skillz review

Skillz Review

Is Skillz Legit? A review of the company and its real-money gaming portfolio

skillz review
Photo by SCREEN POST on Unsplash

Have you heard of skillz or one of its popular game titles like Solitaire Cube? Are you wondering how it works and if some of the headlines you see bouncing around the internet are real? I’ll break down the basics, so you decide for yourself if you want to take part in skillz-powered games. 

There are three big categories in mobile gaming right now that make it possible to earn real money. Rewarded Discovery, Cashback Rewards, and Games of skill. 

Rewarded Discovery

Games in this category connect users to 3rd party sponsored offers. Other games and subscription services are most common. You earn money or points by completing actions or time usage of other mobile apps. Popular apps in this category include Mistplay, AppStation, Flash Rewards, and Appflame. 

Cashback Rewards

Cashback rewards for shopping are the OG rewards program. Offered by brands and companies that aggregate reward opportunities for hundreds of brands. Cashback rewards are a fun way to earn some money for everyday shopping. The rewards vary in size, but apps like Drop, Fetch Rewards, and iBotta make it easy to find opportunities. The down cashback reward is that you have to spend money to make money. The recipe for financial freedom is to spend less and invest more. Not spend more and get an extra 3% back. 

Games of skill

The third category of games is games of skill. All the games powered by Skillz are games of skill. This means that the outcome of the game or match is determined by the player’s skill and judgment. The contrast to a game of skill is a game of chance. Games of skill have a legal definition that separates them from games of chance. 

When you play games of chance with real money on the line, you are gambling. Gambling is illegal in most states and heavily regulated in the states where it’s legal. Games of skill are NOT considered gambling. This loophole allows the skillz platform to enable real-money competitions for playing games. 

So, to earn real money in any skillz powered game, you must risk real money. However, the vast network of skillz players and tournaments creates enormous prize pools. That extra risk means you can earn big bucks compared to the other reward apps. We’re talking hundreds, even thousands of dollars for winning a tournament. 

What is skillz?

Skillz is a mobile gaming competition platform and software company. Founded on March 28, 2012, the company is now a global platform enabling competition. This Skillz software connects players so they can compete for real money prizes. 

The competition platform matches users within each game to players with similar rankings. The idea is to ensure that players play against others with similar skills. The software users prior gameplay and rankings to determine the user’s skill level. 

Over the past 10 years, Skillz grew into one of the largest mobile competition platforms in the world. It’s a multi-billion-dollar company enabling social competition at an impressive scale.

The company claims impressive usage stats.

  • 30 million players
  • 30,000 game developers use the skillz software
  • 5 million daily tournaments
  • 100 million dollars in monthly prizes

How does skillz make money?

The skillz technology platform is integrated into 30,000 games across the globe. Users that play these games have the option to play against other players. There is the option to play for free or for real money. You have to deposit real money into the game using a credit card or PayPal. 

You can choose between head-to-head competitions and tournaments when playing for real money. There are many levels of competition, with various entry fees and payouts. 

Skillz makes money by taking a cut of every entry fee. This is called a rake in the gambling world. Think of it as a transaction fee to facilitate the gameplay.

SKillz takes 20% of the entry fees as their rake. That’s how they make money. The more games, the more tournaments, the more real dollars wagered, the money they make. 

This business model is a volume play. Like a bank or a trading desk that makes money from transactions fees. Skillz doesn’t care who wins or loses. They are taking on no risk since you play against other players, not them. It’s like a poker room at a casino. They enable the gameplay among other players and take a rake for holding the game and dealing the cards. 

Skillz Inc

Skillz is a publically traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The company trades under the ticker symbol SKLZ. Check out SKLZ at Google Finance for recent financial results and news from the SKLZ company.

Skillz went public via a SPAC filing in 2020. Unfortunately, the stock is in a death spiral after running up from $10 to over $40 in February 2021. As of Q2 2022, it’s down over 70% since its IPO price. Yikes, that’s one hell of a roller coaster. Twitter is always a fun place to see what people say about $SKLZ. But if you want to see what the crazy retail traders have to say about a stock. You must go to StockTwits and read the unfiltered mayhem. SKLZ on StockTwits is like Twitter but it’s limited to bullish and bearish commentary about the company’s stock.

Skillz Investor Relations

Are you interested in investing in Skillz? Does this software play into the growing mobile gaming trend tickle your fancy? Are you an existing investor with a few bones to pick? Are you wondering if your capital is dead on arrival? Either way, head over to Skillz Investor Relations and contact their team for more information. Be civil and respectfully curious. Remember, you’re picking an individual stock to invest in. That’s risky as hell, and any stock can go to zero. Do you know what won’t go to zero? The S&P 500 index. If it does, we all have bigger problems than the stock market. 

Skillz com Reviews

Reading reviews is my favorite way to see what the internet says about a company, product, or service. Internet review people are complete savages, and I love it. 

Trustpilot

2.3 out of 5. Yikes. Not a lot of positive reviews on Trust Pilot. 

BBB

1.98 out of 5. The real trolls of the internet love to light up the BBB page. No mercy for Skillz.

Facebook

No reviews but over 79K likes on their Facebook page. 

Skillz com games

Let’s check out the most popular games using the skillz platform. 

Solitaire cube

4.6 out of 5 in the iOS Store built by Tether Studios. 

This isn’t your grandma’s Solitaire. Skillz solitaire is a five-minute sprint to the finish line! The basic game plan is what you’re used to from the classic game. It’s a 3 card draw, but you earn points throughout the game. It’s not just a win-or-lose outcome like classic Solitaire. You earn points for moving cards to the foundation, to the Tableau, and turning over cards on the Tableau. 

The faster you move through the stockpile of cards, the better. You earn a time bonus based on how many seconds are left when you win or realize you have no more moves. There is an undo button in the lower right if you make an error, but you’ll lose a few points when you use it. There is also a gameplay mode with the Freedom option. This means you can play any card to an open slot on the Tableau, the seven piles that make up the main table. This opens up the play and gives you more options to move cards from the stock and into the foundations. 

This was the first skillz game I discovered, and it’s still one of my favorite games to play on my phone. 

21 blitz

4.6 out of 5 in the iOS Store built by Tether Studios. 

21 blitz is a new twist on the classic blackjack card game. 21 blitz is way easier to learn and more fun to play than blackjack. It’s 3-minutes of intense gameplay of mental math and strategy. Solitaire cub is fun, but 21 blitz is addictively fun.  

There are four stakes (lanes) to play cards that need to add up to 21 to clear the stack. You can also play 5 cards in a stack to clear the cards, so long as they add up to 21 or less. 

You play the game with a single deck of cards, so you can test your memory and keep track of which cards you’ve played. For example, if you have a lot of ten cards in the deck, keep your stack counts low and try to play cards that add up to 11. Did you play all 4 aces yet? If not, you can hold a stack or two at ten and quickly clear the stack when you turn over an ace. 

The game ends when you clear all the cards in your hand or if you bust 3 times. Busting means one of your stacks exceeds 21. To achieve the highest score, you need to play fast, capture the time bonus, and capture the streak bonus. Clearing multiple stacks in a row increases your point total dramatically. 

This is not a multitasking game. So put down that latte and pay attention to the card counts and what is still left in your deck. Speed and streaks are your keys to victory! Here’s my final pro-tip, be aggressive with the undo button. 

Blackout Bingo

4.5 out of 5 in the iOS store built by Big Run Studios Inc.

Not in the mood to do the mental math required for 21Blitz? Play blackout bingo instead. It’s the fastest game of bingo you’ll ever play. The seniors down at the rec center might actually blackout if they try and play this game. It’s all about speed! As soon as the bingo ball is called, you need to tap the board ASAP. The faster you play, the more powerups you get. The more powerups you get, the quicker you’ll clear the board and the more bingos you’ll get!

Skillz’s version of bingo is even faster than 21 Blitz. Blackout Bingo is a 2-minute game that feels more like 30 seconds. It’s very similar to the classic bingo game. The added twists are the powerups that you get by daubing fast and accurately! Activating these powerups provide two distinct shortcuts. One powerup lets you daub any open bingo tile on the board. The other powerup lets you daub one of four randomly selected available bingo tiles. 

Go for the blackout and cover every bingo tile for maximum points!

Other Popular Skillz Games:

  1. Dominoes Gold
  2. Pool Payday
  3. Bubble Space Battle
  4. Dice Match
  5. Golf Blitz 3D
  6. Merge Tiles
  7. Drawblox
  8. Bingo Win Cash – Real prizes
  9. I Want Muscles For Cash
  10. Family Brakes Payout

Skillz Games for Android

You can still download and play all these games if you’re an Andriod user. I’ve played Solitaire Cube, 21 Blitz, and Blackout Bingo for years on my Andriod phones. It just requires a few different steps to get started. As if getting harassed by my friends for my green texts isn’t bad enough. iPhone elitists are the worst. iPhone users can access all the skillz titles directly from the Apple Store. 

The skillz games are not available in the Google play store. Instead, you need to download the application directly and install it on your phone. It’s simple and easy, but it requires that you allow permission with an extra tap on your phone. 

skillz on andriod

Skillz Competitors

There are two other significant players in the competition platform mobile game market. Avia Games and Papaya Gaming. These two companies develop the games and the software that enables peer-to-peer competition. The games overlap with each other and with the Skillz games. 

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that’s true, then all three of these companies are very fond of each other. Come on guys, be a little more subtle with the game names, UI, and gameplay. Give us the illusion of independent creativity. Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz did independently invent Calculus during the 17th century. Without ever knowing what the other one was working on. Anything is possible in this crazy world. 

Avia games 

Avia is a Chinese company and creator of pocket7games. Pocket7games includes all the Avia gaming titles. 

Here are the most popular titles from Aviagames Inc:

  1. Bingo Clash: 
  2. Solitaire Clash: 
  3. 21 Gold
  4. Bubble Shot
  5. Tile Blitz

Papaya gaming 

Papaya is an Israeli company based in Tel Aviv-Yafo. The gaming mecca of Tel Aviv is also home to Playtika, Plarium, and Moon Active.

Here are the most popular games from Papaya Gaming

  1. Solitaire Cash
  2. Bubble Cash
  3. Bingo Cash
  4. 21 Cash

Bottom Line: Is Skillz legit?

Skillz is a publicly-traded company (ticker: SKLZ) headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Skillz created a competition platform that allows players to compete for real money. The product incentive is to make it fun, safe, and continually fun. Lying, cheating or foul play is bad for shareholders. The Skillz team knows this, and I’m sure they are fiduciaries. The game of skill component of the play allows them to operate even though gambling is illegal. 

The skillz games are entertainment and very fun. Fast-paced games from two to five minutes of play are great time killers. Does your partner take forever to leave the house? Play a few rounds of Blackout Bingo. Are you posting up in the bathroom for a few? Play 21 blitz to keep yourself entertained. Play for real cash if you really want to up the anti and excitement level. That will get your adrenaline pumping. 

Is skillz a legit way to earn money consistently? Absolutely not. It’s risky as all hell, which is why it’s so much fun! If good fortune is with you and you are really good at these games, you could score a big payday or two. But with a 20% rake on all games, Skillz will win in the long run, and your cash pile will slowly dwindle. 

If you want to make extra money, side hustles or the gig economy are reasonable choices. But remember to take some of that side hustle money and invest it! Invest as much as you can and then some. That’s part of simple money habits that will get you to financial freedom. 

Stay safe out there, be weird, be skeptical, and enjoy playing any games you stumble upon.