Puzzle games that pay real money

If you already reach for a puzzle game on the bus or before bed, you can get paid for it. Puzzle games that pay real money work through a reward app: Playout puts a short shelf of free puzzle games on your Android phone, and every level you solve earns coins that you cash out as PayPal money or gift cards.

Here’s what makes puzzles such a good match for earning, and a tour of the puzzle games on the Playout shelf.

What counts as a puzzle game

A puzzle game gives you a board with a clear goal and asks you to work out how to reach it. Sometimes that means matching pairs, sometimes sorting colors, fitting shapes or taking something apart in the right order. The common thread is the moment a messy board turns into a clean one because you found the right move.

Most mobile puzzle games are built from short, self-contained levels. You can solve one in a minute or two, stop, and pick up again later without losing your place.

Why puzzle games are great for earning

Playout pays you per finished level, and puzzle games are made of finished levels. That makes them a natural fit:

• Short levels, steady coins. A few levels on a coffee break all count, and each one adds coins to your balance.
• Thinking beats speed. Many puzzles have no clock, so you earn at your own pace.
• They get better as you do. The more you play, the faster you read a board, and the more levels you finish in the same time.
• There’s always a next level. Several games on the shelf have more than 1,000 of them.

Puzzle games on the Playout shelf

Every game below is free on Google Play and earns coins for each level you finish when you open it from Playout.

Mahjong Smart: calm tile matching

Mahjong Smart is classic Mahjong solitaire. Match identical free tiles in pairs until the layered board is clear. There are no timers, the tiles are large and easy to read, and hint, undo and shuffle are always at hand. It’s the most relaxing puzzle on the shelf.

Mines & Meows: pure logic

Mines & Meows is a cozy, cat-themed logic puzzle in the spirit of Minesweeper. Read the clues, rule out the wrong cells and clear the board. Every board can be solved by logic alone, so it rewards careful thinking rather than luck.

Screw Blast! and Bolt Out: the right order

Screw puzzles are about taking things apart in sequence. In Screw Blast! you unscrew colorful pins from wooden planks and sort them by color. In Bolt Out you pull colored bolts from a stack of plates and pack them into crates of the matching color, and every plate you free drops away. Our screw puzzle guide compares the two.

Hexa Pop and Candy Cannon Sort: color sorting

Hexa Pop has you drop chip stacks on a honeycomb board so matching colors hop together and burst. Candy Cannon Sort turns ball sort into an aiming game: you fire candy from a cannon into glass tubes. Both have more than 1,000 short levels and no in-app purchases. More in our sort puzzle guide.

Domino Blast: block puzzle with chain reactions

Domino Blast plays like the block puzzles you know, on an 8x8 board, but standing dominoes turn a cleared line into a chain reaction that can sweep across half the board. Each level has a clear goal, so you always know what you’re working toward. The block puzzle guide covers it alongside Block Bus!.

Tile Tap!: an easy start

Tile Tap! is the most laid-back puzzle on the shelf: clear a board of tiles one tap at a time. The early levels ease you in, so it’s a great first game if you’re new to puzzles.

How earning works

1. Install Playout from Google Play. There’s no sign-up form; your account is tied to your phone.
2. Install a puzzle game from the shelf. Installing it from Playout links your levels to your account.
3. Solve levels. Each finished level adds coins to your counter.
4. Coins convert every four hours into real money in your balance, which keeps stacking.
5. Cash out once you reach the minimum, which is low, set per currency and shown in the app. Choose PayPal cash, an Amazon gift card or a Google Play gift card. Payouts usually arrive within minutes.

What to expect

Puzzle games that pay through Playout are a fun bonus for time you’d spend puzzling anyway. Your balance grows with how much and how regularly you play, and the daily streak, daily challenges and Live Event add extra on top. For lighter, faster games, see casual games that pay real money, and the whole lineup is on the games page.