Pokémon Go: augmented reality game goes viral

If you’ve been on the internet lately, you may have noticed that a game called Pokémon Go is suddenly taking the world by storm. It may have you wondering what the hell is going on ?

Pokémon Go is a location-based augmented reality mobile game, developed by Niantic, published by The Pokémon Company, and part of the Pokémon franchise. It was initially released in July 2016 for iOS and Android devices, starting with Australasia, the United States, and parts of Europe, with Asian and other European releases to follow.

Well, after a few years lying relatively low, the Nintendo-owned Pokémon, which exploded in popularity in the late 1990s, is again taking the world by storm. This time, through Pokémon Go: the series’s biggest entry into the mobile space, now available for a free download on Android and iOS. It’s so popular that it’s now competing with Twitter in terms of daily active users on Android.

Unlike previous Pokémon games, it’s not for Nintendo’s handheld consoles; it’s a free download for Android and iOS devices but it supports in-app purchases of additional gameplay items. It also doesn’t play at all like previous Pokémon games: Although the goal is still to catch ’em all, Pokémon Go is  a location-based augmented reality mobile game — it mixes real-world elements with the game. 

The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual Pokémon who appear throughout the real world. Pokémon Go uses your phone’s GPS, camera and clock of compatible devices to decide which Pokémon appear in the game. If you’re at the park, more bug and grass types appear. If you’re by a lake, more water types appear. If it’s night, more nocturnal ghost and fairy types do. So Pokémon won’t just come to you; players have to traverse the real world to catch ’em all.

 

Pokémon Go also has gyms — where you can fight gym leaders — and PokéStops based on real-world locations, which create hubs where players can meet. (You can buy, with real money, items to lure Pokémon to these stops; that’s how Niantic, the game’s developer, makes money.)

So why is the game taking off now? Well, it just came out, so it’s new and exciting. But it’s also free, making it easy to pick up. And it taps into nostalgia for those who played Pokémon in the ’90s. 

Specifically, Pokémon Go realizes a vision Pokémon fans have had since the series came out: What if Pokémon were real, and inhabited our world?

It’s also exciting because it’s the first big augmented reality game. Although others (like Ingress and Life Is Crime) tried before, none reached the heights of Pokémon Go. But with Pokémon Go’s success, it’s something you can expect more of in the future.