Plenty of game apps claim you can earn extra money with minimal effort. They invite you to download the app, enter matches, and easily win large tournament jackpots. It seems too good to be true. Do any of these cash apps actually pay?
Solitaire Smash is one game that does. It won’t pay hundreds or thousands of dollars like many ads for other games promise (those are fake, by the way), but it does pay real cash. There are some tournaments with top prize brackets awarding $100 or more. Taking home a large prize isn’t easy though; it requires outstanding Solitaire skills, speed, and a little bit of luck.
Smaller pots, starting at around $4, are easier to take down. And there are free games, too.
This review will cover how the app works, how much you can make, and everything we like and don’t like about Solitaire Smash and similar game apps.
What is Solitaire Smash?
Solitaire Smash is a highly-ranked mobile game app that puts a contemporary twist on the classic Solitaire card game.
Play free practice games or participate in cash tournaments against players around the world. Wager and win virtual currency, gems, which can be redeemed for real money. Players can fund their accounts with extra money to purchase more virtual currency.
Is Solitaire Smash Legit?
Yes, Solitaire Smash is a legitimate game. Some reviews say that Solitaire Smash’s legitimacy is in question because you can lose money playing the game and the developer, PlayPerfect, only has one app in the iOS store.
However, you can lose money playing any tournament-style game — even games by well-known developers with dozens of apps in the iOS store and ratings much overall lower than Solitaire Smash.
PlayPerfect’s website does have limited information, however, it is a newer company that has grown from 3 employees to 30 within a year. According to the company’s LinkedIn profile, PlayPerfect was founded in 2021 and is headquartered out of Tel Aviv, Israel.
You can read the terms and conditions for the app, which outline all guidelines in great detail, and find support contact information.
The Solitaire Smash game is currently ranked number 9 for all casino-style games in the Apple Store and has an average 4.8-star rating.
How to Earn Money with Solitaire Smash
To earn money with Solitaire Smash, you’ll need to wager real money or virtual currency (gems) at Solitaire. This app version is similar to the classic card game where you clear stacks by making sequences in alternating colors.
Download the free Solitaire Smash app on Apple. Make sure you select the correct Solitaire game app with “Play Perfect” listed as the developer.
After you install the app, you’ll be prompted to create a player profile or you can go with the randomly generated name and avatar.
Play the onboarding tutorial.
A range of games are available at any time, including free games and high cash prize pools with payouts of $100 or more. There are also tournaments with a hybrid entry of both gems and a small cash amount.
Players start around with 100 gems. Earn more gems as you win free games, level up through winning games (tournament or free), or claim daily bonuses.
After I saved up 1,000 gems, I entered the Freebie Frenzy match. For an entry fee of 1,000 gems, you can play in a $7 cash prize pool. I took first place and earned $4. You can see all of your wins and losses in your results tab. As you can see, there are many rounds where I did not finish in first place.
Most tournaments are multi-bracket games where the top three (3) finishers receive a reward. There are also some one-on-one matches too.
Except for Freebie Frenzy, all cash tournaments require a cash entry fee. It is possible to earn enough gems to pay the entry fee for Freebie Frenzy, however, it will take a while to bank enough. You can win gems by playing free practice games and collecting daily bonuses for logging in.
It took me less than a day to earn 1,000 gems and enter a cash tournament for free and I did win the top $4 prize.
I played quite a bit on and off over a day. All told, it probably took about three (3) hours total to win enough gems. As I progressed from one level to the next, it became harder to win gems. It was easy to win the first 800 and hard to clear the final 200.
I could have just paid a few dollars to enter some cash games right away, but I wanted the free practice and I also wanted to see whether or not it was possible to earn enough gems to enter free cash games. And it is!
With my $4 prize, I could cash out or enter a couple of small prize pool tournaments, but I think that I am just going to keep playing more free games. I want to bank enough virtual gems to enter more free cash games.
Some people do play Solitaire Smash just for fun and never enter any cash tournaments. But if you do want to try and win some extra cash, this is the general flow.
- Install the free app on your iOS phone or iPad.
- Play the free tutorial game.
- Play free practice games to get used to the gaming experience and timer.
- Enter solitaire tournaments.
How Cash Tournaments Work
With cash tournaments, you are matched against players of a similar skill level. Everyone has the same time limit (usually 3 minutes or 5 minutes depending on the difficulty level) and the same set of cards and game layout, which is what makes the game skill-based.
Available prize pools change, based on special promotions. For most new players, you will be able to enter cash tournaments to win anywhere from $4 to $120 and the brackets will have anywhere from 5 to 9 players.
The entry fee for cash prize games can range from all gems (minimum 1,000) to up to $20. For the $120 tournament, 9 players wager $29 each. The top three finishers will win $60, $40, or $20. The house, or game app, keeps $60.
Before you enter a free or cash tournament, you see a preview of the prize earnings and how many winners there are.
When you cash out your winnings, they’ll be paid via your bank account, Apple Pay, or PayPal.
Earning Potential
There are a couple of ways to look at earning potential.
- Per month – $30 to $120
- Per tournament – $100+ per tournament
Per month, you could reasonably earn $30 to $120. That’s if you average an extra $1 to $4 daily. This means you would need to win more tournaments than you lose. In most tournaments, you have a 50% chance of winning a cash prize (breaking even or better), or a 33% chance of winning prize money on top of your wager.
Some days you might net $10. Other days you might lose a few dollars. But if you are patient and consistent, and have decent Solitaire Smash skills, it could balance out.
By tournament, the high prize amount varies based on which games are available. Typically, it’s at least $100. At the date of this article’s publication, the highest reward is a $175 prize pool. There is a $25 entry fee, and the top finisher gets $70 or clears $45.
How to Cash Out on Solitaire Smash
Earnings can be cashed out at any time on Solitaire Smash. The app’s terms do not specify a minimum amount needed to cash out. Log into the app and tap your player setting (icon in the lower screen).
You can cash out your initial deposit and any winnings, but you cannot cash out any bonus cash. For example, if you paid $100 to get $120 worth of gems, you can cash out that initial $100 but the additional $20. That $20 is bonus money for you to play cash games.
If you win a tournament that you entered using bonus cash for the entry fee, any prize won can be cashed out.
As outlined earlier, the cash-out methods are Apple Pay, PayPal, or your bank account.
Pros and Cons
We quickly covered some of the pros and cons of the Solitaire Smash app at the start of our review. Here’s a closer look:
Pros
- High app store rating: 4.8-star rating (out of 5 stars) based on over 44.6k reviews in the Apple Store.
- Free games are available: Play “Gem-a-zing” games with virtual gems. An entry fee of 20 gems is needed for a shot at a 110-gem prize pool. You can keep playing more free, gem-only games with your winnings or amass enough to enter “Freebie Frenzy” prize pools. For a 1,000-gem entry, you can play for a $7 prize pool.
- Offers high-paying tournaments: After factoring in your entry fee, it’s possible to win $45 or more in 5 minutes if you can win the $175 multiplayer tournament.
- You win real cash: It’s a chance to win real money straight from your phone, not just virtual prizes.
- No minimum payout: Many cash rewards apps have a minimum payout (i.e. $15 in earnings) before you can redeem funds. Cash out at any time on Solitaire Cash.
- The app is easy to use: Clean, simple, and engaging interface. It’s easy to play games or navigate to different features in the app.
- Fun: The Solitaire Smash app, if you enjoy Solitaire, is actually quite fun with sound effects, slick animations, and the ability to see how your speed and skill compare against other players.
Cons
- You can lose money: Just as you can win real money on the app, you can lose real money You need to think of this app as entertainment first and not bet more than you can afford to lose.
- No regular wages: This is not a side hustle like Uber or Instacart. If you need a regular income stream, you will be disappointed by Solitaire Smash.
- Better alternatives: You can find other Solitaire cash apps with more engaging graphics, gameplay variety, and special effects. However, these other versions often have ads and are more prone to crashing.
- Not available on Android devices: For iOS users only. Download the app in the Apple app store for iPhones or iPads.
- Paid cash games are not available in all 50 states: Cash games are not offered in Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina, South Dakota, or Vermont.
Solitaire Smash App User Reviews
User reviews for Solitaire Smash are overwhelmingly positive. The app averages 4.8 stars, which is an unusually high score.
Here’s a sample of some of what users have to say:
…As for Solitaire Smash, of all the Solitaire games I win the most at this one…I usually start with $5 to see how far I will go. If I get to $50, I withdraw it. Took a little while, but I got to $75 and withdrew the money after only starting with $5!
Forest 🌳 5 Stars
…The only reason I keep playing is because I enjoy the challenge and mental stimulation.
ginalynn74 4 Stars
Fun game, however, the amount of ads for its own game every time you open the app is ridiculous.
Nickname123455321 3 Stars
Alternatives to Solitaire Smash
Many popular mobile apps offer you a way to earn cash to play games including:
Other Cash Apps
Many apps will also pay you for playing different games promoted in their app, along with completing various other different web-based activities.
Here are some popular cash rewards apps to check out:
- Mistplay: An Android-only app, where users can make money by playing a variety of featured games. Earn for trying different games and for each minute of gameplay.
- Kashkick: Earn cash rewards for playing games, taking surveys, exploring consumer deals, and completing get-paid-to-try (GP2T) offers. There’s a free $1 bonus for new members. You can get this bonus when you sign up and complete a short profile survey. Available for iOS and Android.
- Upromise: Get paid PayPal cash, gift cards, or funds for your children’s college savings (529 plans) by using the Upromise rewards app. Get paid to scan grocery store receipts, shop online and claim cash-back rebates, take paid surveys, and discover fun games similar to Solitaire Smash.
- Shopkick: Not a game, but it’s a fun app that gamifies the shopping experience. Get paid gift cards and other prizes for completing shopping quests (i.e., checking into stores or scanning barcodes), purchasing featured items, or referring friends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most popular FAQs that readers have about the Solitaire Smash app.
How Do You Score High on Solitaire Smash?
After playing the game for several hours myself, and talking to other avid players, here are some tips to help you improve your game scores.
- Be thorough and do not rush. Time bonuses are good, but when you focus on speed you are going to miss moves and make mistakes.
- Plan your moves out in advance. Look over the game board and foundation pile before you move any card.
- Prioritize turning over face-down cards before you draw from the stack.
- Do not draw from the stack of cards unless there are no other options on the board.
- Prioritize foundation piles (getting aces back to home cells), but only if they are evenly built. Do not stack one up too high (i.e., one stack is up to 6 and the other stacks are all at 1 or 2). You could stack one card in the foundation pile that you need later on the board.
- Play the tutorial — don’t skip it. Even if you know how to play, you need to get used to the Solitaire Smash app and game timer.
- Play as many free (freeroll) games as possible to bank up a lot of gems. Bank at least 1,200 to 1,500 before you enter your first Freebie Frenzy game, a tournament with a $7 cash pool for a 1,000 gem entry fee.
- Read other player reviews in the app store. They often have great insider tips.
- Do not play distracted. Don’t try to play while you’re waiting for an Uber ride or watching your kids at the park. A couple of seconds can mean the difference between winning cash or finishing in last place.
- Take breaks. You can’t maintain intense mental focus for more than a few games in a row. Take a break. Blink your eyes. Stretch your legs. Then resume again if you want to keep going.
Which Solitaire App Pays Real Money?
Beyond Solitaire Smash, many other Solitaire game apps pay real money. Some of the best Solitaire apps include:
