The Pokémon company and Niantic have created a winning combination mixing GPS-based exploration and everyone’s favorite creatures: Pokémon.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with the concept of Pokémon: The games focus on the player traveling around a region looking for creatures to collect, train, and battle. So, what makes Pokemon GO different than previous games? How does bringing the collectible creatures into the real world stand apart from the rest?
It creates two things better than any video game before it: A motivation to exercise, and community.
I’ve been playing Pokémon Go pretty intensely for the last few days, checking on my surroundings constantly for any new or rare Pokémon, battling gyms, and even meeting other trainers searching for their own Pokémon. All of the hours I’ve spent playing the game so far, have been spent outside, physically exploring the world around me. I’ll set out on a mile walk, see a rare Pokémon out of the way, and that mile turns into three or more. Sometimes that walk will turn into a run as I full sprint toward the street where I think a Charmander may be hiding. Pokémon Go provides this constant incentive to move and explore the area on a level that passes all other video games, even co-creator Niantic’s first game, Ingress.
Along the way, it’s almost inevitable that I would meet another trainer with advice or a rumor about a powerful Pokémon in the area, and that’s where community comes into play. There are no hard-and-fast guides on where to find the best Pokémon, there’s no website that tells you how to find a super strong Pigeot. Everything is word of mouth, and only if you are willing to walk to where other players may be. It’s these word or mouth rumors and tips that bring the community together.
I was on Mizzou’s campus the other night, around eleven pm, searching desperately for a mysterious Pokemon I hadn’t caught yet. Being on Mizzou’s campus that late sounds dangerous, right? It would be, if I weren’t the only one looking. Walking around the famous Columns in Mizzou’s Quad were dozens of other trainers, searching for their own strong Pokémon.
I’m not exaggerating, either, literally dozens of other trainers. And that’s not to mention the others I met walking there. How did everyone come to be in the same area, you may ask? Another great aspect about the game is almost forcing its players to interact with one another. Someone set up a “lure,” a beacon that lures in stronger Pokemon for all players near a specific landmark. Soon, trainers were swarming; trying to find whatever rare Pokemon might be lurking in the area. Mix that with one trainer catching whatever Pokemon it was, telling his friends, who told their friends, who told their friends, etc. Not only did the lure attract Pokémon, it attracted trainers to come together to talk and search for the Pokémon together.
When you get down to it, Pokémon GO is just that, a community of individuals exploring the world around them.
Have The Pokémon Company and Niantic created a perfect game? No. There are some bugs and a major battery drain issue that can frustrate any player quickly. But, to the game’s defense, it did just come out, and patches for these issues are likely in the near future.
On the other hand, have the companies made a game that finally ties gaming and the real world together? I would say so. Virtual Reality is cool, but even the Oculus Rift doesn’t do everything that Pokémon Go has when it comes to interaction.
