Pokémon Go's Design

     At this point there are very few people that are familiar with what Pokémon Go is or how to play but for the unfortunately uninitiated, Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game developed by Niantic where the player is tasked to walk around the real world and catch 'em all! After creating your character with a fairly robust character creator, choosing your starter Pokémon, and then catching them you're let off into the world. While simple, the first few steps that Pokémon Go walks you through are sufficient for having a new player understand the rules of the game. Those rules include:

• Each player belongs to a specific team (Mystic, Valor, and Instinct)
• You move in the game by moving in real space
• Tapping on Pokémon on the GPS map around you will give you a chance to capture them
• You throw Pokéballs at the Pokémon in an attempt to capture them
• Going to Pokéstops, checking in daily, and leveling up allows you to collect more items
• Gyms can be taken over for you team by having your collected Pokémon defeat the Gym's
• Pokémon can be leveled up through battle or by feeding them specific Candy​

There are almost too many Pokéstops around campus

Pokémon Go doesn't actually explain that you need to tap the collectibles at Pokéstops to collect them

     The most interesting results of these rules stem from the fact the game is predominately controlled by simply moving; by using the user's phone's GPS to determine the player's position in the world and game, which as you are probably already aware had created a social dynamic to the game. People of the same team would naturally congregate in public areas to catch a rare Pokémon or friends would venture out to hike up a mountain in the hopes of finding more powerful bounty. The social aspect of the game is no doubt one of the more interesting developments to have occurred as a result of the game's inception, however the changes in people's lifestyles are another development. The act of physically venturing out into the world has encouraged many to swear by Pokémon Go as a way to motivate them to be more physically active.
     Another way Niantic has encouraged player interaction is by making Gyms easier to take over for a team if you have more people form the same team attacking it at once. Also since release, Niantic has added raids in the form of Legendary Pokémon: large groups of players are required to work together to defeat one of the most powerful Pokémon in the game.
     However prior to the introduction of these raids, players would often go to extreme lengths to capture rare and powerful Pokémon including trespassing. Hilariously this caused several public spaces and privately owned businesses to create their own rules about toward the game. Some shops encouraged players by providing wi-fi or outlets to charge player's devices in exchange for their business while others had to explicitly forbid people from playing the game.
     One of my favorite developments that has occured as a result of Pokémon Go is the fact that players have discovered secrets in the game and started sharing them. Admittedly I miss this fact from the games of yester-year where you weren't able to look things up and were instead forced to ask around the playground for the latest tips and tricks; and while you're certainly able to look things up, word-of-mouth is very powerful in a game where everyone's already out-and-about.

By walking around and delaying selecting a starter Pokémon, eventually you'll have the option to select Pikachu!

I learned how to throw the Pokéball by watching others play, no in-game explanation needed

     By grouping players into separate and competing teams, Niantic creates an aesthetic of fellowship that is naturally created through the competition between the groups and the advantages of working together with people that are in the same team as you. Players are also able to express themselves by customizing their avatar and choosing a companion Pokémon; all of these elements are used to represent the player. Lastly, Pokémon Go is ultimately the realization of many people's fantasy of being a Pokémon trainer despite the fact that they don't have battling.

It's interesting how Niantic has had to adapt the game as a result to player behavior

Gyms are the primary objective of Pokémon Go, unless that is you're trying to Catch 'Em All!