Mistplay Review [2024]: Can You Earn Cash for Playing Games?

MAKE MONEY - SIDE HUSTLES
Mistplay can be a good way to earn a few extra bucks during your downtime, but don’t expect it to replace your day job.
Updated March 27, 2024
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Playing a game app on phone

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Mistplay is a free Android app that you can download from the Google Play Store. It enables you to earn gift cards to major retailers by playing games on your Android phone.

The Mistplay app is legitimate and pays incentives for using your phone to play games. However, the amount of money you can earn is modest. Find out how to earn and redeem your earnings in this Mistplay review.

Quick Summary

Earn money while playing fun games.

  • Gift card options include Amazon, Spotify, Uber, and more
  • Cash options include Visa and Mastercard prepaid cards, as well as PayPal
  • Various games, including puzzles, multiplayer, and more
In this Mistplay review

Key takeaways

  • Mistplay is only available on the Google Play store, making it accessible only to people with Android phones, not iPhones.
  • Mistplay pays you to play games made by developers looking to get more attention to their games.
  • You earn points called units in the app, which you can redeem for gift cards at many popular retailers, such as H&M, Amazon, and PlayStation. You can also redeem your units for cash via Visa and Mastercard prepaid cards and PayPal.
  • Mistplay doesn’t specify how much money you can earn for a set period of gameplay. However, the typical payout for your time can be low and isn’t enough to become a main source of income.

Is Mistplay legit?

Mistplay is a legit game app that has been downloaded over 10 million times from the Google Play store, where it has a 4.1 out of 5-star rating based on over 400,000 reviews.

Mistplay
Pros Cons
  • Offers games that are fun to play
  • Has a broad selection of gift cards
  • Allows you to redeem earnings for cash in the form of Visa or Mastercard prepaid cards or via PayPal
  • Offers payouts that can be low
  • Shares your data
  • Only available for Android users
Our verdict: Mistplay is a legit app that lets you earn gift cards and cash for playing games on your phone. It has a 4.1 out of 5-star rating on Google Play with over 400,000 reviews. The app offers several games and can be a simple method of earning money while having fun. However, earning money can be slow, and what you earn isn’t likely to provide a high supplemental income.

What is Mistplay?

Mistplay is an Android app that was first released in July 2016 by a company under the same name. The Mistplay company was also founded by Henri Machalani and Eugene Joannides in Canada in 2016.

Mistplay partners with game app developers who are looking for people to use and play their new product. The game developers pay Mistplay to get more eyes on their game apps, and in turn, Mistplay offers you rewards to play these games. 

Mistplay
Try Out New Games and Earn Gift Cards
Play games you’ll love and earn gift cards. Gift cards include Visa, Spotify, Uber, and more. Download new games to earn units faster!

How much can you earn with Mistplay?

Mistplay enables you to earn points in the form of units that you can redeem for gift cards from many popular retailers like Amazon, Spotify, and Starbucks, as well as for Visa or Mastercard prepaid cards. You can also redeem your units in the form of cash via PayPal.

Mistplay works by offering you ways to earn units as you play. You can earn units in a few different ways, such as spending time playing a game within your library, leveling up your profile after reaching milestones within the games, referring friends, and more.

Note
Mistplay has caps in place to keep you from earning too many units. You can only earn units for up to two hours of gameplay for each game per day. And after you reach level 20 on Mistplay for a specific game, you’re no longer eligible to earn units for that game.

Unfortunately, Mistplay doesn’t disclose how much time it takes to earn a number of units as you play the games it offers. While it’s understandable, as earnings can vary by game, we think it would be helpful to provide some average estimates.

You can also refer your friends to earn units. You get a referral bonus of 100 units for every friend you refer who plays a game up to level four. These units are worth roughly 12 cents if you redeem them for the smallest Amazon gift card.

Redeeming units for gift cards and cash

Once you’ve saved up enough units, you can redeem them for a gift card or cash. For example, you’ll need to earn at least 400 units in order to redeem $0.50 toward an Amazon gift card, the lowest-level redemption.

Mistplay offers several useful gift card options, including Amazon, Target, Walmart, and more. You can also cash out your units in the form of a Visa or Mastercard prepaid card or receive money via PayPal.

How to use Mistplay

To use the Mistplay app, you need to have an Android phone and be at least 18.


When you open Mistplay, you’ll see a selection of games that you can play. You can download these games from the regular Google Play store, but to earn units, you’ll need to do so through the Mistplay app. This will download it right to your phone, so you’ll add a game app to your device for each game you play.

Warning
Once the game is downloaded on your phone, you’ll need to launch Mistplay to access it each time you want to play. If you open the game app directly without going through Mistplay first, you won’t earn any units for your gameplay.

As you play the game, you should see a notification on your phone every twenty to thirty seconds telling you you’re earning credit. If you don’t see any notifications, go back to the Mistplay app to troubleshoot since you may not be earning any credit.

As you use Mistplay, you can earn:

  • Units: These are the actual Mistplay points that you can redeem for gift cards and cash.
  • Gems: These are your rewards for making purchases within the games you play. You can trade your gems in for units.
  • Game experience points (GXP): Mistplay uses this to track the time spent with each game. Spend enough time playing a game, and you can reach the next level or checkpoint and get a reward in the form of units.
  • Player experience points (PXP): Mistplay uses this to track your overall time spent across all games. Just like with GXP, you’ll earn more units each time you level up to a new checkpoint.

Try Out New Games and Earn Gift Cards

Play games you’ll love and earn gift cards. Gift cards include Visa, Spotify, Uber, and more. Download new games to earn units faster!

Download MISTPLAY

How to make more money with Mistplay

The amount of money you can earn from Mistplay varies depending on a few factors. You can use these factors to your advantage. Here’s how:

  • Look for games with high unit multipliers: Each game has a different unit multiplier. This multiplier decides how many units you’ll earn as you play. The higher the unit multiplier, the more you’ll earn.
  • Play boosted games: If the developers of a game are in a hurry to increase their engagement, they may pay Mistplay to boost their game. This translates to a higher unit earning rate. A boosted game will be clearly marked with how much time is left for the increased earning opportunity and how many extra units can be earned.
  • Try to earn badges: Mistplay offers bonus units when you earn badges for each game. The night owl badge, for example, rewards you with more units if you play late at night.
  • Play every day: The longer you maintain a streak of logging into Mistplay each day, the more the app will reward you with bonus units.
  • Go through the bonus tab: Located at the bottom of your screen, this tab offers extra ways to earn more Mistplay units, such as by referring friends or subscribing to Mistplay’s newsletter.

How to get started with Mistplay

Signing up for Mistplay is easy as long as you have an Android device. You also have to be 18 years old to use Mistplay. Follow these six steps to download the app and begin using it:

  1. Download Mistplay and create an account: Download Mistplay from the Google Play Store, then sign up for a Mistplay account using your Facebook or Google account.


  1. Agree to the Terms and Conditions: You’ll need to agree to let Mistplay record your app usage. This way, it can provide you with more custom-tailored game options and track your progress in playing each game.


  1. Complete Mistplay’s tutorial: Mistplay will walk you through the app and the tabs it has to explain how it all works.


  1. Check your game options: You can see all of your available Mistplay game options on the games tab, along with the game multiplier that tells you how much a particular game pays out compared to the others.


  1. Choose a game: Tap a game that interests you, and Mistplay will prompt you to download it.

Tip
Make sure that you see notifications pop up on your screen roughly a couple of times every minute to let you know you’re still earning GXP and units for that game. If you don’t, you may not be earning and may need to restart the game or go back to Mistplay to troubleshoot.


  1. Redeem your units for gift cards or cash: Go to the shop tab to see how you can use your units. Check out the dollar-per-unit ratio for each of the reward options you’re interested in to ensure you’re getting the best deal.

Redemption value
You’ll earn 0.125 cents per unit if you cash in 400 units for a $0.50 Amazon gift card. But if you wait until you have 1,800 units saved, you can redeem them for a $5 Amazon gift card — for a unit value of 0.278 cents, or over twice the value of the lower-level redemption.


Alternatives to Mistplay

Mistplay isn’t your only option to figure out how to make money with game apps. Here are some similar options and how they compare:

Mistplay Cash Giraffe Solitaire Cash
Availability Android devices via Google Play Android devices via Google Play iOS devices via the App Store and Samsung devices via the Galaxy Store
Rating 4.1 stars based on 350,000 reviews and 10 million downloads 4.3 stars based on 54,000 reviews and 1 million downloads 4.6 stars based on 210,000 ratings
Earning activity Playing a variety of game apps Playing a variety of game apps Playing Solitaire games
Reward options Gift cards and PayPal Gift cards and PayPal PayPal or Apple Pay
Get started Download Mistplay Download Cash Giraffe Download Solitaire Cash

Cash Giraffe

Cash Giraffe shares several similarities with Mistplay. The Cash Giraffe app enables you to collect points in the form of gems for playing different types of game apps. You can redeem your earnings for PayPal or gift cards. However, since Cash Giraffe is rated E for everyone while Mistplay is rated T for teens, Cash Giraffe might be more suitable for a younger audience.

Find out more in our Cash Giraffe review.

Download This Gaming App That Paid Out over $3.8 Million Last Year

Super fun games with hardly any ads. The more time you spend playing, the more you can potentially earn. Cash out via PayPal or with gift cards to Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart, and more!

Download Cash Giraffe

Solitaire Cash

Solitaire Cash is an app-based game available for iPhone and Samsung devices through the App Store or the Samsung Galaxy store. Mistplay features all types of games, but Solitaire Cash — as you might expect — only focuses on one game: solitaire. Money that you earn on Solitaire Cash can be redeemed via PayPal or Apple Pay.

Learn more in our Solitaire Cash review.

Earn Up to $200 Every Time You Win This Viral Game

Earn up to $200 every time you win. Free to play with many opportunities to win cash. Cash out with PayPal. Stop scrolling and start earning!

Download Solitaire Cash

FAQs about Mistplay

Is Mistplay legit?

Yes, Mistplay is a legitimate app and is not a scam. It enables you to play games and earn money for the amount of time you spend playing. You can redeem the money you earn via gift cards or PayPal. The app has been downloaded over 10 million times on the Google Play store and has a 4.1 out of 5-star rating. Explore similar apps in our list of legit game apps.

How does Mistplay work?

Mistplay is a free mobile gaming loyalty app that allows users to earn points for playing games. These points are redeemable for cash and gift cards.  

How many games are available on Mistplay?

Mistplay doesn’t disclose how many games are available through the app. In our personal experience, we were able to view dozens of games in categories such as multiplayer, casual, puzzle, simulation, and more.

Since Mistplay partners with game developers, the number of games at any one time depends on how many developers want to pay Mistplay to increase visibility for their games. Additionally, Mistplay may offer different game selections based on demographic information, so you may not see the same games available to other people.

Is it easy to make money on Mistplay?

Mistplay requires no special skills beyond having an Android smartphone and being familiar with playing different types of game apps. In that respect, making money on Mistplay is easy. However, earning a big sum of cash through Mistplay can be challenging since you typically don’t earn much for your time.

Does Mistplay have PayPal?

You can redeem Mistplay units for PayPal gift cards, according to Mistplay's FAQ. You can also redeem units for gift cards to:

  • Amazon
  • Google Play
  • Visa
  • GameStop
  • Starbucks

How long does it take to get a gift card from Mistplay?

You should receive your gift card within 48 hours. If you don't receive your gift card within 48 hours, you should contact Mistplay. 

How does Mistplay make money?

Mistplay primarily makes money by partnering with game developers and publishers who pay Mistplay to promote their games on the platform and receive user feedback. When users play these games and reach certain milestones or achievements within the games, Mistplay earns a commission from the developers.

Mistplay review: bottom line

The best side hustles offer a good earning potential in exchange for your time. Unfortunately, Mistplay — along with most other game-based apps — doesn’t quite fit that bill. That said, if you like trying out new games while watching TV, standing in line, or commuting, Mistplay could be a fun way to earn a few extra bucks.

Mistplay Benefits

  • Play games you’ll love and earn gift cards
  • Download new games to earn units faster!
  • Gift cards include Visa, Spotify, Uber, and more

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