Equal parts game and social phenomenon, Pokemon GO is an augmented-reality game that lets you interact with Pokemon in the real world. Catch your favorite pocket monsters and do battle with other trainers while exploring your city!

Pokemon GO is an augmented reality game that brings the world of Pokemon to life. While you move around in most games by pressing a button or swiping on the screen, you move in Pokemon GO by walking around in the real world. The game offers a map with Pokemon-centric destinations in your area, including gyms, stops, and more. When you visit these locations in real life, you can catch Pokemon, do battle, and socially interact with other Pokemon fans who are building up their collections.

The augmented reality doesn’t end at the map, however. You can use your phone’s camera to reveal Pokemon in front of you, enabling you to catch them by flicking a Pokeball in their general direction. 

While walking around in real life is a fun and unique part of the Pokemon GO experience, it’s not fully mandatory. The game supports a number of workarounds that enable you to play GO as a more traditional game with less travel. It’s still fun, but you don’t get quite the same magic that you find when you walk to find a Diglett in your local park.

Just like other Pokemon games, Pokemon GO allows you to catch Pokemon, train them, place them on teams, and use them to do battle with other trainers. You can directly duel other players, work with your friends to beat Raid Battles, or defeat evil Team Rocket members lurking around popular destinations.

Pokemon GO had a huge surge in popularity when it was first released in 2016. Since then, the game has become a bit less popular, but it’s also had many years of regular updates and refinements. You’ll still find plenty of Pokemon GO players hanging around your local hotspots. It’s a great way for people of all ages and walks of life to get an excuse to explore, get some exercise, and meet new people.

On top of the friendly community, Pokemon GO’s years of updates mean that the game has more things to do than ever. Online trainer battles, shadow Pokemon, and legendary Pokemon are some of the features added since release. The game’s roster has been continually updated and now features over 730 Pokemon to catch, train, and fight.

Pokemon GO uses something called an “incubator” to hatch Pokemon eggs. In order to get your new Pokemon, you’ll need to place your egg into an incubator and walk a certain distance. Your initial incubator accumulates distance at a normal rate, but you’ll also periodically get incubators with big multipliers. Use these 3x incubators to hatch 10km eggs while you put shorter 2km and 5km eggs into your normal incubator – or just go for lots of runs.

When you start out, it’s super tempting to level up your Pokemon all the way. This is definitely a thing you can do, but it’s more valuable to work on your trainer level first. Your trainer level will make it easier to level up your Pokemon later, increase the level at which you catch Pokemon, and give you lots of other in-game benefits. Leveling up your Pokemon will contribute to your trainer level, so definitely do that still, but be sure to prioritize other activities like battling friends and taking over gyms as well.

Pokemon GO is a fantastic excuse to get some exercise, but don’t be afraid to turn off AR mode when you just want to play the game. The game world is full of Pokemon. More importantly, it’s a static environment with rewards that don’t change. This means that it’s a good way to catch up to your friends (or gain an advantage) without having to run all around the city.

Don’t be afraid to research encounters before you plunge into them. Your phone is a web browser, not just a gaming platform. Before taking on a raid or fighting a gym, be sure to do a bit of research and make sure that your team is up to snuff. Defeats will cost you time and consumables. If you think you’re not up to the challenge, simply go train by doing something else. You’ll get strong enough over time.

Are you a Pokemon GO fan? Who are your favorite Pokemon? How many GO players do you encounter on your normal routes? Let us know in the comments below!