Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

What is it like to play Pokemon Go around Aberdeen?

Pokemon in Castle Gate
Pokemon in Castle Gate

Strange glances, tripping over the pavement and passing my own front door – the last few days have been fought with peril. The last few days have also been super fun and I have done more exercise than I normally would do.

The reason – my childhood has resurfaced. Pokemon Go is the product of five years work from Niantic. It is a gaming platform that is set in the real world through using our smart phones and devices.

pokemon 6

 

I use an iPhone and I do not claim to be very technically knowledgeable. So if I can download it, then it must be easy.

Once installed on my phone, a trainer popped up with some simple instructions. From there you have one basic job – walk. The simple map shows you where Pokemon are hiding and if they are near to you, or a bit further away. The game uses your GPS and data as you walk to locate you on the map. Be warned, as long as you are playing, it is using your data. Be wary of a big bill at the end of the month.

pokemon 1

I walked around Aberdeen and caught several Pokemon. Once you get near one, the camera on you phone kicks in and places the Pokemon in your real world. This is where you have to be cunning and throw Pokeballs at your soon to be caught friend.

Hint – watch behind you. Don’t stop in the middle of a busy street, or a road. The Pokemon tend to move, so hopefully you wont loose them. Get across the road or stand aside so no one accidentally bangs into you.

My first battle was sitting on a bench on Holburn Street. I wasn’t very good. People walking by must have been puzzled at why I was staring so intently at my phone. Maybe next time I will be better.

The game has become famous for several things. It has finally got gamers to go outside and do some exercise. In order to hatch an egg you have to walk a certain distance, with no cheating on the treadmill. It tracks your distance via the GPS.

The other thing it has become famous for is bringing people together. Out on my walk through town I met a group of young lads who also had their noses in their phones. We were all walking towards a Pokestop, where you can restock on Pokeballs, and sometimes eggs. Where people wouldn’t normally talk, they are being brought together by the connection of this new world.

I am going to keep playing, my army needs to grow and I need to train my Pokemon. There is much more in this game to discover, but I am going to invest in a portable charger. The game drains your battery much quicker than usual because of the constant use. In a one hour walk I went from 100% down to 3%. This was the point where I had to admit defeat and finally go home for the day.