What exactly is Pokémon Go?

People are going crazy about this game and its already one of the most popular apps.  You may have heard about people taking their phones into places they shouldn’t, just to see and catch a Pokémon. This  app is taking the world by storm – it’s the Pokémon Go. So, what exactly is Pokémon Go?

Pokémon Go is a mobile app game (on iOS and Android)  that takes inspiration from the original Pokémon franchise, a TV show from the late 90’s featuring cute, out-of-this-world monsters with their own unique powers and abilities; and the humans called “trainers” that catch and keep them. There have been countless Pokémon games released ever since the 1990s, but Pokémon Go sets itself apart as a one-of-a-kind game that draws its existence upon the idea of collecting Pokémons in the real world as if we would all be Pokémon trainers.

Pokémon Go uses your real location, as well as your local date and time info to project Pokémons into your smartphone which then lets you catch and keep them. The game lets you roam around to discover Pokémons, as well as meet with other fellow trainers and set up battles to fight for your own Pokémons, or even as a way to get others’ Pokémons. The idea behind the game is to constantly move around, as if you are a real-life trainer like Ash Ketchum from the TV show.

What makes people go nuts about Pokémon Go is its augmented reality mode – it’s the main piece of technology built into this game that brings the fantasy of collecting Pokémons in the real, physical world. The augmented reality tech on the Pokémon Go app lets players see and catch Pokémons as they are being projected on screen. So wherever you may go and you take your phone with you, opening the Pokémon Go app will give you a glimpse of what Pokémons you might collect in a day. It also lets you pick battles against other trainers using your own Pokémons, but this time you can see your battles taking place against the place you’re currently in by using your phone’s camera.

As you move around, Pokémon Go lets you discover Pokémons based on their kind and the environment you’re in. Say, you go to a beachfront: the app will trigger to show you water-type Pokémons. Or maybe you fancy playing the game at night, then the app will try to show you nocturnal Pokémons you can catch. The premise of Pokémon Go lies within the traditional bug-catching hobby in Japan, and thanks to this game you can now do it anywhere you may go. It all takes to fire up the Pokémon Go app and earn your reputation as a virtual Pokémon trainer.

While Pokémon Go is new to the gaming world, it has already achieved tens of millions of downloads in its first week alone. The app can also be previewed and downloaded on GreatApps.com.  It’s being touted by some as a revolution in the mobile gaming world, as it stirred up high interest from Pokémon fans around the world. However, as with any other new app, Pokémon Go comes with some issues regarding battery life and real-world safety – many users complain of its high battery usage, and authorities also warn  users by being fully aware of themselves while driving or going around.

Pokémon’s parent company, Nintendo, is seeing the interest from people about Pokémon Go. The game quite delivers the long-held fantasy of Pokémon fans to be a Pokémon trainer in their own right. With Pokémon Go, almost anyone can be a Pokémon trainer by living their fantasy of collecting their favorite Pokémons with the help of technologies we have today.

Pokémon Go provides an avenue for us to escape into a completely different world, away from stresses of everyday life. The game really allows us to discover our favorite Pokémon characters as if they exist in the real physical space, and gives us the opportunity to enjoy whatever it takes to live in the Pokémon world.