A Glimpse of Game: What Have I Learned from Playing Pokemon Go?

Is game good or bad? All parents want to know. I am no exception. 

I have read many books about this topic, particularly about the social aspect of game.  Sherry Turkle's book,  Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, vividly describes how we live now. As her book title suggests, we are together but we all stare on our phone. Hence, alone together. Although Sherry Turkle is pessimistic about the negative effect of technology including games on people, Jane McGonigal tries to defend game in her book, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World.

In order to find my own answer, I have to play one. I choose Pokemon Go because I want to exercise my body. Pokémon Go makes players get out and walk around hence the name “Pokémon Go“. Most importantly, I choose it  because it is a social game. I want to meet people. In Dec 2021, I set up two accounts on two almost identical phones so that I can do comparison tests. Ten months later, I set up the third account to go over the entire process.

When I started, I didn't even know how to get Pokeballs from a pokestop. I tapped it instead of spinning it. Of course, no ball came out. It puzzles me first. Eventually, I figured that I had to swipe my fingers. 

After 9 months of play, I am almost at level 44 with 1,958 km walk, 35,181 catches, and 53,162,103xp. Roughly, 1500 xp/ per catch ( 53,162,103 / 35,181 ≈ 1,511). Usually, a player earn 100 XP for each monster they catch. An excellent throw will give them an extra 1,000 XP.  So, I did extremely well. 

Most players think they have to grind all way up to level 40 and beyond. But there are many tricks and tips to speed this process dramatically as I did in my case and the 3rd account for my family member ( In 4 days, he is at level 20 with only 203 catches).

Although there are many articles and YouTube videos teaching you how to play, but all come with caveats which sometimes is unaddressed. In my blogs, besides gathering here the most important and useful information here and there, I write my experience most related to how to increase XP. 

For beginners, how set up an account and how to level up fast are the most concerned. Click the links to my blog for details.

1. Set up an account. I recommend using Pokemon Trainer Clube instead of creating account with Facebook and Google. Here are steps. 
2. How to level up quickly, especially up to level 25. Here is my note.

 This game teaches me many things. Two lessons stand out:

1. Practice Makes Perfect
2. Learning by Doing

Having caught so many pokemons all by my hands not by catching devices, I truly understand the meaning of practice. Throwing a Great Ball was a challenge for me, now I can do it with ease. Needless to say, we all learn by doing it continually not only for playing games but also for everything.  

Article:

5 Reasons Why You Should Start Playing Pokémon Go