Did you know that you can play games — for money? This isn’t about betting. It’s about game testing and organizing. It’s a fun, creative, and intellectual side hustle. But it requires experience, logic, good people skills, and a sense of adventure and fair play.
Get paid to play games
Where can you get paid to play games? Here are two great options.
StartPlaying
Love fantasy games, like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder? Sign up to be a professional game master with StartPlaying. This online game-playing site lets experienced players register as “game masters.” GMs determine what sort of game to offer — choosing the genre, number of players, schedule and rules. They also decide how much to charge for each seat at their game table. So, you basically set your own pay by creating a rate and a maximum number of players.
StartPlaying markets your game and collects the fees from players. It charges a 10% commission in return. However, the site does not guarantee that you’ll fill your game table. So you’ll need good word-of-mouth or positive reviews to make the maximum income. StartPlaying pays GMs within a day of completing a game.
Read our full review on StartPlaying here.
PlayTestCloud
PlaytestCloud connects game developers with consumers willing to test their games for a fee. The site typically pays $9 per 15-minute test. But don’t expect to play games for a full hour. Getting back-to-back tests isn’t likely.
The site tests more than 100,000 games per year, but has thousands of testers. You’re invited to play based on your profile, which includes your age, gender, and the type of games you like. The details of each assignment, including the compensation, is listed on the invitation.
Read our full review of PlaytestCloud here.