Bubble Cash Review: Is It Legit and Worth It?

Bubble Cash is a free multiplayer game made by Papaya Gaming. The aim of the game is to pop as many bubbles as you can within 3 minutes by shooting at them.

As of March 2024, the app has a rating of 4.6 in the App Store (for iOS devices) and over 100,000 reviews. It also has a rating of 4.5 in the Samsung Galaxy Store with thousands of reviews.

It’s a legitimate app for phone gaming, but what are your earning prospects when you play it?

Does Bubble Cash really pay?

Yes, Bubble Cash pays real money. If you win enough Bubble Cash tournaments, you’ll accumulate cash that you can withdraw via PayPal.

How much can you realistically earn?

Unfortunately, you probably can’t earn very much on Bubble Cash, which makes it hard for us to recommend this app for making money.

We spent about 2¼ hours testing the game and invested $5 in credits to enter tournaments with. By the end of our testing session, our account balance had just $0.40 in withdrawable cash, meaning that we’d lost $4.60.

We didn’t have the sense that we were doing particularly badly in the tournaments that we competed in, so we suspect that our experience is fairly typical and that most Bubble Cash users probably end up losing more money than they earn.

Do you have to pay to play Bubble Cash?

No, you don’t have to pay to play Bubble Cash—at least in theory.

However, the app will do its best to tempt you into spending money for the chance to win bigger prizes. You’ll need a lot of self-restraint to avoid doing this. If you have any history of gambling problems, we would absolutely rule out this app as a strategy for making money on your phone.

Bubble Cash is easy to pick up and doesn’t require much in the way of strategy—one of few advantages it has as a side hustle app.

How to play Bubble Cash

Bubble Cash has many different tournaments, which usually have around 2–10 players each. As mentioned, games are 3 minutes long.

The app provides an explanation of the rules to guide uninitiated bubble poppers. The gist of the game is that you have to shoot groups of three or more bubbles of the same color.

How to enter Bubble Cash games

All Bubble Cash tournaments have entry fees. Depending on the tournament, you may be able to pay with “Gems” or cash.

• Gems: You can earn these by winning tournaments and completing other tasks. Some tournaments include Gems in their entry fees while also requiring cash; other tournaments allow you to pay the entire entry fee in Gems. The latter are called “Freeroll Tournaments,” and their fees can cost thousands of Gems.
• Cash: If you enter games that require cash credit to enter, you can pay money into the app and use this to pay the fee. Alternatively, you can earn “Bonus Cash” by playing games or completing other activities and then use this to pay.

Our experience

Here are the games we played on Bubble Cash:

• Tutorial Game: This game started up immediately after we signed in to the Bubble Cash app. We came in first place and won 100 Gems on it. We suspect that all new Bubble Cash users will get the same result.
• Champ Starter: This cost us $0.40 to enter and gave us a chance to win part of a relatively small $1.50 prize pool in a three-player game. We came in second and won $0.50.
• Gems Exchange: This was a two-player game we played once. We won $0.70 for coming in first place.
• Gems Factory: This cost us 20 Gems each time we entered. We entered 11 times, and we won prizes on seven occasions—10–50 Gems each time. We came away empty-handed on only four occasions.
• Rookie: We played this four times. The normal entry fee was $1, but the first two times we played, we got a special offer, so it cost $0.90 instead. The game always had seven players and a prize pool of $5. We came away from one Rookie game empty-handed; the other three gave us prizes of $2.20, $1.40, and $0.40.
• Diamonds Dash: We played this game just once. It had six players, the entry fee was $1 plus 600 Gems, and the prize pool was $10. We won a whopping $5.80 for getting first place.
• High Stakes: This was a six-player game with a prize pool of $12 and a $3 entry fee. We played once and came in fifth, so we didn’t win anything.
• Golden Clover: This was a limited-time-only game that we played once. It cost $3 to enter, and there were seven players. The prize pool was $15, but we came sixth, so we didn’t get anything.
• Shamrocks & Bucks: This was another limited-time-only game we played once. It had five players, a prize pool of $21, and an entry fee of $6—the highest fee we paid for any game. However, we came last in this tournament and won no money.

The final result was that we spent $5 playing games on Bubble Cash and ended up with $0.40 in withdrawable cash, so we lost $4.60, leaving us deep in the red.

Apart from shooting bubbles, there are other ways to win prizes on Bubble Cash in the form of Gems and Bonus Cash. As mentioned, you can use these to enter tournaments that offer real cash prizes so that you can make money from games. However, you can’t directly withdraw Gems or Bonus Cash as money.

Collect Daily Rewards

Bubble Cash gives you Daily Rewards for every day that you use the app. These include free Bonus Cash, free Gems, and Experience Points (or “XP”), a type of credit you can collect to achieve something called a “level up,” which gives you Gems.

Our experience

As expected, we earned Daily Rewards each time we used the app (four times). The biggest prize we received was a 5% XP boost, which helped us achieve a level up and earn 30 Gems, plus more bonuses.

Collect Daily Gifts

Daily Gifts are different from Daily Rewards. You can get them by going to the main menu, then clicking on “Gifts.”

Our experience

We claimed the Daily Gift four times and got 30 Gems each time.

Watch videos

Interestingly, Bubble Cash might give you a way to make money by watching videos with ads.

This app allows you to earn Gems by watching short videos, and you can then use your Gems to enter games with cash prizes. However, this process will be very slow and roundabout, so we’re not convinced that it will be worth it.

Our experience

We watched videos on the Bubble Cash app four times. Each time, we earned 10 Gems for spending about a minute watching.

Find promo codes

Bubble Cash says that it sometimes posts promo codes on its social media pages. You can redeem these codes in the app to get rewards.

Our experience

We checked the Bubble Cash social media pages on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook on several occasions. Unfortunately, we never found any promo codes.

Level up

When you play Bubble Cash, you’ll see a meter at the top left of your screen showing a percentage. This meter represents your “XP progress.”

XP stands for “Experience Points.” You earn XP for playing Bubble Cash games (regardless of whether you win). When your XP meter gets to 100%, you’ll achieve a level up, and Bubble Cash will reward you with free Gems that you can use to play more games.

Our experience

We reached level 7 on Bubble Cash after about 2¼ hours. Each time we leveled up, we got 20–30 Gems. Our most lucrative level up also netted us $0.50 in Bonus Cash, which we received as part of a special offer (the “Level Up Blitz” offer described below).

Complete special tasks

When you level up, Bubble Cash not only rewards you with Gems; it also gives you special challenges as a means to get even more rewards.

Our experience

We played a couple of games on Bubble Cash as we ascended through the levels. When we got to level 2, we unlocked a game called Piñata Craze, which gave us 100 Gems.

At level 3, we unlocked another game where we had to look for balloons to “pop.” We got 5 Gems for clicking on each of these balloons.

In addition to games, the other special tasks we completed included one called “Tournament Challenge” (which we unlocked at level 5), whereby we could win Gems and Bonus Cash simply for playing in two tournaments within the next 12 hours. We completed this offer and got $0.50 in Bonus Cash, plus 100 Gems.

We also completed the “Level Up Blitz” task shown in the screenshot below. This gave us three bonuses—30 Gems, 60 Gems, and then the $0.50 Bonus Cash reward we’ve already mentioned.

One level-up offer we didn’t complete promised us 10% cash back on every tournament we lost for the next hour. As we didn’t play any games immediately after getting the offer, we didn’t earn anything from it.

Use the Clubs feature

Like other Papaya Gaming apps, Bubble Cash has a “Clubs” feature, which you can use to collaborate with other players. The Clubs feature allows players to join forces to earn a “Club Chest” containing rewards.

We couldn’t find information about which rewards were available in the Club Chest; these may vary from week to week.

You have to reach level 8 to unlock the Clubs feature.

Our experience

We only reached level 7 on Bubble Cash, so we didn’t unlock the Clubs feature during the 2¼ hours we spent playing with the app. It seems likely that you’d be able to access this feature within 3 hours.

Collect Seasonal Cards

Seasonal Cards are special cards you can collect to earn Bonus Cash and Gems on Bubble Cash (and other Papaya Gaming apps).

There are many ways to obtain these cards. You can win them in certain cash tournaments, earn them by completing challenges, swap them with friends, or purchase them yourself.

However, you can’t unlock the Seasonal Cards feature until level 15.

Our experience

We never reached level 15 on Bubble Cash, so we didn’t get any Seasonal Cards.

Refer friends

You can get Bonus Cash for referring up to two people to play Bubble Cash. You’ll get $1 for each person you refer.

Our experience

Since we lost money on Bubble Cash, we decided not to recommend it to our friends, so we never got to take advantage of this program.

To start playing Bubble Cash, download it from the Bubble Cash website. Alternatively, you can get it from the App Store (for Apple devices) or the Galaxy Store (for Android-based Samsung devices) using the buttons below.

Where to download Bubble Cash

App Store Galaxy Store

The Bubble Cash website claims that you can get Bubble Cash for non-Samsung Android devices as well. However, we couldn’t find Bubble Cash on Google Play, and other Papaya Gaming apps seem to be unavailable on it, so our hunch is that this isn’t true.

Making payments on Bubble Cash

We don’t recommend gambling money on Bubble Cash. However, if you decide to do that, there are several payment methods available:

• PayPal
• Apple Pay
• Credit or debit cards

You’ll usually be able to make payments in denominations of $3, $5, $15, $25, $35, or $50. There may sometimes also be special offers that Bubble Cash will use to entice you into spending money on the app.

You can withdraw money from the Bubble Cash app via PayPal.

Note that in your profile, your balance will include Bonus Cash. This is misleading, since you can’t  actually withdraw Bonus Cash (you have to use it to pay for games on the app). Effectively, this means that you’ll probably have less available money than the app suggests.

What’s the minimum withdrawal amount on Bubble Cash?

You need at least $5 to withdraw money on Bubble Cash.

How long do Bubble Cash withdrawals take?

Bubble Cash provides contradictory information about how long withdrawals take.

One help page on the app says that withdrawal requests usually take a maximum of 2 business days but that the money may take up to 5 business days to appear in your account (depending on your bank or payment processor).

Another help page says that withdrawals can take up to 14 days. As such, it’s probably best not to count on Bubble Cash as a way to get fast payouts for games, in case the payment timeline is on the slower side.

As we lost money on the app, we weren’t able to test the withdrawal times for ourselves.

Are there fees for withdrawing money from Bubble Cash?

Yes, Bubble Cash charges users a $1 processing fee for withdrawing money. This means it’s less worthwhile to withdraw small amounts, since you’ll lose a large proportion of what you cash out.

What else do I need to know about Bubble Cash withdrawals?

One important (and frustrating) downside of Bubble Cash is that you’ll lose all of your Bonus Cash when you make a withdrawal. It’s best to try to use up your Bonus Cash playing games before you withdraw any money.

According to the Bubble Cash app, you have to be a legal adult (18+) to play.

You also can’t play Bubble Cash for money if you live in certain states, which ban gambling apps:

• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• South Carolina

If you’d like to get paid for playing games but you’re not sold on Bubble Cash (or it isn’t available on your device or in your area), there are several eerily similar apps you can get instead.

These include “Cash Bubble,” which (astoundingly enough) is a different game from a different maker. You can find this app on Google Play, which may make it a good choice for non-Samsung Android users, although we haven’t tested it or confirmed that it pays real money.

There are also several sites that will pay you for playing a wider variety of games (and will likely feature one or two that closely resemble Bubble Cash). Examples include:

• Mistplay: This is a gaming app that you can use to earn gift cards and money (in the form of PayPal gift cards) for playing all kinds of games. It’s only available for Android devices.
• Swagbucks: This is a type of platform often known as a microtasking or GPT (get paid to) site or app. You can use it to get rewarded (via PayPal, prepaid cards, and gift cards) for playing games and completing other quick and easy tasks, such as taking surveys, signing up for special offers, scanning receipts, and more.
• InboxDollars: This is another microtasking or GPT platform. It is very similar to Swagbucks, as you can get rewarded (also via PayPal, prepaid cards, and gift cards) to do similar types of tasks, including playing games.

You can read our Swagbucks review and InboxDollars review for more information on the latter two platforms.