Pokemon Go

Alistair loves Pokemon.  He has been collecting cards for about a year, and Alistair, Charlie and Calvin often talk about Pokemon (as well Elves and Gremlins) while walking back from the bus.  The Pokemon Go game was released on July 6th and it's popularity bordered on hysteria.  We first noticed it while driving one evening.  As we approached the green, we saw a small group of people looking at their phones and standing on the curb on the corner of the green opposite the post office.  Pokemon Go was all over the news and friends on Facebook were posting photos of Pokemon they found in their office.  When Charlie and Calvin talked about playing it after dinner, I was tempted to tell Alistair about it.  Later, in a moment of weakness (after being worn down by sibling fighting), I told Alistair about it and we downloaded the app.  Right away, we captured a Squirtle in our driveway.  Alistair was so excited.

Pokemon Go is completely different type of video game.  The game uses your phone's GPS as well as camera to create an augmented reality.  You go out and find Pokemon out in the wild, train them and battle them in gyms.  The main screen is a map of where you are.  When a Pokemon spawns nearby, you tap the Pokemon on the map and then switch to the camera mode where you throw Pokeballs to catch them.  There are Pokestops (where you collect Pokeballs, potion, eggs, raspberries, etc) and areas where Pokemon are more likely to spawn.  Luckily for us, the green has several Pokestops.  The Post Office, Library, the fountain on the green, City Hall, the bank building Salt Hill is in, the Masonic Lodge, the cemetery, firestation and others are all Pokestops.

Yesterday, we decided to walk to Salt Hill for dinner and play Pokemon on the way.  The kids loved it.  I took the kids for a walk while around the green while we waited for our dinner (Colin was able to enjoy his beer in peace).  There were tons of people playing, mostly 20 something boys, all in small groups.

This morning, while Charlotte was at her AVA camp, Alistair, Evelyn, and I spent most of the morning walking around Lebanon.  We walked up to Muriel's donuts, capturing Pokemon while we waited for it to open.  We had been in before we downloaded the game and Muriel was confused what was going on.  There had been a lot of young people stopping outside the shop (which is in a residential neighborhood), all looking at their phones, and then leaving.  Some came in to buy donuts, where she learned she was a Pokestop.  So we showed her the game and how to play.  Pokemon were even spawning inside.

We walked down to the fountain on our way back to the green, enjoying our donuts and capturing a Nidorino.