Pokémon GO in Brisbane

Brisbane Kids get out into the fresh air, and get vitamin D and exercise thanks to Pokémon GO

For those readers who grew up in the ‘90s, you’ll know exactly what this wonderful madness is all about. Proceed with caution: expect your Brisbane Kids to start asking for the merchandise and demanding to binge-watch the animated TV shows and movies on your streaming video service of choice as the Pokémon craze takes off all over again!

Niantic, Inc., with the involvement of industry heavyweights Google and Nintendo, have created something pretty special here: by leveraging an affinity for technology and a hunger for interacting with screens, they’ve created a clever hook to get Brisbane Kids outdoors and into the sunlight. In addition, the game offers a host of aspects that call for social interaction with other players, so your Brisbane Kids have a brand new way to get outside and play with their friends.

How to set up and play Pokemon Go

The basic premise of Pokémon GO is that, through the app’s guidance, you dash around your neighbourhood, or even your city, discovering various Pokémon—or, pocket monsters—which you have to catch by throwing Poké Balls at them. Plus, you can uncover other items during your travels such as a variety of Poké Balls and eggs at PokéStops, and loads more. You can take your Pokémon into battle at Gyms with other Pokémon, as well as hatch and train new Pokémon.

Pokémon GO uses a combination of modern technologies and concepts, courtesy of that little supercomputer in your pocket, to enable an immersive gameplay experience that puts you right inside the game.

1. Download the app
2. You’ll quickly recognise that your avatar, along with the Pokémon you’ve got to catch which are laid over the top of a map of your surrounding streets.
3. The aim of the game is walking, this means there is no advantage to driving to try and gather more Pokémon. 
4. When you find a Pokémon, approach it, tap the screen, and you’ll get a close up view where you can enter a special Augmented Reality mode which composites an animated Pokémon over live video from the camera on the back of your phone!
5. The more Pokémon you catch the more you gain levels as a Trainer. At higher levels, you’ll be able to catch more-powerful Pokémon to complete your Pokédex.
6. If you catch the same species of Pokémon enough times, you may be able to evolve it!
7. This is just the beginning- as you play you have the chance to join teams and gather gifts for friends and all sorts of things. 

Did you know the weather can influence the type of Pokémon you will find on your travels? Rainy weather = water Pokémon

But don’t let the gobbledygook get in the way—it’s super easy to start and will all make sense once you’re up and running

Explore Brisbane

If you’ve ever found it difficult to get your Brisbane Kids, young or not-so-young, motivated to get outdoors for some exercise—and let’s face it, it’s a common problem—then you might just find that it’s about to get a whole lot easier. Even if you fire up the game whilst indoors, and can clearly see a Pokémon lurking in your street, you have to get up close to catch it, and that requires opening the front door and getting yourself outside—genius, really.

As an added bonus, Pokémon GO and the renewed interest in the Pokémon franchise, which has now been around for 20 years, offers an added opportunity for some parent/child interaction. Mums and Dads will no doubt be happy to get involved in the fun with their Brisbane Kids, reliving their youth and sharing their knowledge of all things Pokémon.

What a fantastic way to entice your whole clan to get amongst this beautiful Brisbane Winter weather!

Safety while playing Pokemon Go

Sure, there have already been a myriad of stories about users being injured during gameplay, but it’s important to remember to use common sense and keep your wits about you whenever you’re out and about and there shouldn’t be any problems.

If you’re at all concerned about the safety of your Brisbane Kids whilst playing Pokémon GO, consider laying down some ground rules from the outset. For starters, Niantic have enforced a minimum age of 9 years to even be able to download the app—that’s good thinking, as children only really start being self-aware and taking notice of their surroundings as they approach teenhood. But if you’ve got little ones that are eager to get involved, maybe make sure they’re playing with an adult present to help avoid some unwanted spills. It’s important to note that you don’t need to look at the screen continuously whilst traversing the footpaths of your neighbourhood, so a quick glance every so often to get an update is fine. And under no circumstances should there be any looking at the screen while crossing the road—this is a recipe for disaster, so now may be a great time to revisit some basic training. The age old adage of Stop! Look! Listen! Think! applies as it would under any circumstances, so keeping eyes and ears on the road and surroundings will ensure your Brisbane Kids can navigate the streets safely.

Pokémon GO is available now as a free download, with optional in-app purchases, for Apple iDevices via the App Store and Google Android devices via Google Play.

If you love Pokémon GO, why not try Geocaching in Brisbane with Kids?