Pokémon GO is my favorite ongoing game of 2018. I never expected this game to improve in such a way that I ended up planning my schedule for their community days. I hadn’t touched the game in almost 2 years but decided randomly one day to jump in. Now I find myself in the park with my friends catching Pokémon on a Sunday.
When I first played Pokémon GO it was the craziest experience I ever had in gaming. I never experienced so many people of all ages and backgrounds going crazy over a video game all around the world. I will never forget walking with my friends in the park and running into a group of strangers that pointed us in the direction of some rare Pokémon.
Pokémon GO wasn’t that great when it first came out. The content was lacking and the incentives to playing were very low. I had no desires to catch all 151 since that wasn’t even something I did in the regular series. So when I eventually stopped playing I thought I would never come back.
Coming back I realized how much has changed for the better and how Niantic introduced so many clever mechanics to keep me playing now. The most important to me is the ability to add friends and getting bonuses for playing with your friends. I care more about improving my friendship levels with my friends then I do about catching Pokémon.
The Pokémon GO community is the best gaming community I have ever had the pleasure to game with. I have played many multiplayer games in my life but wow is the Pokémon GO community so helpful. Many times when playing with strangers have I seen them go out of their way to help each other even when there was no benefit in doing so.
Something is just special about going out in the public and meeting people face to face to play a video game. I hate to admit it but this game has gotten me to exercise more than I have in years. There was a time when I would go on late night walks around my neighborhood just so I could hatch some eggs.
I will never forget going to my local park for a special event and running into a close friend. I knew he played Pokémon GO but he lived in a different city. It turned out he had a flight to catch and went to this park because he heard it was a good spot and was close to the airport. Even though we lived far away we still ended up coincidentally playing together. It made the world feel small and big at the same time.