If you’ve ever played “Angry Birds” while waiting for the bus and thought, "I should be getting paid for this," boy, do we have news for you.

MoneyTime, creator of a mobile app that "turns play time into pay time," recently closed $3m in seed funding. It’s a play-to-earn platform — a term often associated with a controversial business model that peaked in the early 2020s.

What went wrong?

“Axie Infinity,” a Pokémon-esque game where players battled cartoon creatures, launched in 2018 — probably the most prominent play-to-earn app.

• Players paid hundreds of dollars to access the game and compete for brand-specific cryptocurrency.
• It spawned an exploitative micro-industry in the Philippines, promising competitive income in the country’s pandemic-ravaged economy.
• Investors fronted access fees for players in exchange for as much as 50% of their earnings.

Several factors, including the model’s over-reliance on players’ continued investment and a $620m hack, ultimately crashed Axie’s tokens over 99%.

What’s different now?

MoneyTime doesn’t involve cryptocurrency, player buy-in, or quasi-gambling. Dedicated users make $2-$5 per hour at most. It’s billed as a paid hobby as opposed to a meaningful income source.

Developers pay to have their games pushed to the platform’s users — and a portion of MoneyTime’s revenue is distributed to users who play those games on the app. A few other key players are in the space:

• Mistplay surpassed 10m downloads, offering gift cards in exchange for game time.
• Swagbucks gives cash rewards for activities beyond gaming, such as taking surveys and watching videos.
• JustPlay lets you cash out or donate the money you earn from playing games.

Of course, any tech promising passive income through a mobile app raises concerns about data privacy and potential scams. And people familiar with stories like Axie Infinity’s might have reservations about anything labeled "play-to-earn."

But MoneyTime seems pretty frank about its intentions. It offers developers exposure and gives users a couple of extra bucks here and there — a tough mission for people to exploit.