PlaytestCloud…Value? Your Honest Inside look at Its Big, Fast Money Promises

Banner image for the blog, Playtestcloud...Value? Your Honest Inside look at Its Big, Fast Money Promises on Jeff Syblik's blog, Reinventing you and Writing Too!  It has a cloud with a joystick for a nose and two round googly eyes and eyebrows.

Testing smartphone video games to bring in Playtestcloud money at the speed of $36 an hour sound good? Ho, yeah it does! That is to say, you bet there’s excitement behind intergenerational income systems. First, they aim for the connection that lands primo high-paying gigs.  And two, they create opportunities for your money to roll in, while your Zzz’s rollout.

Alll Abboaard!  The intergenerational money gravy train stops this month at the Playtestcloud game site. For the next 48 hours, I’ve become a sought-after game tester.  Come feel the highs and lows of this game tester’s life.

Above all, you’ll see each step in your game test journey. Then, stick your toes into my Sketchers for a sneak-peek at gamer life.

This is an infographic for Playtestcloud's tips for better smartphone game recordings for its game testers made on Canva.com by blogger, Jeff Syblik.
Playtestcloud? Here are this game testing platform’s tester tips for the best game recordings. Created with canva.com

What’s PlaytestCloud anyway?

PlaytestCloud is a company that lets you test out their clients’ games on your smartphone. In exchange, you give them your absolute, honest feedback. In other words, you get to gripe and complain in return for money. This company tests only smartphone games.  Yet they pay up to $36 an hour for your review.  This is advertised as $9 for every 15 minutes.

Playtestcloud application close-up.
Above is an example of the game tester application for PlaytestCloud

How do you become a PlaytestCloud game tester?

First, fill in PlaytestCloud’s online application.  Then, you can become a game tester after an out loud gameplay audition.

Secondly, it’s fair to say the people at PlaytestCloud know what they’re doing.  Most importantly, with the available tutorials and the simple application, it was easy enough to get through the sign-up process. In short, it was a small, brief form.

There are some issues with PlaytestCloud’s application. Problems start with their drop-down menus.  Preprogrammed text that would describe phone models or Android video game titles doesn’t match their setup.

For example, Harry Potter Spells is very close to HP Puzzles and Spells but the title, puzzles throws your search off.

The next issue you run into is your PlaytestCloud username, password, and email.  I signed up for this opportunity a month ago, yet the error message appears when I type in my go-to password.  Not sure why this happened but you can remedy that with a quick switch of an email address on sign-up. 

(Turns out this was Google’s problem.)

Third, you’ve got to have the guts to go live on the PlaytestCloud. I mean yes, in theory, this is a five-minute test, but who hits the in-theory numbers anyway? 

Show of hands. 

Not me. I always finish the test last whatever the context.  This is my roll and I never have to slow it down.  

Last, you’ve hit the send button, reserved the time block, and now you’re sending your app off.  BOOM! A welcome email with a video shoots back into your email box.  Your game tester journey has begun.

And of course, gentlemen or ladies, now it’s time to tell the better half.

Reddit user critiques PlaytestCloud platform for few opportunities and low pay-out.
Reddit user verifies invites at 3 to 4 but payment is $9-$11, not the $36 an hour promised.

Is PlaytestCloud for real? Research hot and cold.

Ready for the honest answer to if PlaytestCloud is legit?

Quick answer, yes. Ten minutes after I declared it to the universe that I was a game tester, my headphones felt a brutal electronic massage, i.e. I got the call.  My lovely wife was in safety-girl mode.

“Dear, how do you know that this thing is legit?”

So, husbands if you take up this side gig, ready yourself.  This is the first question to get answered and in a hurry.

But goody for you, Reddit’s to the rescue!  Plus, you can bog yourself down as if building yourself an army bunker in the defense of supportive blogs too.

According to these sources, PlaytestCloud is fun and pays on time.  The idea is to test a game out for fifteen minutes at $9 a pop coming to you minus your Paypal’s fees. 

PlaytestCloud tester congrat letter with invite to update gamer profile and corrects that invites will be 1-2 a month.
Congrats letter gets game testers one step closer to PlaytestCloud money rewards.

What do you discover about PlaytestCloud?

Overall, PlaytestCloud is for real, but with each claim of fast money, it comes with its astric-marked list of conditions. 

First, the regularity of videogame tests invitations is the main complaint. 

It’s first-come, first-serve.

So, imagine yourself as a teen with the speed-dial on as the radio station launches its Song of the Week. Oh, the good old days. When someone could answer your phone call, say a number, and hang up.  Oh, the memories.

Also, if you’re American, the honest truth PlaytestCloud is in Germany.  Some Reddit users questioned why it was difficult to get proof of payment for income tax purposes.  

Last, your welcome email reads that you may get one to two test invites from PlaytestCloud per month. You’ll have to see if that means $18 a month, or if you test on a game longer than 15 minutes.

There are people who claim they got $120 a month, and some say they got $18 in a year. Thus, invites are a major concern.

Reddit user tells all that Playtestcloud has given him or her $190 at 3-4 games a month for $9-$11 each.  User confirms that pay is sent fast.
Reddit user confirms the reward for play-testing Playtestcloud games is small in comparison to other options.

How do you try out to be a PlaytestCloud game tester?

The Game Launch

Click on the link in the email and download the PlaytestCloud game.  Then, they will ask you to set your phone to allow for unknown sources to install.  In other words, this is not a Playstore boot-up, so that is why the research was so key.

You’re vulnerable in the download phase of any game for viruses. But in truth, my phone didn’t require any settings to be changed.

Once, you’ve downloaded PlaytestCloud’s game, it’s a good idea to get in a quiet space, and let everyone know you’re game testing.

The ultimatum….If you’re not bleeding, puking, or dying, don’t interrupt me….that’s a good enough family warning.

Playtestcloud’s Tasks List for Game Cast Test

Next, double-check all that PlaytestCloud wants you to do during your game cast. Yes, you’ll be talking aloud to yourself.

So, keep something in view to help you turn up the Mr. Incredible in you. Because it’s showtime!

Crop of person using Nintendo Switch game console. It has characters on the screen in a conversation.
Often playtest’s are judged on the clarity of your inner dialog while playing PlaytestCloud’s client’s game. Photo by Erik Mclean on Pexels.com

Get in the PlaytestCloud Gamer Zone

Now, I toured the downtown skyline view inside my head and pulled out my most schizophrenic self in my game cast audition. Feeling these YouTube vibes…after a while, well, it became natural to chat one-on-one.

Soon, I was talking with my most conscious self as I used to before the miracle of modern medicine revealed my psychiatric diagnosis.  Just kidding!

In today’s time, what society used to think of as crazy gets you cash.  So, the goal is to talk aloud about what you’re thinking of as you play the game.

Thus, they want to be inside your head’s dialog, mental stream as you experience each subtlety of their client’s game. 

It’s your chance to be critical, constructive, and honest. Have fun with it.

The game I played, at first glance, had some real potential. 

But it was the ads that frustrated the recording process. 

PlaytestCloud’s Main Goals for Your Session

So, as a PlaytestCloud game tester, I gave them what they asked for…I was vocal.  Every time a stupid ad would show up and knock me off their game test, I griped.  I also put in my two wheat pennies worth of advice on the ad’s ignorant ploy of hide-and-seek with the X.

It feels like you’ll be stuck in Playstore land forever. 

It’s Your Genuine 15 Minutes of PlaytestCloud Fame

A five-minute recording is a minimum requirement for the company’s demo. But you can go longer, and I did.  I was on a mission to complete what turned into my fifteen-minute mission list.

The main reminder is that like the Madagascar Penguin, mum’s the word.  As far as the game that you test goes….you didn’t see anything.

 

Platform logo with thank you note for playtesting before Playtestcloud Paypal payment is issued.
What PlaytestCloud sends users as they detox. Screenshot of Playtestcloud’s ending message.

Detox after the Cast

The graphic/game detox was intense.  Thus, it was a frustrating yet explosive sensory experience. My friend Charlotte says it’s like your brain is coming down after it has licked the inside frosting of a double-stuffed Oreo. 

Let me catch my breath. Computer graphics circling.  Too many sounds.  Cheeesssey  background music.  Clear the mechanism!

PlaytestCloud’s Vow of Secrecy

PlaytestCloud money is protected by a vow of client secrecy. But yeah, that’s how you’ll feel. Like a juror on a long trial.  You can’t tell anyone good or bad about your game experience and it sucks.  Not about any of it, that’s the PlaytestCloud way.

This is often the case with market research.  So, suck it up. Think of the neon prize sign of $36 an hour that hovers before you.

Bing! Another Email from PlaytestCloud

Swimming through the remnants of catchy game show-like tunes and a buffet bar full of sound effects… the confirmation email appeared.

Although I want to show you the game I tested, I must embrace my inner Seinfeld Soup Nazi and say, 

NO SCReeNSHOTS for you!

And match Reeses’ sentiment with a Not sorry.

Meanwhile, you’ll get an email if the recording goes right. This confirms they have your test and will get back to you in a few days.

Meesa surprised! No Snail Mail

Playtestcloud denial letter with promise of new playtest coming soon.
As a PlaytestCloud game tester, get ready for sporadically emailed invites.

Weird PlaytestCloud Email Arrival Times

So, here’s how it went down. As a result of my performance, I must be in someone’s target audience with these results.

3:21 pm (Sign up and invite to test)

4:30 (Test research)

6:00 (Test)

6:23 (Test received)

8:03 pm Congrats Game Tester. BAM!

7:36 am (Friday’s First Invite)

1:43 pm (Monday’s First Invite)

Do you see what I mean?  Invites just filter into your email box at random intervals.

Therefore, you’re a game tester….now what? Besides daily life interruptions when invites come, you have payroll disruptions when invites are on their way. There’s no in-between these two extremes as a game tester.

The Wait on PlaytestCloud Money and Games

While you await the invite, go update your profile.

Your gamer profile asks what games you play in a week and for how long on all.  Since my last post was on smartphone video gaming, I was able, to tell the truth, and still look impressive doing it.  Maybe that’s what caught the cloud’s ear to look with favor on my game cast audition.

Redditt users claim you can always update your profile with the more games you try. So, I’d look over that.

You Might Miss Your First Invite for PlaytestCloud Money

So, you might not be available to collect the first Playtestcloud invite that leads to any money….

Chill.

It happens. Life moves on and on. Invites are first come, first serve. But, so far, I haven’t seen that skipping an invite decreases your likelihood of a future opportunity.

Banner image for the blog, Playtestcloud...Value? Your Honest Inside look at Its Big, Fast Money Promises on Jeff Syblik's blog, Reinventing you and Writing Too!  It has a cloud with a joystick for a nose and round googly eyes and eyebrows.
Banner created on canva.com

Honest Speed Review of PlaytestCloud

To sum up….

High points

  • Above all, you can test games on your phone and get paid via Paypal for them
  • I got approved to be a game tester in a couple of hours, not days
  • Remember you swore secrecy to your Cloud work
  • It’s fun and doesn’t take a long time to apply
  • Although money is a question mark for me right now, some on the internet praise PlaytestCloud’s pay-out amounts
  • Update you on the legitimacy of this side gig for reliable cash as I know it
  • The first assignment was $11 for 30 minutes

Low points

  • When a game invite comes in your mailbox…jump on it or you’ll lose your PlaytestCloud money
  • The congrats email promises 1-2 games per month
  • Some rewards pay less per hour than minimum wage in some U. S. states
  • Invites come at random times. Surf email inbox a couple of times a day
  • Certainly, expect lower-paying game tests ($11-$15 reward)
  • Expect test time requirements to vary from test to test
  • The test will not tell you when your minimum time is reached
  • You aren’t paid for time spent on the survey  

Now, you know all you need to be a game tester with the Playtestcloud! It looks like a decent side hustle.

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Until next time, be your top-shelf you.