"Pokémon GO" is a free smartphone game that came out this week where you have to catch Pokémon, stop to get items at PokéStops, and battle other Pokémon in the gyms. It is an augmented reality game which utilizes your location via GPS and you have to move around and go to places if you are going to do anything in the game. Niantic, the people that made the AR game "Ingress," created "Pokémon GO" using the locations from the "Ingress" map. The places that would be considered portals in "Ingress" are PokéStops and gyms in "Pokémon GO."
There have been many interesting side effects of playing the newly released game from people going to church (which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it…I see it as an opportunity to tell the truth when people ask me how often I go to church) to improving mental health by motivating people to go outside and walk around. Unfortunately, there have also been some negative side effects such as people of color, women, trans people, etc. realizing that they cannot play often and/or at night because of the prejudices against them and how that can affect their safety in public. Either way, "Pokémon GO" is definitely a game changer for all smartphone games.
As for me, currently studying abroad in London right now, I have played this game so much already. In the past two days since it was downloaded onto my iPhone 6S, I have reached level 11, caught and seen 33 Pokémon, hatched a few eggs, and walked (there is an achievement for distance walked) a total of 14.62 km or around 9.08 miles. Granted, I am in London which most of the time requires walking to your location or taking public transit. Nonetheless, this is still more walking than usual for me even in London.
The first day, I got up early and decided to walk to a bunch of places close to the building where my classes are before I had to go to class at 1 PM. Normally, when I think about walking or going someplace on my own, my anxiety does tend to get the best of me and I would usually choose not to go. This time I did not. I automatically got up and went on my own and never did I worry about getting from location to location like usual. "Pokémon GO" was the positive reinforcement I needed to be able to get the courage to go to places on my own which is something that people, when studying abroad, have to learn to do. This definitely helped. Ever since then, I’ve kept going. Today I walked down the street, went further than what I would have done normally, all because I was motivated to find different Pokémon and level up before I got home to take over the gyms on our college campus (Ha ha! #TowniePerks). I even have pictures of some of the Pokémon I have gotten in the game.
Jigglypuff in Russell Square Park
Pidgey on a Bus
Overall, I would say that "Pokémon GO" is pretty awesome and I would suggest downloading and playing this game. If you are playing at night or in any dangerous areas, I would suggest bringing a few friends along with you. Also, please, and I cannot stress this enough, do not play this game while driving. Have fun and catch ‘em all!
