rewrite this title ‘Idle Mine’ Game Guide: Tips to Earn More Bitcoin on iOS and Android – Decrypt

Following Bitcoin Miner, Fumb Games has returned with another idle mining game that lets you earn real Bitcoin—appropriately named Idle Mine: Earn Real Bitcoin.

While the end result of earning Bitcoin for playing an iOS and Android game is much the same, Idle Mine is actually a very different game than Bitcoin Miner. Bitcoin Miner is crypto-centric, letting you fake-mine coins like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum to power a pixel mining operation, Idle Mine shifts gears as you unearth rare gems and minerals.

It’s a vibe shift, but Idle Mine: Earn Real Bitcoin is another game that’s tough to put down, serving up a steady stream of satoshis—the smallest unit of Bitcoin, 1/100,000,000 BTC—for completing simple tasks. That makes it an ideal game to play while you’re watching TV, sitting on the train, or doing other mundane tasks throughout the day.

We’ve played a ton of Idle Mine already, racking up thousands of satoshis along the way, so we’ve put together this list of quick tips that’ll help you boost your output and net more BTC to withdraw to your ZBD wallet—all without spending real money.

Use the x2 Speed boost

Bitcoin-earning games like this make their money by infusing the gameplay with video ads; that’s just the reality of the situation. Idle Mine thankfully isn’t pushy about this, and it incentivizes you to watch the ads by giving you bonuses that can juice your earnings.

From our experience, the x2 Speed boost is essential. Tap the button at the bottom of the screen, and after you watch the ad, the miners and customers will all move twice as fast as normal. That means faster mining, which means your in-game resource tallies will pile up faster, and thus you can stack up Bitcoin at a more rapid rate.

At the outset, this boost will last for 5 minutes. But this timeframe can be greatly expanded by spending magic gems to upgrade your artifacts. Which brings us to…

Upgrade your Artifacts

Tapping the little genie lamp button at the bottom of the screen opens up the Artifacts upgrade menu, letting you spend accumulated pink magic gems—earned by completing missions and collecting gifts—to supercharge some elements of the game.

In our experience, the most valuable upgrade is tied to our first tip: Increasing the amount of time that the x2 Speed boost lasts for via the Enchanted Pocket Watch. After a few upgrades, our boost now lasts for over 20 minutes after watching a single ad, and it can go up even further.

Other particularly useful upgrades worth prioritizing include the Money Plant, which boosts passive income that occasionally falls into your lap, as well as upgrades tied to tips from customers—the Tip Genie Lamp and Tip Cauldron.

Offline income is usually a slam dunk in games like this, but we haven’t found it to be particularly impactful in Idle Mine, so you might not want to focus on the Mystic Sandglass upgrade that boosts offline earnings while you’re not playing.

Claim the free daily gift

Easy one here: Just hop into the game’s store once daily to claim the free gift, which is either a backpack full of items to equip on your miner, or a handful of magic gems. While not a huge benefit on either front, it’s a freebie that’ll help boost your game. You might as well grab it!

Follow the missions

You can play Idle Mine however you please, whether you want to prioritize upgrading each available resource or investing in mine-wide upgrades. It’s all helpful, and there’s no real wrong way of approaching things, though some strategies provide faster benefits than others.

If you want to play somewhat on autopilot and just reap the rewards, then follow the latest mission shown at the top of the screen. This will usually point you towards the next resource worth boosting, based on the lowest price to do so, or the next major mine upgrade worth buying. And in many cases, you’ll earn a magic gem in the process.

Hit the milestones

As you upgrade your gem mining capabilities for each respective asset, there are milestone marks along the way that not only provide a significant leap in terms of earnings, but also add a satoshi to your balance once passed.

For example, you’ll hit these milestones at level 10, 25, 50 and beyond depending on which level you’re playing. So when you’re spending coins to upgrade your ability to mine Agate, Sapphire and the like, aim to pass the next milestone with each push. It’ll help with your overall progress while also clearly stacking sats all the while.

Play the daily challenges

Idle Mine’s core game loop takes you through a handful of levels and then lets you start over again, a bit stronger and more effective each time through. But there are also daily challenge levels available by tapping the trophy button in the upper right corner, and these typically provide a faster way of earning Bitcoin.

These timed challenges come with unique hurdles, such as slower miners or pricier upgrades, but they also toss out more satoshis while you’re playing. These challenges can be tricky due to the extra variables, but they’ll earn you more Bitcoin than just playing the normal path. There are three daily challenges that can ultimately be unlocked, based on your player level.

Upgrade your gear

You’ll earn miner gear while playing, including different hats and tools—and while these provide a little visual flair to your workers, they can also boost your attributes. Each piece has a different rarity level and attribute enhancements, plus you can upgrade them by salvaging other pieces of collected gear, boosting their level and making them even more helpful over time.

For example, a Rubber Chicken tool that we’ve upgraded to level 4 now provides a 164% boost to all profit, plus a 31% chance of mining “perfect product” and securing an “instant mine” that takes no time at all. Just be sure to keep salvaging stuff as you get it, and focus on upgrading Legendary-tier equipment.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on December 17, 2024 and last updated with new details on January 2, 2025.