10 Reasons Why Pokemon Go Is The Best Thing Ever

Unless you have been living under a big rock, you should have heard of Pokémon Go by now.

Pokémon Go is a free game you can find on iOS and Android devices. Developed by Niantic and published by the Pokémon Company. This game came out last week. Has it only been a week?

I discovered Pokémon when I was about 21 years old. I played it on my Gameboy for a few years. Over time I stopped playing the game but we still have my red and blue games here in the house. A couple of years ago my son started getting into collecting the cards has one of the newer games for the DS.

I saw on Twitter that there was a new game for Pokémon lovers for your phone. I had to check it out. So I did. I learned this game wasn’t just a game you play on your own in your own home. This is a game that you have to play out and about in your community. And I was hooked. I told my boys right away and they were so excited about Pokemon Go too.

It took a few days to figure out how to play Pokemon Go. The game kept having overloaded servers the first few days but we soon learned a little bit about the game. How you only have so many Pokémon balls to start. Whoops. How you can get more by leveling up and by going to a Pokémon stop. What’s that?

We found out that a Pokemon stop was where you can get extra items for your Pokemon and the game. It seems that almost every church in our city has at least 2-3 Pokemon stops. They are also in other places like parks and stores. We are still trying to figure out how the gyms work.

With the fast popularity of Pokémon Go, I wonder how long people will be playing it. Will we all go out on a snowy day to find more Pokémon? Maybe not. We will have to wait and see what happens. However, this summer, for the few weeks we have left of it, my boys and I will be playing Pokémon Go.

Because Pokémon Go really is the best thing ever. This is why…

1. We can play it together. We only have 2 phones in our house this will work on. One is mine, one is my husband’s so my boys are not going to have their own games. I have been taking turns with them. They usually get to hunt for Pokémon while we are driving and I have them tell me about any Pokémon stops they see along the way. Then we can go back to the ones I feel comfortable about.

2. It’s a walking game. Yes, you can play while driving but walking is even better. When you are driving you can capture Pokémon but it seems a little easier to do so while walking. This game is getting more and more people out and about. Which is a good thing.

3. We are meeting people in the community. We haven’t been out as much as I would have liked with Pokémon Go but the times we have it is really great to see others in our community and ask them if they are playing too. People are talking to each other. After what happened in Dallas, Minnesota, and Baton Rouge last week, this is a good thing. Who knew we would achieve world peace through Pokémon?

4. Because you can play Pokémon in the real world. This game is a great mix between the real world and the imaginary one. I love that. I love that we see Pokemon while out and about. That they show up in weird places.

5. The game gets us to explore. There are a lot of places around here that have a lot of Pokémon. This makes us want to go and explore them. While I don’t want to go anywhere I would think was unsafe just to get a Pokémon, going to see parts of our city that we normally wouldn’t is going to be a lot of fun. If you are new to a city, it would be a great way to get out and explore with your kids.

6. It’s free. While you can buy things in the game with real money, you don’t have to and I love that. I love that we can go out and do something fun together without having to spend any money to do so.

7. Pokemon Go has been good for mental health. I have seen quite a few articles about how this game is helping people with mental health issues like anxiety and depression and helping those with Autism. And that is a good thing.

8. Pokemon Go is opening up a door. I think we will see more and more technology like this come out into the world. I would love to see something like this for the Sims games or even Disney. The possibilities are endless.

9. New safety guidelines. This might be the push a lot of people need for more safety guidelines when it comes to phones and cars. Phones are not going anywhere and some states still allow you to drive and use them. Maybe the popularity of this game will help with laws and keeping people more aware of when they are on their phones? There are always going to be people who ignore these laws but if games like this are going to be the future, we need to be aware of how to use them safely, especially when the games involve our kids.

10. Communities. Did I mention this is getting people to talk to one another? Pokemon is getting people to create meetups. The game is bringing people together and that is a good thing.

So if you want to play Pokémon Go, go check the game out. Pokémon can be a lot of fun for you and your kids. Remember to never Pokémon while driving a car and be aware of the people around you. Stay away from places you are not sure about and make sure your kids know how to stay safe too.