Pokémon Go
(stylized as
Pokémon GO) is a
free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile game developed by
Niantic and published by
The Pokémon Company. It was released in July 2016 for
iOS and
Android devices.
The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called
Pokémon, who appear throughout the real world. It makes use of
GPS and the
camera of compatible devices. The game is free-to-play, although it supports
in-app purchases of additional gameplay items. An optional companion
Bluetooth wearable device is planned for future release, the
Pokémon Go Plus, and will alert users when Pokémon are nearby.
The game quickly became one of the most used smart device apps after launching, surpassing the previous record held by
Candy Crush Saga in the United States, and was a boon to the stock value of
Nintendo,
which owns a part of The Pokémon Company. It was praised by some
medical professionals for potentially improving the mental and physical
health of players, but attracted some controversy due to reports of
causing accidents and being a public nuisance at some locations
Gameplay
After logging into the app for the first time, the player creates their
avatar. The player can choose the avatar's style, hair, skin, and eye color, and can choose from a limited number of outfits.
[1]
After the avatar is created, it is displayed at the player's current
location along with a map of the player's immediate surroundings.
Features on the map include a number of PokéStops and Pokémon gyms.
These are typically located at public art installations, historical
markers, historic buildings, cenotaphs and other memorials, public parks
and fountains, places of worship, and other points of cultural
significance;
[2][3] these locations are repurposed
Ingress portals, Niantic's previous augmented reality game.
[4]
As players travel the real world, the avatar moves along the game's map. Different
Pokémon species reside in different areas of the world; for example,
water-type Pokémon are generally found near water.
[5]
When a player encounters a Pokémon, they may view it either in
augmented reality (AR) mode or with a live rendered, generic background.
[6]
AR mode uses the camera and gyroscope on the player's mobile device to
display an image of a Pokémon as though it were in the real world.
[7] Players can take screen shots of the Pokémon they encounter either with or without the AR mode activated.
[5]
Unlike other installments in the
Pokémon series, players in
Pokémon Go do not battle wild Pokémon to
capture them. During an encounter with a wild Pokémon, the player may throw a
Poké Ball
at it. If the Pokémon is successfully caught, it will come under the
ownership of the player. Factors in the success rate of capture include
the right force, the right time and the type of Poké Ball used. After
capturing a wild Pokémon, the player is awarded two types of in-game
currencies: candies and stardust. The candies awarded by a successful
catch depends on what evolutionary chain a Pokémon belongs to. A player
can use stardust and candies to raise a Pokémon's "combat power" (CP).
However, only candies are needed to evolve a Pokémon. Each Pokémon
evolution tree has its own type of candy which can only be used to
evolve or level up. The player can also transfer the Pokémon back to the
Pokémon professor to earn one more candy and create room for more
Pokémon.
[8] The ultimate goal of the game is to complete the entries in the
Pokédex, a comprehensive Pokémon encyclopedia, by capturing and
evolving to obtain the original 151 Pokémon.
[9]
All Pokémon are displayed with a combat power. A Pokémon's combat
power is a rough measure of how powerful that Pokémon is in battle. Not
all Pokémon of the same species will have the same CP. Generally, as a
player levels up they will catch Pokémon with higher CP.
[10]
Players earn experience points for various in-game activities.
Players rise in level as they earn experience points. At level five, the
player is able to battle at a Pokémon gym and join one of three teams
(red for Team Valor, which uses
Moltres as their mascot; blue for Team Mystic, which uses
Articuno as their mascot; or yellow for Team Instinct, which uses
Zapdos as their mascot) which act as larger factions within the
Pokémon Go
world. If a player enters a Pokémon gym that is controlled by a player
that is not part of their team, they can challenge the leader to lower
the gym's "prestige". Once the prestige of a gym is lowered to zero then
the player will take control of the gym and is able to deposit one
Pokémon to defend it. Similarly, a team can upgrade the prestige of a
gym under their control by battling the gym leader.
[5]
Although the game is free-to-play, it supports
in-app purchases of
Poké Balls and other items.
[11] By July 14, players were able to submit requests for new Pokéstops and gyms to be included in the game.
[12][13]
Development
The concept for the game was conceived in 2014 by
Satoru Iwata of
Nintendo and Tsunekazu Ishihara of
The Pokémon Company as an
April Fools' Day collaboration with
Google, called Pokémon Challenge.
[14] Ishihara had been a big fan of developer Niantic's previous augmented reality game,
Ingress, and saw the game's concept as a perfect match for the
Pokémon series.
[15] Niantic used data from
Ingress to populate the locations for Pokéstops and gyms within
Pokémon Go.
[16] In 2015, Ishihara dedicated his speech at the game's announcement on September 10 to Iwata, who had died two months earlier.
[17] The game's soundtrack was written by longtime
Pokémon series composer,
Junichi Masuda, who also assisted with some of the game's design.
[18] Among the game's visual designers was
Dennis Hwang, who had previously worked at Google and created the logo of
Gmail.
[19]
On March 4, 2016, Niantic announced a Japan-exclusive
beta test
would begin later that month, allowing players to assist in refining
the game before its full release. The beta test was later expanded to
other countries.
[20] On April 7, it was announced that the beta would expand to Australia and New Zealand.
[21] Then, on May 16, the signups for the field test were opened to the United States.
[22][23] The test came to an end on June 30.
[24]
Pokémon Go Plus
The
Pokémon Go Plus is a
Bluetooth low energy wearable device that allows the player to traverse the game map without looking at their smart device.
[25] When the player is near a Pokémon or Pokéstop, the Plus vibrates.
[25]
The player can then press the button to capture the Pokémon. The player
cannot check what they have caught until it is connected to a mobile
device or a tablet.
[26] It is set for release sometime in July 2016.
[27] The design is a combination of a
Poké Ball and the shape of the
Google Maps pin.
[25] The Plus, which had a
pre-order cost of $34.99,
[28] was being listed on
eBay for over $100 after
Amazon,
GameStop and the official Pokémon store sold out.
[29]
The decision to create the device rather than create a
smart watch app was to increase uptake among players for whom a smart watch is prohibitively expensive.
[30]
