When it comes to mobile games, most of us expect flashy distractions rather than real-world rewards. But Atlas Earth flips that expectation on its head by letting players buy virtual land tied to real-world locations and earn actual money in return. It sounds too good to be true, right? After a few months of playing, I’ve got a pretty good handle on whether this app is worth your time—or your money.
How it works
The core concept is simple: buy virtual plots of land using Atlas Bucks (the in-game currency), and each plot starts generating rent immediately. Each plot of land has a rarity, from common to legendary, generating different rent amounts at depending on its worth. The lowest you’ll earn for a parcel of land is $0.0000000011 per second. We know, it’s not a lot.
Eventually, you can cash out when your balance hits $5. Alternatively, you can reinvest those earnings to buy more land. On paper, it’s a straightforward system, but things get a little tricky when it comes to maximising your returns.
This is because you can boost your earnings by watching ads, starting off with a 20x boost, stackable for up to six hours. However, the more land you own, the higher your rank in the game, and when you obtain a certain amount of parcels, your rent boost will drop. Now, this will differ per country, so mine is based on being in the UK. But we’ll get into the math of this in a bit.
The grind for bucks
Of course, land doesn’t come cheap. To grow your empire, you’ll need Atlas Bucks, Atlas Earth’s in-app currency. Earning them can be as simple as logging in daily or exploring your surroundings with the app open—yes, it’s gamified wandering. The app encourages you to move about, rewarding you with diamonds you can convert into Atlas Bucks via reward spins.
Then there are the mini-games. I’ve spent more time than I’d care to admit playing Atlas Bowling and Atlas Golf, trying to climb the leaderboards for extra bucks. The games are surprisingly addictive, though they do cost a couple of bucks to enter. Thankfully, there’s a clever mechanic: lose a game, watch an ad, and you can earn your bucks back—plus a little extra. It’s weirdly satisfying, like the universe saying, “Here’s a mulligan for your troubles.”
The app also recently introduced a Monthly Pass with free and paid tiers, offering extra rewards for completing challenges. It’s a nice addition, but the paid tier might not be worth it unless you’re already invested in building your land portfolio.
Membership has its privileges
If you’re serious about maximising your earnings, the Atlas Explorer Club might be worth considering. Think of it as a VIP subscription that ramps up your daily rewards and unlocks other perks. It’s not cheap, but for dedicated players, it can add up. To access it, you first need five stamps in your Atlas Earth passport, which will also net you a 5% bonus to your income, and then, you have to fork out $49.99 per month. Your daily rewards do increase, allowing you to start purchasing larger amounts of land. But, you would have to have A LOT before you were making that kind of money back to make it worthwhile.
But, with the new Monthly Pass feature it begins to look like Atlas Earth is all about milking the player for money. It’s added expense upon added expense if you opt for the paid tier rewards. And yes, you do have a chance to earn money back, but it will take time for you to see any actual return.
So, is it worth real money?
This is the big question, right? If you’re looking to rake in cash, you’ll need to invest both time and (possibly) money. I’ve been dabbling with Atlas Earth for three months, making use of boosts, mini-games, and all the bells and whistles. So far, I’ve earned just over $14—not exactly life-changing, but enough to cash out or reinvest into more land. I opted for the latter option to help myself become Mayor of my town, which rewards you 20 Atlas Bucks every time someone buys a stamp for their passport.
However, realistically, it’s only worth putting real money into Atlas Earth if you’re hitting a point where your virtual rent generates $50 or more a month. Until then, the returns likely won’t justify the investment, aside from maybe an initial one-month push to get the ball rolling.
Things worth knowing if you choose to play
Atlas Earth isn’t just about buying land willy-nilly. Boost rates drop the more land you own. For instance, owning 60 plots with a 20x boost is great, but once you hit plot 61, the boost drops to 15x. To match the income from those 60 boosted plots, you’d need to own 80 plots. The takeaway? Bigger doesn’t always mean better.
Bide your time, work out where your next target should be and save up your bucks. Opt for passport stamps instead as well and you can get up to a 20% boost to earnings, unaffected by the parcel caps. And, with the Monthly Pass, think about buying parcels in stages, because you get challenges each month to buy so many. And what little rent you may miss out on buying in bulk, will likely be worth it for the bucks you get from the rewards pass.
Overall thoughts on Atlas Earth
Atlas Earth offers a unique blend of gaming and investment, but it’s not without its quirks. The diminishing boost rates mean strategy is crucial, and while the app provides multiple ways to earn bucks, the financial returns are modest. If you enjoy the concept of building a virtual empire while earning a bit of cash, this might just be the game for you.
Feel free to join me in Atlas Earth by joining on this link, or using the code SQQN6I when signing up. I’ll get a nice little bonus for referring you, and you get some free bucks to start you off.
You can download Atlas Earth now for both iOS and Android devices. If you choose to play and download through our link, you’ll help us earn some in-game currency, but by no means do you have to use our link. Feel free to go directly to your app store instead. And maybe while it downloads, you can check out our other game reviews here.
