This is playtime. games from Michael O'Mara.

When I was 9 I broke my brother’s tibia while chasing him around our home. See that bush along the corner of the house? I can still hear the bone cracking every time I glance at it. He and I were playing tag as Pokemon, a Nintendo staple I’ve enjoyed since I was very little. On railroads, in streams, across fields, my friends and I would travel far and wide pretending to catch and battle Pokemon in the real world. Fast forward to 2016, and Niantic Labs releases Pokemon GO, an augmented reality mobile experience where you can catch and battle Pokemon in the real world. My childhood fantasy became reality.

My Gameboy and I went everywhere together. Shimmering in the sun, the Pokemon-themed Gameboy Color was a world of wonderment. I was transported into the Kanto region of Pokemon Yellow, Red & Blue versions. Immediately after, the The Johto region of Gold, Silver, & Crystal versions introduced me to entirely new places to savor. My hunger was insatiable.

What Is Pokemon GO?

Pokemon Go is a free-to-play augmented reality experience. Using Google’s mapping technology, Niantic provides the player a massive world to interact with through PokeStops- blue, rotating blocks which yield items once selected. Players can attach Lures to these locations, shown by flower petals, attracting in-game Pokemon and real world players. Throughout are Pokemon Gyms, locations players can battle and train with or against other users.

Having Pokemon GO in the palm of my hand has invigorated my attitude toward exploration. In the week since I’ve begun playing, I’ve traveled nearly forty miles, both on foot and bike, searching for new locations and Pokemon to discover. It’s the sort of workout never before possible. Nature is fun and all, but it’s even better when you’re able to find a Dratini by a lake.

Unfortunately, many a time you’re greeted by an apology, indicating the company’s servers simply cannot handle the stress of the user base. It’s doubtful Niantic and Nintendo expected Pokemon GO to catch fire as it has, yet, to many’s disappointment, the issues plaguing the game since launch have yet to be corrected. Very few experiences are able to carefully balance what Pokemon GO can. That being said, the technological shortcomings are simply alarming.

Tips & Tricks from a Level 17 Trainer

Pokemon GO promotes a healthier lifestyle. Through exercise, like-minded communication and shared interests, this game melds instant gratification with long-term health benefits. Seriously, find something else that does that. I’ll wait.

Stardust

The lifeblood of Pokemon GO, stardust is used to increase the Combat Power (CP) of a Pokemon you catch or hatch. Since you’ll catch stronger Pokemon as you go, it’s best to hoard any stardust you accumulate. You can get stardust from catching Pokemon, holding gyms and hatching eggs. Only invest stardust in the strongest Pokemon, never a 10 CP Weedle.

Lucky Egg

Unlike the main Pokemon games, Pokemon GO attributes this success with the level of your in-game trainer, not the Pokemon themselves. You receive experience points for nearly all actions while playing. In order to maximize the exp, simply collect mass amounts of Pokemon which require few species-specific Pokemon to evolve. For example, pokemon like Pidgey, Weedle and Caterpie, are common, only requiring twelve candies to evolve. You receive 500 exp for evolving a Pokemon no matter the candy cost. The Lucky Egg item doubles experience received for any action. So, you’ll get 1000 exp for evolving lower-tier Pokemon. This method almost guarantees a quick level up process, gearing you toward both short and long term success within Pokemon GO.

Battery

Pokemon Go, so far, has been notorious for sucking the life out of your phone’s battery. Here are some ideas to prevent that from happening:

• Set your screen brightness to the minimum setting. This seems to be the biggest battery saver.
• If your phone has a low power mode, activate it.
• Visit the settings feature on Pokemon Go. There, you can disable the music, sound effects, and vibration features, while enabling the Battery Saver mode. This will darken the screen when placed in your pocket in a downward fashion. Some users report Battery Saver mode will cause Pokemon GO to become unresponsive.
• STOP LOOKING AT YOUR PHONE. Pokemon GO is for exploration! So, keep the phone in your pocket, watch where you’re walking/biking/driving and visit the PokeStops Niantic deems worthy of your attention.
• If all else fails, purchase an external battery pack.

Teams

When playing Pokemon GO, users are prompted to select a team, Valor, Mystic, or Instinct, once you visit a gym after reaching level five. Though it may be tempting, avoid choosing the team your friends are part of. This creates a competitive drive, to be “better than all the rest”.

Pokemon Gyms

Players are losing their minds over gaining and maintaining control of Pokemon Gyms in Pokemon GO. Simply put, Gyms in their current state are a waste of time. They take far too long to reinforce, a method in which a player(s) repeatedly battles their own gym in order to raise the prestige of their gym. The reward for doing so is a defender bonus, located in the shop section of Pokemon GO, once every twenty-four hours. The payoff is small, yet the effort is tedious. You receive more experience from defeating opposing players at gyms anyway. My suggestion? Defeat and replace with something extremely weak. Gyms are about sending a message. Giving younger players a chance to see their very own Pokemon in a gym before some car full of giggling teens appears in the wild is the greatest message of all.

Stop Driving, Start Exercising

Don’t GO and drive. Traveling to each and every Pokestop or hunting a Pokemon is fun, but not when you’re in “control” of a moving vehicle. You’re putting your own safety, and those around you, in jeopardy by playing behind the wheel. The app itself even deters users from traveling high speeds! If you travel over twelve miles per hour, the game will no longer register your GPS movement as valid. This affects how long eggs take to hatch. So, get on a bike, find a nice trail, and take it slow.

The hallmark of Pokemon was and remains to be exploration. The in-game world represents vast swaths of forest, mountain ranges and cities, itching to be discovered. I've spent hundreds, even thousands of hours mesmerized by every minute detail Nintendo and Gamefreak, those responsible for Pokemon, include within their games. Still, a barrier prevented myself and many others from truly enjoying the world of Pokemon: the screen. Pokemon Go takes the screen and expands it, quite literally, across the entire globe.

The world is our game. Finally, Pokemon breached the barricade. Sure, Pokemon Go operates through your mobile device, yet to witness a shift from “I want to stay inside and play video games” to “I want to go outside and play video games” gives me a warm feeling.

Above is a picture of myself (right) and my friend Ben (left) from the turn of the century. I’m still great friends with him today. The second night Pokemon Go was released, I ran into a friend I haven’t seen since my elementary days, well over thirteen years ago. My childhood friend’s sixty-year-old mother was catching Pokemon with me in front of a local library at 11pm just last Saturday. Pokemon brings and keeps like-minded people together. Pokemon Go promotes this positive attitude and expands it to virtually every person imaginable.

Perhaps, if anything comes from the popularity of Pokemon GO, is people are able to experience the same level of happiness Pokemon has provided me for the majority of my life. I encountered a Grandfather and his Grandson playing in tandem behind an ice cream parlor. They were both searching for a Pikachu, which they found (I did as well).

Growing up, I was shamed into liking and disliking certain things. For Pokemon, I was told from the age of eight it was something only kids played. It didn’t make sense to me then, and it doesn’t make sense to me now. This is a product which introduced me to some of my favorite people, and helped me understand onomatopoeia. Pokemon helped shape who I am as an individual, for better or worse. I refuse to let that go, no matter how old I grow. To see Pokemon have the same impact on today’s youth is invaluable. I hope to to share it with kids I may have or know in the future.

Since Pokemon GO’s release, millions have become Pokemon fans. Parents, grandparents, young children, teenagers, boys, girls, you name it- Pokemon GO has culturally erupted in ways similar to the franchise’s initial late 90’s explosion. Nintendo’s own stocks have increased over 25% in just one week thanks to the game’s success. Entertainment corporation Legendary is even in advanced talks for the rights to produce, film, and distribute a live-action Pokemon movie, thanks to the success of Pokemon GO. Pokemon is taking over, again.

Michael O’Mara is a twenty two old student at Kutztown University.