Pokemon Go is Dangerously Engaging
My daughter, Nanabear introduced me to the fun of Pokemon Go in the streets of San Francisco and San Jose. I didn’t understand the hype until the #Infagirls came over for brunch and were excited to catch a Charmander INSIDE my kitchen. They discovered there was a Pokemon Stop outside my window. They could catch Pokemon and replenish their poke balls every 5 minutes, while sitting on the couch.
I downloaded the app during brunch and we traded tips and tricks about how to play the game. It’s great for old school gamers who remember playing with the cards growing up and for newbies like me who want to run around and catch them all! The best thing about the game is it got you out of the house. The kids went bike riding to the park, we walked to meet them at the poke stop. It was a scavenger hunt + Pokemon + gamified pedometer = addictive game play.
While other games don’t encourage interaction, Pokemon Go had total strangers offering tips on where to find rare Pokemon. The game broke down the shyness barrier because of the camaraderie it created while you tried to catch them all. Nanabear is a typical gamer, she could sit for hours playing games. She said, “Mom, aren’t you glad I’m going to get out of the house and be more active with this game?” That’s the genius part, especially since you can only incubate eggs or find the characters while you are out and about.
TIP: You can trade in duplicate characters for candy. Candy is what you use to Evolve or level up the characters.
This game was addicting, you wandered around with the phone looking for Pokemon. You incubate eggs which hatch Pokemon, only while you are walking. It was difficult to not act on the Pokemon that would pop up while driving to work. Fortunately, when on the light rail, most of the light rail stops are Poke Stops, it made my commute go much faster.
DISCOVER YOUR CITY: Poke Stops are usually interesting landmarks, like a fountain or a sculpture in front of a building or a cool tourist attraction.
If you’ve downloaded the game please leave your favorite tips in the comments below.
