Rewarded Play: Play and Earn

Review by eFreeware

Rewarded Play is built for people who already spend spare minutes on simple puzzle and board games and would rather those minutes turned into something spendable. Instead of paying for a game outright, you play and collect points, then trade those points for gift cards from Amazon, Walmart, Target, Best Buy and similar retailers. The developer, Influence Mobile, positions it as a way to earn rewards quickly, with a stated turnaround of 48 hours once a redemption is complete.

That pitch will land differently depending on what you want from a phone game. If you enjoy Solitaire or Mahjong on their own terms and the gift card is a bonus, the app has a natural place in your routine. If you are hoping for a meaningful side income, the structure of a points-for-play system rarely works that way, and it is worth going in with modest expectations. The app has been downloaded more than 10 million times and holds a 4.2 average from nearly 248,000 ratings, which suggests a large and generally satisfied audience rather than a niche experiment.

How the points-for-play loop works

The core idea is straightforward: you choose from a catalog of casual games and earn points as you play. Solitaire, Mahjong, Wheel of Fortune and Yahtzee are among the titles, so the lineup leans toward familiar, low-pressure games rather than anything demanding a long commitment. Every session contributes points, and the developer says the more you play, the more you earn.

Points accumulate toward gift cards, which is the actual product here. The games are the mechanism; the reward is the reason to keep opening the app. Redemption is described as arriving within 48 hours of completing a game, which is faster than many reward programs promise and is clearly the feature the developer wants you to notice first.

Reaching new levels and watching rewarded videos are other ways to earn more. Those are optional layers on top of ordinary play, and they suggest the earning rate is not fixed. What the app does not do is hide the fact that it is a rewards program first and a game collection second.

The games and the gift card catalog

The game selection is deliberately familiar. Solitaire, Mahjong, Yahtzee and Wheel of Fortune are the kind of titles most people already know how to play, which lowers the barrier to starting. The games are free to play and available at any time, so no scheduling or session limit is implied.

On the reward side, the retailer list is broad enough to be useful for most households: Amazon, Walmart, Target and Best Buy are all named, with more providers beyond those. That spread matters because a gift card is only worth earning if you would actually spend it somewhere.

One detail worth flagging: Rewarded Play is not connected to any gift card provider. That is a standard disclaimer for this category of app, and it means the retail names are redemption destinations rather than partnerships.

What it asks of you

Rewarded Play is free to download and carries no in-app purchases. It does contain ads. If you dislike advertising in a game, that is a real consideration before you commit time to a points balance.

The more important cost is your time. Earning enough points for a gift card takes repeated play, and the app is designed around that repetition. The developer's framing, that playing more earns more, is accurate but also the whole model: there is no shortcut that does not involve either watching rewarded videos, making a purchase, or simply playing longer.

The app is rated for Everyone and sits in the Lifestyle category rather than Games, which reflects what it actually is. It is a rewards tool that happens to contain games, not a game that happens to contain rewards.

Getting the most from a rewards app

The sensible approach with any points-based app is to treat it as a supplement to time you were going to spend anyway. If Solitaire is already part of your evening wind-down, playing it here instead of in a standalone app costs you nothing extra and slowly builds toward a gift card. If you would not otherwise play these games, the math changes considerably.

It also helps to decide on a redemption target early. Knowing whether you are working toward an Amazon card or a Target card gives the points a purpose and makes the 48-hour window the developer promises something concrete to look forward to, rather than an abstract number that keeps growing.

The app was released in February 2019 and was last updated in August 2026, with the most recent changes described as adjustments to the signup flow and bug fixes. That is a maintenance-level update rather than a feature overhaul, which is worth knowing if you are comparing it against newer reward apps.

A reasonable fit for casual players who want something back

Rewarded Play makes sense for one specific kind of user: someone who already enjoys light puzzle and board games, does not mind ads, and likes the idea of converting that time into a gift card every so often. The retailer list is practical, the game selection is approachable, and the promised 48-hour redemption window is the most appealing part of the offer.

It is a weaker fit for anyone expecting steady earnings, or for players who want depth from their games rather than a rotation of familiar classics. The app is transparent about what it is, and the disclaimer about retailer partnerships is a reminder that the gift cards are a redemption mechanism, not a brand relationship.

I would suggest installing it with modest expectations and letting the points accumulate at their own pace. If the games are enjoyable on their own, the rewards are a pleasant extra. If they are not, no amount of points will make the time feel well spent.

What's new in version 13.11.0

Minor changes to signup flows and bug fixes.