The Craze Behind Pokémon Go!
As a kid I grew up watching the Pokémon series. Being a huge fan of the series I also collected cards that came at the time and if I remember right, had at least 200 different Pokémon cards.
So What’s Pokémon Go?
It’s a new mobile game, free on both iOS and Android, that lets you create an avatar that can catch, train, trade and battle Pokémon characters inside the game. What makes this game unique is that it uses your phone’s location services and camera so that you can catch Pokémon in real life. That is, when you walk around the streets of whatever city or town you live in, your avatar moves inside the game. So finding new Pokémon and checkpoints for the game actually requires you to get off the couch and walk down the block.
How does this Work?
Disclaimer: There is a lot of walking involved here — this is as much a fitness app as it is a gaming app so bring your walking shoes.
The first part of the game is to find Pokémon. It’s like a hot and cold treasure hunt — monsters don’t appear on your map until you’re close to them. When one pops up on your map, you tap on it to start catching it. The game switches you to an augmented reality mini-game where the monster appears in front of you through your camera.
Once you have caught your Pokémon, you can do 2 things, Power Up the Pokémon or Evolve the Pokémon. Powering Up requires a mix of Stardust and Candy. Stardust can be used for any Pokemon whereas Candy is species specific. Powering Up will usually require a single Candy, but will require more depending on how close the Pokémon is to reaching its full potential, regardless of its evolution stage.
To evolve your Pokémon you must have the specific type and necessary number of Candy, which will enable the evolve button. Evolving your Pokémon is a sure-fire way to drastically increase your Pokemon’s CP in one go, but this could require quite a few captures. In the above case, the Pokémon requires 25 Eevee Candy to evolve.
Evolving your Pokemon has a few effects besides making it stronger. Your newly evolved Pokemon will be fully healed, and its moves will be randomly re-selected.
Why has it gone VIRAL?
That can be tied into the very concept of Pokémon itself. The game has always been about exploration — traveling through fields, towns, mountains and other areas in search of rare Pokémon to catch — and Pokémon Go gets people out and about. The opportunity to do some real-world exploring makes it appealing to many fans.
Players are encouraged to explore their environment to capture the creatures, which are spread throughout the area, with the phone’s in-built GPS tracker used to show where they are. They can also get in-game items that will assist them in their quest by visiting real-world locations, and take control of certain points known as gyms, where they can battle other players.
Go‘s popularity extends well beyond the city limits. A rapidly increasing number of YouTube videos show players worldwide going for drives around their neighborhoods (they will brake for Pokémon). As of Monday morning, Go is the top free app in Apple’s iTunes Store. Its international roll out has been paused as its developer struggles to deal with the intense server demand.
It’s become so popular now that different business ventures are placing all sorts of signs to encourage people to come in their establishments.
An Australian Police Station took very direct measures, going as far as asking that people please do not actually come inside the station to interact with the game’s features. In a humorous statement, they said: “Please be advised that you don’t actually have to step inside in order to gain the pokeballs. It’s also a good idea to look up, away from your phone and both ways before crossing the street. That Sandshrew isn’t going anywhere fast.”
Whether the Pokémon Go craze lasts is an open question. Smartphone games have a habit of burning brightly and then flaming out. Go-themed bar crawls are being planned. Only time will tell what’s in store for the future of this game.
