My 16 year old niece is visiting from Florida and she is playing Pokemon Go. Apparently, Chicago is a Pokemon Go mecca – especially compared to her suburban Florida town. I was skeptical about Pokemon Go after hearing that tons of people were walking around like zombies with their phones out all over public places. A few have had some unfortunate accidents while playing instead of paying attention. That said, my niece has been super excited to walk all over our neighborhood and to go places to hit “Poke-stops” and “gyms” and “lures.” She is not always the most active kid, so having her ask to walk instead of take a cab or bus is pretty great.
I’ve learned some rudimentary things about Pokemon Go:
- It comes from a Nintendo game of the 90s and a Japanese anime show from the same era.
- The objective is to catch (capture?) the Pokemon characters (Pokemen?).
- People can create “gyms” where Pokemon fight and a player can bring his Pokemon there to fight. (This once angered PETA which is kind of funny to me!)
- Pokemon Go is a free app (with buy ups of course) that players can use to play.
- Players need balls and other tools to catch Pokemon. One way to get them is to go to Poke-stops to recharge.
- You can “hatch” Pokemon eggs by walking 2K, 5K or 10K. This is my favorite feature. I love that the video game gets people out and about and moving!
We went over to the Green City Market to get K’s favorite cheese and some produce. We walked through the Lincoln Park Zoo on the way home. On the way out, we saw some adults playing Pokemon. Then, we realized it was a meet up group. There was a huge group of people together playing. May be a bit strange, but in our virtual world, it is nice to see people meeting up in person and moving. Pokemon Go is not likely to be my new obsession, but I am glad it is getting people like my niece K out and moving.
One thing is definitely true about Pokemon Go… it drains the battery on your phone because of the GPS and animation. I gave K a myCharge Style Power portable charger so that she could recharge while we were out. I have a bunch of them from their last sale, so I am going to send one to a lucky reader. The charger is a small cylinder that adds 15 hours of battery life to a smart phone. It has an integrated cable that plugs into a USB port. If you are connected like me or Pokemon Go obsessed like K, you need one of these STAT! They cost $19.99 but often have great sales. I just saw that you can get 30% off with code Pokemon at myCharge. (Great minds!)
The winner is #60 Noreen! Want to win? Please leave a comment on this post. Answer the question, “Is Pokemon Go a ‘go’ or a ‘no-go’ for you and why?” or just tell me what you think! Get an extra entry for sharing the post on any social media channel and let me know that you did. The giveaway is open to US residents, 18 and over and is void where prohibited. Ends August 4th. I will select a winner in order of comment using random.org on August 5th.
Please note: This contest is not sponsored by or affiliated with Pokemon Go or myCharge. I will send a myCharge charger that I purchased to the winner. I do use this product!