Pokémonning

It's okay to use an app to get out in the world

My wife and I and a couple of our friends still play Pokémon Go. I don’t think it’s immature, or cringey, or even a waste of time. The game’s central gimmick/mechanic is that you’re not just playing a video game; you’re actually a Pokémon trainer, and the game is not an independent video game world but a make-believe digital overlay over the real world.

This was observed a lot when the game first came out: how it spotlighted real landmarks and places—churches, stores, art installations, signs, gardens, murals—and actually helped players (willing to look up from the screen) to see their own physical communities with a curiosity and depth that you would miss just running errands or driving through.

I’ve definitely experienced it this way. And the game is old enough now that some of the landmarks are gone, which is a curious bit of random, low-stakes history to get while playing a game. I think that idea of a game inspiring wonder is really cool, and real.