Domo Arigato Mr. Robot…no.

I’ve been loving the triumphant return of Mr. Robot to USA Network’s lineup this season, so it might come as no surprise to you that I was immediately attracted to their new iOS game by the same name. At $2.99, Mr. Robot:1.51exfiltrati0n.ipa was a no brainer. You play the role of an Average Joe pulled unwittingly into a hacker’s scheme to pull of the biggest cybercrime in history.

Note: this game is rated for ages 17+ and contains: Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Themes, Frequent/Intense Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References, Frequent/Intense Profanity or Crude Humor, Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.

Launching the app continued to fuel my enthusiasm for the world of Mr. Robot that I had fallen in love with in Season 1. The game starts with an edgy fsociety hacktivism style video which ends with a call to action. Do you pick up the phone you see on the sidewalk? Of course you do! Setting up the phone to connect to E-Corp’s messaging platform is straight forward. The E-Corp messaging platform is locked by a fake thumbprint scanner that feels like something a near-future global tech company would impose on its users. At this point, you’re dumped into a mobile operating system that feels different, yet familiar. With just a few options, there’s not much to poke around in, but almost immediately you receive several notifications from the apps on the phone and the story is begins.

You’re introduced to a large cast of characters over the course of game who mistake you for the owner of the phone you stole picked up. Some of the conversations are relevant to the game’s plot line, and some are just frivolous banter. To complete the game, you must help the previous owner, Darlene, retrieve an important file from the phone. As you move through the game, that is essentially like guided texting, you have to help her complete other social hacking oriented tasks.

I think you mean “That isn’t YOUR phone.”

If I’m being honest, this game was terrible. Maybe it was my high hopes for this game to feel like I was being pulled into the world of Mr. Robot, but it definitely didn’t live up to my expectations. You spend the entire game waiting for someone to text you so that you can make fun of their spelling by using a “witty” comeback like, “I think you mean ‘That isn’t YOUR phone.'” When I say you spend time waiting, I want to be clear, this game took me several days to finish. The delay wasn’t due to a lack of having time to play though, it came from literally waiting around for someone to text me. What a sad state of affairs that we have a game that revolves around texting people. This game would definitely be improved by including some video cut scenes, audio, or some kind of a fast forward button to cut down on the waiting between interactions.