that level already paid.
How many coins do I need to cash out?
2,000 coins, which is $2.00 - the same first-payout threshold as the rest of our apps, and 5,000 ($5.00) after your first in all of them. The home screen shows your progress toward it, along with what your current balance is worth.
How do I get paid?
The coins your runs earn add up to a balance you cash out through PayPal, once it passes 2,000.
Is there a limit on how much I can play?
Ten a day. The home screen shows how many plays you've left, and it resets daily.
Is there an Android version?
Yes, it's on Google Play now, and so are the other three reward apps. It's the same game on the same terms: ten runs a day, a coin for every level cleared, and a first cash-out at 2,000 coins with 5,000 after it. Asking for it is what moved it up the list, so the suggestion form is worth using.
Do my coins move between an iPhone and an Android phone?
No. The balance is kept on the device rather than in an account, so the two are separate and each has to reach 2,000 coins on its own. Nothing transfers, and there's nothing to sync — cash out before you switch phones.
