7 Awesome Things You Didn’t Know About Pokemon Go

Published: 20 July 2016Updated: 27 September 2016

pikachuIt isn’t really classified information that after the initial launch of Pokemon Go, some of the experts in the gaming industry found Pokemon Go’s chances of success to be incredulous.

After all, most Augmented Reality (AR) games are little more than just a collection of gimmicks. Being an augmented reality game meant that Pokémon Go would have to merge with the real world in order to give any sort of an experience to the user and the prospect of cute little, non-reality based, cartoon characters roaming the streets of New York didn’t look that promising.

Most fans around the world were eagerly anticipating for the other Pokemon game Nintendo had announced earlier, Pokemon Snap sequel that is due for the Wii U at some later unknown date.

The Pokemon Company claimed that this mobile augmented reality game would give fans a little taste of what was to be expected from Pokemon Snap but there was hardly a section of fans that got convinced.

But now after just a few days into Pokemon Go, its popularity has skyrocketed which bodes well for the game’s future. By now, Pokemon Go is more popular than Tinder and Twitter.

So any doubts about Pokemon Go’s gameplay mechanics or its ability to be a serious player in the augmented reality gaming industry should quickly evaporate.

The really strange aspect of Pokemon Go is that despite being an augmented reality game it has a lot of stuff to do in it.

Pokemon Go turns your smartphone or tablet (Android or iPhone) into a Pokemon fighting, hunting, capturing, training, Pokemon egg hatching inventory-storying computer machine.

pokemon goThe game actively rewards you with your physical movements such as running, walking and traveling (like in a car, van or train).

Some people might not know this but Pokemon Go actually works silently in the background when you aren’t on your active on your phone.

Even when quiet, the app continues to locate creatures and gathers items as the smartphone users traverse the real world.

While you may have heard about possible trading mechanism that might be implemented for Pokemon Go and there might even be some special events related to the video game, here the list of 7 things you didn’t know about the much-beloved franchise game.

1. You Can’t Find Every/Any Pokemon Everywhere/Anywhere. They Are Bounded By Environment and Geography Around You.

For example, people living within cities (and near to some green space, like a part, or grass patch, etc.) have reported finding Pokemon such as Tentacool, Magikarp, and Squirtle.

Pokemon have been found in all places from rooftops and railings to street corners and grassy patches.

That conforms to what the developers of the game had explained before. That Pokemon will only be found where they are likely to be found.

Water-based Pokemon will be found around large bodies of water. Not necessarily the Pacific Ocean but at least an amount of water big enough to be considered a “body of water”.

Other environmental Pokemon include those who reside in environments like deserts, mountains, and forests. And they will be found only in areas that match those elements.

Consequently, you can expect to find quite a number of Pokemon in public places such as parks and what not.

For those who are in need of a primer. In Pokemon Go, your mobile device will start to vibrate when the application detects the presence of a nearby Pokemon.

You don’t have to actively look at your screen all the time to be able to find Pokemon though.

Pokemon Go, not only allows you to locate Pokemon but also catch them. To catch them, you would have to look directly at your phone and use your fingers to swipe a ball, known only as a Pokeball, towards the found Pokemon.

Direct hits will ensure that you catch one in a single try but, as the developers have explained, it might take you several tries to actually catch a Pokemon.

For the paranoid types, the game developers have reassured that Pokemon will not be present in places that are unsafe to go to and/or are unreachable.

Such places include volcanoes, North Pole, traffic intersection points, inside jails or in the sewers.

For now, that limit only applies to the current bunch of Pokemon available on Pokemon Go, which are essentially first generation Pokemon.

What will the team do when it finally introduces a legendary or rare-type Pokemon is only known the team itself.

Niantic, who developed Pokemon Go after Google’s prank which sparked the idea, is currently only launching Generation 1 Pokemon. There has been no comment on the addition of more Pokemon in the near future.

On a side note, each has his own powers, height, and weight. Two people at the same place may not see the same Pokemon. No explanation has been given for this.

2. Historical and Artistic Monuments Have Pokemon Gyms and Items Collection Areas.

Niantic is learning lessons from its first cult classic hit augmented reality game Ingress and similar to that game, you will be able to find locations that have been picked from the same data set.

These locations, mostly of some historical importance such as sculptures, public art works and monuments will be the hotspots where you will be able to tweak your Pokeball stores and collect items.

Again, your app is likely to lit up if you’re close to these type of spots in the real world.

3. Hatching Eggs is Dependent on Walking Distance Which is The Same as in The Video Game.

Okay, so inside the game, there are locations known as Poke-Stop. You can get some eggs (or egg) from a Poke-Stop. The game requires you to walk a certain amount of distance for the egg to hatch. Typical distances are 2 kilometers and 5 kilometers. But they can vary.

To incubate those eggs, you need to find (or purchase) an incubator and put your egg inside that incubator.

The game requires you to leave the app running after you have done that and walk. It’s still not definite if you can incubate multiple eggs at the same time or not but we’ll keep you posted.

4. In Order to Keep Evolving Your Pokemon, You Need To Catch an Ever Increasing Number of Them.

Whenever you catch a Pokemon, it comes with an Evolution shard. What that means in the Pokemon World is that if you want to evolve your Pikachu into Raichu then you need to collect a certain number of more Pikachu, in this case, 15, to do so.

Developers have explained that the number of Pokemon you can catch and keep would be capped but you will be able to make space for other Pokemon once your particular Pokemon (the one you’re trying to evolve) numbers have become redundant.

5. Pokemon Gyms Are More Like Multiplayer Player vs Player Areas in Which Events Happen at The Same Time.They Are Not Your Average NPC rings.

Basically, when you sign up for Pokemon Go for the first time, the game will ask you to join a global team. There are three teams. Red, Blue, and yellow.

Now, inside the Pokemon Go world, there are places, like Poke-stop, known as Pokemon Gyms. They are also bound to historical places and are controlled by different factions. When you visit a Pokemon Gym you can fight against other players to regain territory if the gym isn’t controlled by your faction.

If it is already controlled by your faction, then you can register there and train.

Multiple players can fight against each other at a given gym. Players need to swipe and tap the screen in order to launch attacks and dodge counterattacks much like when you want to catch a Pokemon and launch Pokeball.

6. If You Don’t Want To Take Your Phone Out Every Time You See a Pokemon Then Pokemon Players Can Use A Clip-on Device That Can Be Used To Collect And Catch, Items And Pokemon Without Touching Your Phone.

The clip-on device is a bit like FitBit. If you have the app running, even in the background, then your phone, along with your device will alert you when there is an item to be collected near you.

Instead of taking your phone out and pressing a button (unlocking the screen as well) you can simply push a light on the clip-on device to capture the item.

A small light will activate on the device as soon as players pass a Pokemon or Poke Stop when traveling to their workplace or back home. You can collect Pokemon or consumables with the add-on device.

7. For All The Game’s Greatness, Pokemon Go Servers Are Dreadful

To say that Pokemon Go has spread like wildfire throughout the world would be a gross exaggeration of a wildfire’s powers. The game has long time Pokemon fans, lapsed fans and new customers hooked up.

But all that activity in same game world environment is causing severe server issues. A lot of users have been unable to play Pokemon Go, even after being present in the region where the game has launched officially, because the servers are either down, unstable or outright offline.

Not that it will affect Nintendo or Niantic, but it wouldn’t hurt game sales if they can ensure that servers are online for everyone.

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