Sundial Bridge on a Friday night. All of these people are playing Pokémon Go.
If you’ve noticed more people than usual lately with their cell phones out and their heads down, it’s probably a safe bet most of them are playing “Pokémon Go.” It’s a game app released in July that swept the world by storm literally overnight. It has reportedly been downloaded by 100 million people within weeks of its launch, and has generated more stubbed toes and bruised shins than any other game in history.
Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game which uses the cell phone’s GPS and camera to locate and capture virtual creatures called Pokémon that appear randomly in a player’s vicinity (the phone vibrates when they appear). These creatures can be “trained” and “evolved” into other creatures and used in battle against other players. The creatures are captured with red and white spheres called “Poké Balls”, which are collected at “Poké Stops” sprinkled all over the place. The Poké Stops also generate potions to heal or revive Pokémon injured in battle, Super Poké Balls, or eggs, which can be hatched into new Pokémon. In addition to Poké Stops, there are battle arenas called “gyms” in which captured Pokémon fight for ownership of the gym. As each player reaches level 5 in the levels, they are required to join one of three teams: Instinct (yellow), Mystic (blue) or Valor (red). I am Team Valor, the most awesome of the teams.
I know. It sounds insane.
It’s also insanely fun. I see more people smiling and laughing and interacting while playing Pokémon Go than I’ve ever seen before. I recently went to the Sundial Bridge with my brother and he stopped abruptly when his phone alerted him to the presence of a Pokémon and a family walking by us also stopped abruptly and looked at him expectantly. He checked his phone and said “Bah, it’s just a Rattata” and the entire family groaned along with him. Rattatas are very common and not worth getting excited about. The funny thing is, you see strangers sharing tips and tricks all the time, and comparing stories about where they found rare Pokémon and how far along they are in the game. I can’t think of anything that has brought people together in quite the same way.
The game encourages exercise because to capture the Pokémon you have to walk all over the place to find them, and to hatch an egg you have to walk 2, 5 or 10 Kilometers. You can’t cheat by driving around (unless you drive around really slowly, not that I’ve ever done that). The more you walk, the better your chances of getting really cool stuff. It also increases your chances of getting fresh air and killer calves. One evening I overheard a teenager tell his friends, “I need to go home and get better shoes because I’ve got a 10K egg to hatch.” and they all nodded in understanding. Tell me that’s not funny.
With millions of people playing a game, you’ll certainly hear horror stories of players being robbed or lured into dangerous areas but common sense should tell you not to hang around in a park in the middle of the night with your eyes glued to your cell phone. I admit I’ve tripped a few times when I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going while playing, but I’ve tripped even more just crossing the street with no distractions. And at the risk of embarrassing myself, I’ve injured myself more often scooping ice cream than I ever have playing Pokémon Go. Ice cream that’s frozen solid is very bad on your wrists.
I love how many families you see playing the game together, with all ages out walking and talking and enjoying themselves. I realized the game was something special when my Mom called me in the middle of my work day and said “I know you’re busy but I just reached level 5. You said to join the Red Team, right?” As it turns out, my Mom is some kind of a Pokémon Whisperer, capturing rare Pokémon that would make a teenager weep with jealousy. She’ll casually say, “What do you mean you don’t have a Dratini? I caught one in the kitchen.” I think there must be something wrong with her game because it’s giving her all the cool stuff far too often.
I wanted to provide a glossary of items used in this game, but honestly, I would sound like a crazy person; “You throw the Poké Balls at the Pokémon to catch them, but a Super Poké Ball is better, especially if you also use a Raspberry. Incense is supposed to help bring them closer, but you’ll have more luck combining it with a lure that someone else put on a Poké Stop. If you have a bunch of Pokémon to evolve, use a Magic Egg to increase your XP. And always keep eggs hatching because you might get a really rare one with a 10 km. Most importantly, you’d better evolve your highest CP if you ever expect to hold a gym.”
See?
You have to play the game for any of that to make sense. But if you observe people playing the game for long, you’ll see them smiling and laughing, sometimes with total strangers who are doing the same thing. The game is silly and unimportant, but it gets kids moving around outdoors and it gives adults a simple escape from the serious business of being an adult. I hear the same horror stories you do about players being robbed or killed, or people who play while they’re driving or people who fall down an open manhole because they didn’t pay attention to where they were going, but frankly I heard all of that stuff before Pokémon Go ever came out. The world is boiling over with peril and discord, but when I see two people walking past each other suddenly stop in their tracks and begin frantically pawing at their cell phones, ending with a triumphant grin and a nod at each other in understanding, I’m going to smile every time. I’ve done the same thing myself. I even once had a Security Guard tell me, “There’s a Bulbasaur a block down the street. You’d better hurry.” I caught that Bulbasaur, too.
Roll your eyes if you want. Sniff in disdain at the waste of time. Sneer at the stupidity of people being absorbed in a video game. Or simply marvel at the fact that a lot of people, young and old, are hanging out with their families and friends and enjoying themselves outdoors. Who cares what it took to get them there?
And if you know where I can find a Snorlax, let me know. I’m having a hard time with that one.
