How (and Why) to Play Nintendo's New Pokémon Mobile Game

It ’s a breezeless 90 degrees in NYC , and I ’m abide on a sunstruck street corner put away Pokéballs at a Psyduck I spotted on my path to Starbucks . No , this is n’t a fever dream : it ’s part of my experience fiddle the fresh releasedPokémon Gomobile game , and truth be tell apart , it is n’t even the weirdest part . provide me to take the air you through the high ( and low ) of what will in all likelihood become your recent obsession : the first real - life Pokémon hunt .

Note : I played the biz on anAndroid phone , but the experience on aniPhoneis roughly monovular .

HowPokémon Goactually works

Once you ’ve set up your character , chosen a fittingly hilarious soubriquet , and clean a starter Pokémon ( the classic Charmander / Squirtle / Bulbasaur choice ) , you ’re let loose into the existence – which , in the case of this game , is a virtual mathematical function of wherever you ’re located overlaid with colorful nodes to interact with as you move around . The puritanic markers pepper the streets are Pokéstops : peak of involvement which , once you ’re within range , provide you with items like Pokéballs , health potion , and egg ( which incubate into Pokémon after you take the air a sure distance ) . The more ornate markers are Gyms , which allow you to combat other musician – more on those later .

You ’ll also notice little animations of rustling leaves from metre to time : these are the locations of violent Pokémon , and once you take the air within scope of them , they ( usually ) turn into an adorable footling monstrosity for you to catch . This , as you ’d expect , is the main reason you ’re play the biz .

Hitting the " AR " ( or Augmented Reality ) button in the top left of your screen door set off your phone ’s tv camera , propelling a Pokémon into whatever environment happens to be decently in front of you . This can provide some neat , transcendent moment . On my first adventure , I find out a Pidgey pose on an outdoor cafe table . The results can also be extremely awkward ; I notice a Doduo half - floating on a human ’s dresser in the elevator .

Psyduck in Pokemon Go

Niantic, Inc/Nintendo

A swipe up on your screen will fling a Pokéball at the lil ' fool . Score a verbatim striking , and you ’ve just overtake yourself a new pal . The comfort with which this influence is dependent on a change of factors , including your bewilder skill , the CP ( Combat Points ) of the Pokémon , and the eccentric of Pokéball you employ . Also , the Pokémon you get will vary based on where you are in the world : you ’ll find water character near water , dope types in parks , and so on . I played the game in Manhattan , so I find mostly git and birds . Pretty legit .

Also worth noting : it ’s comfortable to get eat up in this secret plan , to the point where you might just take the air into traffic / off a drop without noticing . Yes , the game warns against such behavior each time you adulterate it up , but the nature of how you toy makes such accidents almost inevitable . So yeah , definitely be mindful of that when you diddle .

Where the game falls apart

Once your character hits Level 5 , the Professor Oak - type instructor ( who happens to be a ruggedly openhanded silvery slyboots for some grounds ) harbinger that you ’re quick to unite one of the game ’s three team ( Red , sorry , or Yellow ) and start battle for ascendence of the various Pokémon Gyms spread across the map . This is arguably the bad part of the secret plan , for several reasons .

Gone are the strategical Poké - battles of old , interchange by a swipe - to - scheme and spigot - to - attack mechanic that might be fun if it were n’t so inscrutable . There ’s no tutorial to help you get a hold on how battles play , so you ’re squeeze into a fight against another thespian ’s Pokémon which , loosely speaking , are MUCH more powerful than your own . Whether this is a result of my own ineptitude or the secret plan ’s micro - transactions ( which , for a few bucks , allow you to pay to artificially power up your Pokémon ) is n’t clear .

Also , it ’s crucial to note that you ’re not really playing against anyone : the Pokémon you push are information processing system - controlled . You never in reality battle your friends , trade Pokémon with them , or even interact with anyone in any meaningful way in this game , which is kind of a huge part of the Pokémon experience . Gym Battles are basically a more complicated interlingual rendition of becoming a mayor on Foursquare , except the spot you ’re mayor of does n’t actually survive . Could it transfer in updated versions to come ? baffle your Pokéfingers .

Why you should still play it

Awkward Gym Battles by , Pokémon Gosucceeds in one key region : the intuitive joy of finding and catching Pokémon in a real - world surroundings .

Yes , the interminable practical wandering of the old games is replaced byactualwandering . Yes , buggy GPS tracking can result in your role not moving while you walk , or catapult yards away from where you really are . Yes , you ’ll only find Pokémon if you keep your silver screen on , which drain your phone ’s battery while also do it to heat up dramatically . in the end , though , these complaints are outweighed by the opinion of randomly discovering a Horsea in your bathroom slump – at least , it is if you ’re enough of a Pokénerd to know / care what a Horsea is . Really , there ’s nothing likePokémon Go , and it ’s exciting . This is the future and the now .

Already dally , but looking for some advice ? check up on below for some insight into how to get new items , power up your Pokémon , and get ahead those dreaded gymnasium battles .

Pokemon Go map

Niantic, Inc/Nintendo

How to get Stardust

Stardust is authoritative if you wanna power up your Pokémon , and really , there are only two ways to get this hooey in the secret plan . first , every Pokémon you enamour provides a small bit , so it ’s a good theme to catch every unmarried Pokémon you see , no matter of whether you need them or not . Note : Pokémon hatched from bollock provide you with stardust as well . If that ’s not enough , you ’ll have to suck it up and take part in dreaded Gym Battles : impute a Pokémon to declare a Gym for you gives day-to-day advantage in the form of items , like your beloved Stardust for model .

How to get Candy

lesson : Wanna develop that Poliwag into a Poliwhirl ? It ’ll take a whole cluster of Poliwag candy , which you ’ll only get by catching more Poliwags . Each new one you catch nets you a piffling more , and you could also remove these superfluous Poliwags to Professor Willow in exchange for , you guessed it , more Poliwag candy . Collect enough , and Poliwhirl ’s as dear as yours . Simple as that .

How to Battle

The only place to conflict is in a Pokémon Gym , which we ’ve already explain are barbarous arenas of iniquity and horror , but if you ’re dead go down on progressing quickly in the secret plan you ’ll have to take part .

First and first off , you ’ll need to use the stardust and confect you ’ve been collecting to power up your Pokémon so they ’ll stand a chance of get the better of the gym ’s defending squad . Additionally , there will belike be multiple rival Pokémon to face off against at those Gyms , so you ’ll need to build up a stable of powerful Pokémon alternatively of bank on one heavy batsman to see you through .

You ’ll also want to bear in idea the classicPokémon posture / weaknessmatrix . For illustration , water type are substantial against fire , but weak against weed . Grass types , consequently , are infirm against fire , and so on and so forth . form this into your scheme as you build a well - balanced stable of Pokémon to knock an opponent squad from a Gym .

Pokemon Go Rattata on the street