It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – The Gang Goes Mobile Review

Title: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – The Gang Goes Mobile

Developer: Eastside Games

Publisher: 20th Century Fox, Eastside Games

Genre: Strategy, Simulation

Available On: iOS, Android 

Official Site: https://www.alwayssunnygame.com/

Release Date: July 15, 2019

Where to Buy it: Free to Download online at the Apple App Store or Google Play Store

In this episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the Gang Goes Mobile. On a Friday, I downloaded the new mobile game and played it for almost an hour. During that time, I was assaulted with requests for in-app purchases all tied into classic plots of the beloved dark humor sitcom from FX.

You’ve played those “Tap To Get Rich” style games, right?  You know, the ones where you have a building with a bunch of floors with different businesses and you have to tap and collect money from them, right?  You keep upgrading the businesses while getting more businesses and restart the level every once in a while and the money keeps piling up…

…right?

10:00 AM, On a Tuesday, Philadelphia, PA

Well, if you’re familiar with this cheap cash grab mobile app genre then you’ll be ready to play The Gang Goes Mobile in no time. Since this is Sunny we’re talking about, the businesses are scams that are based on some of the classic episodes from the series. Kitten Mittens, the Electric Dream Machine, Gas Crisis, even the time that Mac donned a tracksuit to clean urinals and the Gang had to deal some…stuff are all on the game.

Oh, and don’t forget the stain in the office that looked like Mother Teresa and eventually led to the downhill slope that is Cricket. Playing this mobile app is like watching a “greatest hits” collection of Sunny and that is part of its appeal. The game actually has a bit of a storyline, which helps to separate it from the usual “Tap To Get Rich” games.

The game is split up into episodes, each episode you start over and have to build your businesses up by tapping, upgrading, spending all their different currencies, etc. You know the drill, though the reason you have to start over every episode is pretty funny. Every day Charlie manages to take the money you earn and set it on fire, which then you have to put out.

Episode Complete!!!

Yep, just like a classic episode of Sunny, where any gains the group makes are taken away from them by any means necessary because you can’t laugh if they are happy and successful. This is the root of the series, and the app does a great job capturing the spirit of all the main and secondary characters in the show.

Of course, this is a free app that bombards you with in-app purchases that will help the game go faster because that’s how society makes money now. True to form, the first few episodes fly by as you are gifted with free stuff, which is their way of giving you a taste and getting you hooked. Were I Dee and Dennis in the episode where they tried to get welfare, it would work.

But I’m not, and it doesn’t. 

You have to buy way too much to keep playing the game after a few episodes. There is a successful pay-to-play balance, and games like Dragon Ball Dokkan Battle achieve it, but The Gang Goes Mobile does not.

The endless in-app purchases in today’s free to play games ironically work well with the style of the show, it feels like a scam that the Gang would cook up to get money from saps like me if they knew how to program an app. I feel like this would make a good real-life episode of the show, where Frank would hire some nerds to make a game in an attempt to get rich quick with way too many in-app purchases.

Next Episode: “Frank, er, Gets Dennis a Job”

A job?  What kind of job?

Er, Frank gets Dennis into the “handsome companion” industry, lending his, er, company out to wealthy elderly ladies at the country club.

It’s all in the legendary “The Gang Gets Whacked” two-parter, which I highly recommend watching. Especially if you plan on checking out this game; if you aren’t familiar with the series then you will have a hard time appreciating the app.

Verdict: The life imitating art concept of this game is very amusing, but sadly doesn’t lend itself to long-term playing. I don’t see myself playing The Gang Goes Mobile much longer, if at all. Maybe one more day, tops, just to see the next episode play out. If this had come out a few years earlier, when the concept was a little more fresh to me, it would definitely get more play. At this point, though, I’d rather try to beat level 170 of Dr. Mario World.

Charles Bridgers IV

Husband, parent, writer, emcee, cassette tape collector