The Quick Guide to Everything You Need to Know About Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go is the newest trend in mobile apps. It has quickly taken over the lives of players much like apps of the past… ahmmm… Angry Birds. The game is packed with lots of fun and gets you off the couch and out the door. If you haven’t jumped in yet, here are a few things you need to know. If you have started playing, this list will make things so much more fun.

Pokemon Go has some issues that are being resolved as they work bugs out of the system. That’s not a surprise for a new game that took off and overloaded servers. Be prepared for a lot of updates to fix bugs. While all of this happens, you will find a few glitches. The fastest way to recover lost data or repair a frozen game is to shut the game down completely and restart. If the issue sticks, reinstalling the app may help.

Playing Pokemon Go

When a Pokemon pops up on your map, you’ll want to throw a Poké Ball to catch it. Tap the Poké Ball and then flick it toward the Pokemon to capture it inside. To never miss when catching a Pokemon, feed Pokemon with a yellow or red ring berries to give them a false sense of security. If you don’t have berries, you will need higher level Pokeballs to catch Pokemon with red and yellow rings. Going out at night gives you new and exciting Pokemon you can not find during the day. Make Pokemon easier to catch by turning off your camera.

Pokemon Go is all about well going out and exploring. Most PokeStops are located at real life shops, police stations, and other public establishments. When you find a Pokemon or PokeStop while out, just click on what you are passing. Note: You do not need to stop and enter the location or even stop.

Pokemon Go uses Google’s maps and places Pokemon in their “Natural” environment. When looking at the app you will see moving grass and leaves. These are areas you will find a Pokemon waiting for you. When hunting a particular type of Pokemon you may find yourself in need of exploring, such as finding bodies of water.

Pokemon Go is always evolving and refreshing.

The starting point for how far you have walked goes by where you have opened Pokemon Go for each session. This means you can not turn off the app, your data, or your GPS while you are walking to save battery. The footprints under your Pokemon represent how far you have gone from loading of the app to find each Pokemon. Save battery by putting your phone in battery saver mode. Under the game’s settings, there’s also a battery saving mode.

Pokemon Go does not have live action battles (yet) but you can have some Pokemon battle fun at your local gym. Pokemon Gyms are lead by the person with the most powerful team of Pokemon at the Location. This means training and leveling up your Pokemon is vital if you intend to work towards leading your local Gym.

When you find multiples of the same Pokemon, you can trade them back to the Professor for candy that can be used to evolve your main Pokemon allowing you to get Pokemon that you can not easily find in the wild and grow your team stronger. The stronger your team the more likely you are to win battles in the future.

Bored? When you find yourself stuck somewhere and unable to go out, draw Pokemon to you. Use incense to bring the Pokemon to you and build your collection without going anywhere.

Watching a Pokemon and heading towards it will raise your chance of getting the Pokemon and even scoring doubles. Watching is another great way to score higher power Pokemon. As you level up you will find yourself facing better Pokemon.

Don’t forget about safety

Due to the nature of this game safety is a major concern, here are a few tips to make the most of Pokemon Go. Always stay alert and keep your eyes on the road. Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game and it is easy to get sucked into it. Do not enter shops and other buildings to take advantage of PokeStops. Because Pokemon go uses Google’s maps some areas may not be safe to enter, even for the best Pokemon. Most of all remember always use common sense!

Check out my friend Mandi’s post on keeping kids safe while using Pokemon Go!

Have you tried Pokemon Go yet? My 8 year old son and I are loving the game and I’ve been enjoying the nightly walks we have been taking since the app just came out a few days ago. Talk about a fun and exciting way to get your kids active!