Gold can make you stand out and shine in the virtual playground of Gaia Online. You can spend the currency on a wide selection of customizations, from chic designer clothes for your avatar to posh decorations for your online home. But first, you need to get your hands on Gold - officially known as Cash - and fast! Here are a five of the quickest ways to fund your virtual creativity.

1. Mine those minigames dry
Mastering the minigames in Gaia Online can pay off big. Watch as the Gold trickles in when you finish a game in record time. Aim to beat your previous time and points record - practice in this case really does make perfect - and you will slowly but surely snowball your winnings. Scan the minigames available because some of them give out tickets instead of Gold. While tickets are exchangeable for items as well, they may not offer as much flexibility for spending as the Gold you desire. Booty Grab is a particularly great choice for Gold hunters.

2. Avail of daily freebies
Free gold is free gold. Every day, Gaia Online allows you net free Gold through the Daily Chance machine. There is no better feeling that logging on and hitting the big jackpot of 10,000 Gold, so far the highest known Gold freebie from the machine. Sometimes you might get trivial items or a pittance of 5 Gold, but that should never discourage you to take full advantage of this fan-requested feature. Besides the effort-to-reward ratio works far in your favor; all you need to do is visit a landing page, click a machine, and out comes a prize. A minute well worth spent if you ask us.

3. Click for riches
Make it a habit to click a lot in Gaia Online and you will be pleasantly surprised at how much faster you can reach your Gold goals. Go click on the various pages across the Gaia Online site - visit the forums, shops and the virtual world at large. Doing this will lead you to pages with special clickable objects such as butterflies, trees and bushes that when clicked will drop Gold. Of course, do not make this your main and only Gold-earning strategy. Think of it as a great incentive to get social and adventurous.

4. Buy and sell like a boss
With so many players selling stuff on the marketplace, this is your chance to swoop in on bargain deals and re-sell them for a profit. In the real world, flipping is a proven moneymaker such as when property developers buy an old rundown house, fix it up and slap it on with fresh paint, and take it back on the market with a hefty price bump. The same can be done with Gaia Online items, but with none of the extensive physical labor of property flipping. What you do need to do is keep a close eye on prevailing market prices so you do not end up buying a dud that will re-sell for less than the purchase price.