If you like logic-type puzzle games like Tetris or Candy Crush, or other mind-benders, then you’ll enjoy Cookie Cash. And if you’re a competitive person like me, you’ll love the tournament feel. You can test your skills against other players in free match-ups or cash wager games.
But how does the game really work? Does anyone really win? How much cash can you win?
We’ve talked to other players and tested the game in-depth ourselves to see if the game is legit and worth your time.
What is Cookie Cash?
Cookie Cash is a puzzle-matching game created by well-known game developers, Papaya Gaming. You’ll find the free app in both the Apple and Samsung Galaxy app stores.
You’re matched against other players of similar ability levels (based on game experience) in free games or cash games. The top finishers share the pot with the first-place finisher getting the highest reward.
Winning a cash prize requires skill and luck, but the free mode alone is quite enjoyable. Visually, it’s creative and more than a little addictive.
You can download the Cookie Cash puzzle matching game on Apple.
Is Cookie Cash Legit?
Yes, Cookie Cash is a legitimate game. In the Apple App Store, it has a 4.7-star average rating based on over 3,700 reviews. Currently, it’s ranked #40 among all apps in the casino category.
The game’s creator, Papaya Gaming, is about as legit as they come for GPT2P (get paid to play) game apps. The developers have created many other trendy casino and card games you’ll find in the app store like 21 Cash, Bingo Cash, Bubble Cash, and Solitaire Cash.
How to Earn Money With Cookie Cash
To earn money with Cookie Cash, you’ll need to sign up and then play some cash games. Here’s the simplest way to go about it.
- Download the free app to your iPhone, iPad, or Samsung smartphone.
- Go through the tutorial.
- Play practice games until you get the hang of it.
- Play cash games and finish in the top three (3).
- Cash out your earnings.
For most cash games, you will need to pay a cash entry fee or wager. For freeroll cash games, you can pay the entry fee with virtual currency.
Most tournaments are for 5 to 9 players and the top (3) finishers will get a prize. In some match-ups, there may be more or fewer winners.
Some of the low-wager games available when you start playing Cookie Cash.
Freeroll games are also available, enabling you to pay your cash tournament entry fee with free gems.
How to Play
In terms of gameplay, it’s straightforward enough. You’re shown a board of different colored treats. You need to complete all the orders (i.e. clear 50 purple and 100 green) by matching together three or more treats of the same color before the clock runs out.
For this match, I completed all shape orders with 14 moves remaining and 4:16 left on the timer.
You’re playing against other people. You could play the round perfectly but if other players score more points, you’ll lose. Or if you can’t make all the color matches and run out of time, you could still win if you have made more progress than your opponents.
As an added twist, you can win boosters or power-ups to swap shapes, clear out colors, or chisel out (remove) a particular tile.
Earning Potential
How much money you make playing Cookie Cash depends on which match-ups you play and if you are one of the top finishers able to claim a cash prize.
A skilled player could reasonably earn $60 to $150 per month, averaging $2 to $5 a day in total winnings.
Per tournament, you could up to $50 according to other players. When I played the Cookie Cash game myself, the top prize pool was $20 and required an upfront wager of $12. This means the most you could “clear” in winnings was $8. However, available prize pools and game promotions are always changing. Higher-stakes tournaments become available when you level up and earn more game experience (XP).
It’s also important to note that you can’t “earn” money so much as you can “win” extra cash that you can withdraw as PayPal money or via Apple Pay.
Winning cash money requires skill and patience. You’ll need to play in tournaments that pay out real cash rewards as opposed to “bonus cash.” Bonus cash is free cash that you can win from playing some low-stakes games or freeroll games with an entry fee of 600 virtual gems.
You can use bonus cash to pay your entry fee into other cash games. On occasion, you will also find cash entry games that pay a bonus cash reward.
Bonus cash cannot be cashed out, but any prize money you earn with it can be cashed out.
How to Cash Out on Cookie Cash
When you’re ready to cash out, the process is straightforward.
- Go to your account settings. (Tap the hamburger, or three-line bar, in the upper right corner of the screen.)
- Select “Account.”
- Select the amount you want to withdraw, up to the available “withdrawable amount.”
- Submit withdrawal request.
The app notes that it can take 2 to 14 business days to process your payout request. They also caution that bonus cash is not eligible for withdrawal, and upon cashing out you will forfeit all bonus cash accrued.
As you can see with my player account, I reached a total account balance of $9 and $4.10 of that amount was eligible for withdrawal.
If I cash out now, the additional $4.90 in bonus cash I have racked up will be forfeited. While I could earn more bonus cash through freeroll games, my strategy is to reach a withdrawable balance of at least $50 before I can cash out. I will need a significant cushion of free bonus cash to help me get there, so I’m not ready to let go quite yet.
Within a day of playing Cookie Cash, I won $9 and was eligible to cash out $4.10.
Pros and Cons
We quickly covered some of the pros and cons of the Cookie Cash app. Here’s a closer look:
Pros
- Fun and engaging game very enjoyable and relaxing — when playing free games.
- Simple to play. Similar to other logic puzzle games like Match-3, Candy Crush, or Tetris.
- Unlimited free games. No need to make any purchases.
- New player promotions to get free bonus cash with any purchase.
- Real cash prizes are awarded to top players for speed and skill. For most matches, the top two (2) finishers will win a cash prize that is higher than the cash entry fee amount.
- Available for both iOS and Android devices
- Earn bonuses for referring friends.
Cons
- It’s possible to lose money if you enter any cash wager games.
- Referral reward is capped at two friends.
- Not available on all Android device types; available on iOS and Samsung smartphone devices.
- Free bonus cash cannot be withdrawn. It can only be used to pay the entry fee for cash-wager games.
- Cash tournaments are not available in all states. They are banned in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Washington.
Alternatives to Cookie Cash
In addition to Cookie Cash, many other games that let you earn PayPal or gift card rewards. Here are a few similar-style apps that you may like.
Candy Crush Soda through Cash Giraffe
Candy Crush Soda is a similar match-3 game where you match sweet treats together to clear challenges and win points. The game increases in difficulty as the levels progress.
The app Cash Giraffe is a GP2P (get paid to play) game platform that pays users to discover new games featured in their app. Candy Crush Soda is just one game out of many. You’ll earn gems for every minute of gameplay and can cash out once you’ve made at least $5 in total earnings.
There is no set conversion rate for gems to cash; it depends on the type of prize and prize amount that you are cashing out. Many players note that you earn more gems per minute when you start playing a new game, and fewer the longer you play. This is to encourage you to try other apps featured in the Cash Giraffe app.
Candy Jam on InboxDollars
Candy Jam is a similar match-3 game where the goal is to swap candies and clear rows or columns of three (3) or more tiles. The Candy Jam game is one of a dozen or so web-based games you’ll find on InboxDollars.
InboxDollars is a popular app that pays you extra money for taking surveys, trying new offers, searching the web, and playing games. It’s owned by Prodege, the same company that owns Swagbucks, Tada, MyPoints, and Upromise.
The Candy Jam game doesn’t pay you points or cash directly for playing the game, but as you play your game progress meter fills up. There are three different tiers on the progress bar, and once you reach a tier you can scratch your virtual card to reveal a prize worth up to $10, $25, or $100.
Even if you don’t win the highest prize amount, you can still win a lesser prize amount.
Once you’ve reached at least $5 in total earnings, from all available activities on the InboxDollars website and app, you can cash out with a gift card or PayPal cash deposit.
Cookie Jam through Mistplay
Cookie Jam is another candy-themed match-3 game that’s similar to Candy Crush, Soda Crush, or Cookie Cash. When you play the game through the Mistplay app, you make money for each minute of gameplay and then redeem your earnings for a PayPal deposit or gift card.
Mistplay has a vast library of featured games with titles constantly being updated. Although you can’t win money in competitive, tournament-style play, Mistplay is still enjoyable. You can’t win big, but you can’t lose money either.
Other Cash-Wager Mobile Games
Many other mobile games offer a similar cash-wager structure where you can play in tournaments to try and win a cash prize. These Vegas-style games can feature head-to-head matchups or multi-player tournaments. Either way, you are grouped with players of similar ability or experience levels to ensure fairness.
Other cash game apps to check out include:
- Bubble Cash
- Cash4Cookies
- Match to Win
- Bingo Clash
- 21 Blitz
- Solitaire Cash
- Dominoes Gold
- Pocket7Games
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most common FAQs that readers have about the Cookie Cash app and other similar games.
Does Cookie Cash Have Good App Reviews?
Yes, Cookie Cash has solid reviews from players who have downloaded the app in the Apple Store or Samsung Galaxy Store.
Here’s what some of the players have to say about their real experience playing Cookie Cash.
Another honest game from Papaya! I just found this game! I’ve been playing it for the past few minutes, and it’s already proven to be an HONEST game… You probably won’t get rich, because there are MANY other REALLY skilled players, but you will enjoy the game, and I promise, you WILL get your money. GREAT JOB, Papaya!
-JLDavenport, 5 stars, 01/02/2024
I’m enjoying myself very relaxing and I have 11 dollars more than I did.
tere**, 5 stars, 02/20/2024
This game is so much fun but it is going to take a lot of practice to actually make real money. Regardless, give this game a shot and you will not regret it.
– boos**, 4 stars, 11/13/2023
Do You Pay to Play Cookie Cash?
Cookie Cash is free to download and play. You can play games for free (freeroll games) to earn enough virtual rewards (gems) to enter cash tournaments, or you can fund your account with cash from the start to pay for cash tournament games.
How Does Cookie Cash Compare to Other Cash App Games?
As someone who’s played quite a few games that pay real money, I’d say that Cookie Cash rates among my favorites in terms of fun and ability to win real cash rewards.
I am quite skilled at match-3 games, which may make me a bit biased, but I like how Cookie Cash offers smooth gameplay and many free ways to enter cash tournaments.
There weren’t any glitches or crashes for me. A few other reviews complain about this, but I had no issues.
And while most other cash game apps will let you enter a cash tournament once you’ve earned enough points or gems to duke it out for a very small prize — and it can take forever (several days) to get there — Cookie Cash, however, offers many ways to quickly earn bonus cash.
You can get bonus dollars for daily log-in bonuses, leveling up, or winning freeroll games. Within my first day of playing this game, I was entering cash tournaments for free and winning.
Realistically, I could probably earn an extra $100 a month and maybe hit the odd, large jackpot here and there. So it’s not a get-rich sort of app, but you can make small, regular amounts of cash.
How Can I Make the Most Money Playing Cookie Cash?
Based on my own gameplay experience and talking to other players, here are some tips for making the most money at Cookie Cash.
- Take your time! Do not rush. Other cash games will give you a time bonus which is a major component of your score. Cookie Cash rewards you for smart moves. You get a bonus for any remaining moves after clearing all of the game orders.
- Get the most out of each move. Stack up boosters; use two or more at a time whenever possible to maximize your points. Try for the donuts (by getting five colors in a row) that you can pair with the hammer or other boosters.
- Use the pause button if needed. You can step away from the game and come back to it within 15 minutes.
- Play as many freeroll games as possible. Practice, practice, practice. You can also build up a nice bank of gems to enter cash games.
- Don’t enter cash games until you have a nice cushion of gems. For example, there are $2 tournaments with a 600 gem entry fee. Wait until you have at least 800 gems before entering. This will mean you’ve practiced a fair bit, and if you don’t win anything, you’ll have enough gems to keep playing more freeroll games.
- Watch the score as you try out different moves. You want to understand which moves can earn you the most points.
- Fill all the orders. You can get a 3,500-point bonus, or more, for filling all the orders.
These tips only apply if you like the game and have realistic earning expectations. If you dislike Cookie Cash and are only playing to make money online, then delete the app and move on to another cash game that you do find enjoyable. With thousands of great options in Apple and Google Play, pick one you like!