I know what you’re thinking, “Did this guy just say Pokémon GO? LOL!” Yes, thats exactly what I said. The year is 2016 and it’s a sunny summer in early July. In the background you hear Drakes “One Dance,” playing on your first night playing Pokémon Go! Your local parks are filled with randoms and your Twitter feed is set ablaze with #PokémonGO! Everyone is talking about what Pokémon they’ve caught and what gyms they have taken over and how future of gaming is here! Pokémon was a hit cartoon that aired in the US in September 1998. Stemming from the hit of the popular Gameboy games, Pokémon Red and Blue that came out in 1996. Pokémon are like animals with special abilities that range anywhere from fire breathing to projecting ice beams and everything in between. Pokémon trainers train their Pokémon to battle against other Pokémon to see who is the ultimate Pokémon master. You’ve probably seen these 4 somewhere in your life, this is Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander and Pikachu.
PokémonGO! is an augmented reality (AR) mobile game thats played on iPhone and Android mobile devices. In this game you actually have to go out into the world to play it, which in my opinion makes the game fun by providing something to do, thats free! When you open the app you’ll see a world laid out in kind of a map form and on the map, Pokémon will spawn for you to catch, you’ll see things called Pokéstops and Gyms. Heres a look at what you’d see on your screen.
Pokéstops are at places like landmarks and various traffic signs or on anything memorable to that area, something that isn’t going to move or change often. When you get in the vicinity of the Pokéstop you can click on it and then spin the photo disc, after spinning it you will receive items. Items include different Pokéballs, potions and berries that help you in the game. A gym is where the Pokémon battling happens in PokémonGO, same concept at the Pokéstops, gyms are places you’ll have to go too in real life to interact with. There is three separate teams, the best team of all and the one you should pick (I swear I’m not being bias) Team Valor (Red), Team Mystic (Blue) and Team Instinct (Yellow). One team at a time leaves up to six Pokémon to defend the gym for their team color. Other teams can come to the gym and battle the defending teams Pokémon to claim the gym for their team.
Besides battling at gyms, catching rare Pokémon is a lot of fun! Catching something you haven’t before caught or seen before feels pretty good. It feels like finding your phone after misplacing it for 10 mins lol well maybe not as good as that but somewhere close! haha
Why should I play PokémonGO? I got bored after a few month after it came out. Why start again?
I knew this question was gonna come up and don’t worry I have answer for it. There has been a lot of changes to the game since 2016. The addition of Raids and Friendships has added a more reasons to play by providing a goal to achieve and promoting a community aspect to the game. A Raid is when a special Pokémon takes over a gym for 45 mins and gives trainers the chance to fight this Pokémon and the chance to catch it if they beat it. Raids can be played with a group of friends to make it easier, which promotes a community aspect and gives you a reason to play with you friends. There is now a friend system where you can add people as friends. You can send your friends gifts once a day to help booth your friendship level, you can get gifts when you spin Pokéstops and Gyms. When you boost your friendship level you get xp, which helps to level up in the game. This gives you a reason to play with friends! These are the new things your missing while you continue to sleep on Pokémon GO!
Give it a try!
If you had any fun with the game in the past I assure you that you will have some fun with it now! Check out a raid and add some friends, get walking around your neighborhood and enjoy the free entertainment that is Pokémon GO!
DiamondJacob's GameTalk 