TORN

Review by eFreeware

Some of the longest-running games on mobile are the ones that ask the least of your hardware and the most of your patience. A crime role-playing game built entirely from text can sound like a throwback, but the format has one advantage that flashier titles struggle to match: everything that happens is driven by other players rather than by scripted content. If you like the idea of a persistent world where the economy, the politics and the grudges all come from real people, that premise is the whole pitch.

TORN is exactly that kind of game. It comes from TORN LTD and describes itself as a text-based role-playing game set in Torn City, a fictional metropolis the developer says is inhabited by two million real people committing virtual crimes, trading, fighting and forming alliances. It has been free to install since its release on May 8, 2018, and it carries a Mature 17+ rating, which fits a game built around crime, violence and drugs.

A city built out of other people

The setting is a dark, dirty metropolis where the player decides what kind of character to be. The framing is broad on purpose: you can play as a bully, a businessman or a barbarian, and the deciding factors are nerve and firepower rather than a chosen class. That openness is the appeal of a text RPG. The city is full of systems to poke at.

What stands out to me is how much of Torn City is explicitly player-run. Jobs sit inside companies owned by other players. Items change hands at bazaars that players operate themselves, and you can open your own. Factions are described as established groups that you earn an invitation to join, and the developer says there are thousands of them. Even the newspaper is framed as a source of hints, gossip and tips rather than a static tutorial. That structure means the game's texture comes from the community as much as from the code.

It is worth being clear about the tone. This is a crime fantasy with kidnapping, bombing, mugging and drug use written into its feature list, and the Mature 17+ rating reflects that. The developer also mentions that staff working for then-British Prime Minister Theresa May used the game to study criminal behavior, a claim presented as evidence of how realistic the world feels.

What a session actually looks like

Combat is turn-based and described as tactical, so fights resolve in structured exchanges rather than in real time. Before any of that matters, though, you build a character. The gym is where you train to raise your stats, and drugs are another way to push battle numbers higher when you want an edge. Weapons and armor come in the hundreds, which suggests a long collecting curve rather than a short one.

Crime itself takes several shapes. You can run drive-by hits, kidnap the mayor or bomb government buildings, and you can also mug other players to take their cash. Bounties work as a way to pay someone else to handle a grudge, sending the target to the hospital. There is a jail system too, with inmates to break out and, in the developer's phrasing, beat until they are grateful.

Away from violence, the game is full of side economies. Cars can be bought or stolen, then modified for illegal street races. Property runs from an apartment you decorate up to a private island. The casino offers poker and blackjack against other players, and investments are pitched as a route to becoming a financial kingpin. Spouses can trade goods and private information. None of this is unusual for a long-running browser-style RPG, but it is a lot of surface area for a free download.

Why players stay past the first week

The retention hook here is progression and rivalry. It is progression and rivalry. A Hall of Fame honors players who make their mark, and the faction system gives organized groups a reason to wage wars, pull off large-scale crimes and hold territory. That is the kind of structure that turns a solo stat grind into something social, and it is the part I would expect to matter most to anyone who sticks with the game.

Communication is built in. Forums and chat rooms are described as energetic, with debates and competitions running constantly. For a text game, that is not a side feature; it is where reputations form and where deals get made. The in-game newspaper adds another layer, carrying hints, tips and city gossip that players can act on.

The developer also leans hard on the non-player characters, calling them unsettlingly realistic and offering shady jobs that pay in money and respect. I would treat that as marketing rather than a promise, but the underlying idea is sound: a crime RPG needs characters worth interacting with, not just a list of menus.

What it costs and what it asks of you

TORN is free to download and shows no ads. It does offer in-app purchases, and a donator subscription is available.

The bigger cost is time. This is a game about training stats, building a network and waiting for opportunities, a long-term commitment rather than a quick session. The install base of over one million and a 4.5 average from more than twenty thousand ratings suggest plenty of people have found that trade worth making.

One practical note: the game was last updated on September 29, 2026, and the change listed is a fix to the donator subscription list not refreshing when the store is reopened. That is a small maintenance item, but it indicates the game is still being tended to rather than left alone.

Where the text format earns its keep

There is a real argument for text in a game like this. Without graphics to render, the developer can pile on systems: hundreds of weapons and armor pieces, player-run shops, casino games, racing, property, marriage, factions, bounties, a jail and a newspaper. A 3D game would have to cut most of that. Here it all sits in menus and numbers, and the depth comes from how those systems interact.

The flip side is that nothing is handed to you visually. If you need animation, sound design or a guided campaign to stay interested, this format will feel dry. The game offers a city and a set of tools. Whether that is enough depends entirely on how much you enjoy planning a build and watching numbers move.

I would also flag the social requirement. Factions, wars, territory, bazaars and player companies all assume other people are active.

A crime RPG for the spreadsheet-minded

It is a free, text-only crime RPG with a Mature 17+ rating, no ads, in-app purchases and a subscription option, and it has been running since 2018 with an install base north of a million and a 4.5 average. Those numbers describe a game with a settled audience rather than a flash in the pan.

If you enjoy turn-based combat, stat training, player economies and the slow accumulation of advantage over months, this is built for you. If you want visuals, a guided story or quick matches, the format will not win you over. The developer's own pitch is that you can play your way and make your mark, and for the right player that is exactly the appeal.

What's new in version 2.3.45

* Fixed donator subscription list not refreshing when reopening the store