As those in the know will doubtless already be aware, there’s a Squirtle at Senate House Library, a Bulbasaur at Buckingham Palace, and maybe even an Evee at your local bus stop waiting, not for the 147, but for an intrepid player to snap it up. Pokémon Go has turned the world into a Pokémon menagerie, and now everyone with a smartphone has the potential to become a master of cute little monsters.
Pokémon Go is the first smartphone release from The Pokémon Company, which has been looking after this multimillion-selling video game franchise since 1998. Created by augmented reality specialist Niantic Inc, the developer behind Google’s experimental AR game Ingress, it’s a massive-multiplayer, location-based spin-off from the role-playing fantasy series.
Using a player’s smartphone camera and GPS signal, the game makes it seem as if wild Pokémon are cropping up on the streets of the real world. When walking around and exploring, players – or trainers as they are called in the game – are greeted with rustling bits of grass, which signal a Pokémon’s presence. Walking closer will trigger them to appear, and tapping on them will initiate a Pokébattle. With the optional augmented-reality turned on, it may look as if a Caterpie is peeking out from the grass just outside the front door, putting players right in the shoes of a Pokémon trainer.