Introduction:
For many years, fans of the Pokemon franchise have been playing Pokemon on their consoles or portable devices. A lot have even kept up with the television series but so many fans whether they are hardcore gamers or not have something common, to be able to catch Pokemon one day in the real world. Finally, after a lot of years, fans that have been really patient have gotten their wish. It was released on July 6th, 2016 for Android and IOS devices where Pokemon hits a different kind of platform. Instead of the traditional battling and catching system that players are used too, players can now use their environment settings on their phone to catch Pokemon to what is known as augmented reality.
What is Pokemon GO and how does it work?
Pokemon Go is a "free-to-play location based augmented reality game." The game requires players to get up from their couches and make them actually walk around in order to catch Pokemon. The game uses Google Maps in order to track your location and it actually shows you what the neighborhood and area you are currently in on your phone. This is unique because players can actually get the feel of being on an actual Pokemon journey instead of playing some random story in the original games. As you continue to walk around, your phone will vibrate alerting you that there is Pokemon nearby. Once a Pokemon pops up on your screen, you tap on the Pokemon to engage in a "battle." What's different about this kind of battle is that instead of having to weaken Pokemon like the original games, you aim your phone by lifting up or down and you throw Poke-balls at it until you catch it. When you catch a Pokemon, it shows up on your Pokedex and you find out how many Pokemon you need to get in order to complete it.
There are "Poke-Stops" around certain area when you are walking. You tap on it and spin the "Poke-Stop" in order to get various items such as Poke-balls, potions (to heal Pokemon), eggs, etc. When you get a Pokemon egg, there are a number of kilometers beneath the egg stating how far you need to walk. It can range anywhere from two to ten kilometers, requiring you to walk those amount of steps in order to hatch it. When you finally hit those steps, a Pokemon comes out and it can be either a common Pokemon or a rare Pokemon.
You level up by catching more Pokemon, hatching eggs, battling gyms. Compared to the original games, in order to evolve a Pokemon, you need to get duplicates of the Pokemon you are trying to evolve because you get Pokemon candies from them. For example, to evolve a Pidgeotto into a Pidgeot, you need 50 Pidgey candies. You can also get more candies by sending duplicates to your "professor" of the game. You can also use the Pokemon candies to level up your Pokemon to make them stronger.
When it comes to Pokemon gyms, anyone strong enough can claim a gym for their team and own it. There are three teams in the game, Team Valor, Team Mystic, and Team Instinct. Certain gyms require you to have really strong Pokemon in order to defeat it while others, not so much. Team Valor represents fire, Team Mystic represents Ice and Team Instinct represents Thunder. When you defeat a gym, you get Pokemon medals which can be used to purchase rare items and Pokeballs from the Pokemon shop where as if you are not strong enough to beat a gym but want items from the Pokemon shop, you'd have to spend regular U.S. dollars.
Example of how to catch a Pokemon: (Photocredit: serebii.net)
Why is Pokemon Go storming around the world?
After personally experiencing the game for myself, every time I walk around my neighborhood or go on a long run I see players all around on their phones playing Pokemon Go. One day, I went to campus at night with some friends to go for a "Poke-walk" and saw a whole bunch of players who dorm walking around. Everyone who saw me playing the game was so friendly and actually came up to me when I was trying to look for a certain Pokemon, telling me where I could look for it on campus. We also found out what teams we were on in the game and had a nice conversation. I have never seen more friendlier people in my life and it is unique how one game can bring people together.
The game is also creating a lot of new friends for players through interaction. Everyone who plays the game all need help at some point when it comes to trying to catch a certain Pokemon they need to fill the Pokedex, so the best way to get that help is through communicating with other people to see if they found what you are looking for so you can find that certain Pokemon.
Pokemon Go is starting to bring non-religious people to churches. The most common "Poke Stops" are found in churches and in order to re-stock on items, people walk into the churches. I can not tell you how many times I have had to walk in front of a Church in order to re-stock on Poke-balls when almost being out of them. The game is also starting to create new friends and bring fans who do not even like Pokemon into the franchise.
Would I recommend it?
Yes, I would because it is a great way to have fun while being healthy. You interact with more people and it can actually teach people who do not really like to have conversations on how to have one. People are having reasons to get out of bed and exercising. I have personally seen some friends of mine who have started to lose weight just playing the game. I believe this game can help bring down the rate of obesity and other severe health problems. I recommend everyone just to give it a chance and try it out.
