I’m not certain that anything could be better than waking up to an Eevee in the bed with you; nothing except for waking up to two Eevees in the bed with you that is.
Pokémon enthusiasts, literally all over the globe are flocking to the outdoors; some of them for the first time in longer than they can remember.
My first real experience with Pokémon Go was with the rest of the Raleigh Stack last night. We went out hunting for Pokémon and PokéStops together as a group. (Safety in numbers of course.) We came across no less than half a dozen other groups and dozens of other people doing the same thing we were. We didn’t even need to ask; if they had their phone out walking around, Pokémon Go was almost certainly what they were doing.
Despite a few glitches that Niantic is no doubt working on, (these are the same developers that produced Ingress) the game already seems to be pretty amazing.
You catch Pokémon of course. (Sometimes in the oddest of places.) You then proceed to level up these Pokémon using candies obtained from catching other Pokémon that are the same and using Stardust which appears to be collected as you catch Pokémon in general. As you begin to transverse across the real world, you come across PokéStops which you spin to collect all kinds of random loot; Pokéballs, items to help you along your way, like Revives, Potions, and Razz Berries. You also find eggs at these stops, which are then put into an incubator and you hatch them by walking a certain distance. The only thing I didn’t care for in this aspect is that the game has to be up and running in order for your distance to help, but the add-on accessory is supposed to help with that when it releases later in the year.
No Pokémon game would be a true Pokémon game without gyms and Pokémon Go is no different. When you reach level 5, you choose between three teams; red, yellow, and blue and these teams fight for control over the gym. If you win against an opposing color; you, of course, take control over the gym. What made this really cool, though, is that if your team is already the ruling color of a gym, you can still fight it in order to gain prestige, make it stronger, and possibly leave one of your own Pokémon there to gain rewards if there is a spot open.
Of course, there is also a store where you can use real money to buy coins that are used to buy items that can attract or lure Pokémon and extra Pokéballs and such.
I really look forward to what updates in the future will bring; hopefully things like trainer battles and the like. (Once the servers become a little more stable of course.)
Do keep in mind while you play Pokémon go that you still pay attention to what is going on around you. Yes, that Scyther in the middle of the road is almost to die for, but not quite. Stay hydrated, stay safe, and stay tuned!