When I was younger I was a big fan of Pokemon, and while I never stopped liking it, I definitely hadn’t played any of the recent games or watched any of the latest shows. The day Pokemon Go came out I watched as people at work ran off from their desks trying to catch whatever Pokemon was nearby. I wasn’t sure I was going to bother downloading it. Then I caved, I decided to see what the fuss was about, and suddenly everything changed. Pokemon Go took over my weekend, but it did so in spectacular fashion. I regret nothing!
Pokemon Go Can Help With Social Anxiety
I am not the most social person. I’ve always been pretty shy and hesitant to approach people. Pokemon Go has managed to change that. Walking around trying to catch em all I kept running into other people playing the game. Without fail this encounter would end up in a conversation. We’d exchange tips we’d learned about the game, talk about which ones we caught and where they were. We’d discuss questions about the game we were all still trying to answer and share our theories about some of the lesser explained aspects of the game. Groups of us would gather around a lure and wait for the creatures to pop up, and instead of keeping our faces in our phones checking our status updates we we’re actually talking to each other. You know, like the old days. I’ve never found it so easy to talk to people.
Pokemon Go Helps You Find New and Exciting Places
Before playing Pokemon Go I never realized all the places in my neighborhood I was unfamiliar with. I have lived in the same apartment for over a decade and yet there are streets just a few blocks away I’d never gone near. I found shops, restaurants, parks, and historical landmarks that I never would have realized were there had I not been hunting Pokemon. I have learned more about my neighborhood in the past few days than I have over all the years I’ve been here. I have completely opened up my horizons just by playing a game on my cell phone.
Pokemon Go Makes Exercise Fun
Very few people actually enjoy exercise. Most of us try our hardest to avoid it. Every few years a game comes out that gets people moving, like Dance Dance Revolution or Wii Fit. All of a sudden people who usually spend all their time sitting on the couch are now standing in front of their TV and dancing around. Pokemon Go does it better. If you’re near your couch you’re much more likely to take a break and not bother getting back up to play more. With Pokemon Go you’re outside. You have to walk around to find new Pokemon, or to go battle at different gyms. You need to go out and explore to find PokeStops so you can get more free PokeBalls and other cool items to aid you in your quest. I have walked more this past weekend than I ever thought was possible. On Sunday I left my apartment before noon and didn’t get back until almost 11PM. The whole time I was playing Pokemon Go (In case you’re wondering why my phone didn’t die, I had battery packs with me). Walking has never been so enjoyable. I walked through 4 different towns. I walked through a park hunting wild Pikachu, followed a Mankey down an alley and faced off against a Squirtle at the beach. I walked almost nonstop for nearly 11 hours. It was an amazing experience and I caught so many Pokemon along the way. This game is getting people to move around, to walk to places they might typically drive to. It makes exercise easy because it doesn’t feel like exercise.
There are plenty of other reasons the game is great (despite quite a few glitches), like the incredible feeling of nostalgia. If you ever wanted to be a Pokemon Trainer when you were a kid you finally get to fulfill that childhood dream (I saw quite a few people this weekend wearing Ash’s hat while playing). You get to learn about Pokemon you never knew about, or in some (rare) cases you are introduced to the world of Pokemon.
The game allows parents to connect with their kids as they all hunt Pokemon together. Whatever your reason for playing is, the experience is something totally new. The game is already massively popular (clearly way more popular than developer Niantic was expecting) and people are already imagining the updates they’ll eventually make. This game is something special and it has already made my life better.
Geek World 