Pokémon GO – You teach me and I’ll teach you

In Pokémon GO you are a Pokémon trainer catching Pokémon in the real world while interacting with people. #Pokémon #PokémonGO #games #free-to-play #mobile #social

The idea in Niantic’s Pokémon GO is pretty simple: you walk around searching for Pokémon that spawn around town and capture them by throwing Poké Balls. By getting close to PokéStops in real-life locations and spinning them, you receive items, such as Poké Balls and potions. There are also gyms, where you can battle other players’ Pokémon and leave your own to defend it for your team. I was playing in a city, so there were a lot of Pokémon spawns and PokéStops, which are rare or totally missing in rural areas. Niantic hasn’t given much information about how to play the game, so the best way to get more knowledge is talking with other people while playing or being active on internet communities. Everyone can share their own experiences about Pokémon spawn locations and give tips on how to play the game.

Pokémon GO can be played in many styles and with different goals. Some people play it casually, and some are trying to catch all of the different Pokémon species, while some play it really hardcore, trying to maximize everything and find the Pokémon with the best skills and stats. To reach the maximum level 40, you need to catch thousands of Pokémon, so it takes a long time. After level 30 the game really feels like a grind, but my advice is just to enjoy the game and not focus on the levels or the XP gains. The game is easy to start because it is free-to-play, and it is also flexible, since the playing sessions can range from few minutes to several hours. In my opinion the game doesn’t feel like pay-to-win game, even though you can buy some in game items to speed up the leveling process. One thing that affected my motivation to play were GPS cheaters, but Niantic has made actions against them and given out bans, so the situation has improved.

Having my childhood dream of becoming a Pokémon trainer come true has been wonderful! On my way to becoming the very best like no one ever was, I have met hundreds of different people from all age groups, been outside in summer heat and rainstorm, I have seen sunsets as well as the full moon and discovered new places in my city. Despite the technical problems the game had in the beginning, it has provided good experiences for me. Once with my new Pokémon friends we were chasing a rare Pokémon, Lapras at 1 am, running around like crazy to find it before it despawns. The feeling of excitement that you get when running for a Dragonite and trying to catch it as 50 other people around you are doing the same is amazing. It is like achieving something great in an online multiplayer game, but you can actually see the people and feel their frustration and tears if they fail or the happiness when they succeed to catch a rare Pokémon.

So, if you want some extra motivation to walk and see your town in a new way while interacting with other players, you should definitely give the game a GO!

Game: Pokémon GO

Developer / Publisher: Niantic, Inc.

Release: July 2016

Platform: Mobile

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