Nearly two years ago, I wrote a piece titled: Three Reasons I Love Pokémon GO (Possibly More Than My Kids Do), in which I listed the reasons I was all for this brand new game craze that was taking over the summer of 2016.
Last year, I wrote about how, after a bit of a slump, we were looking forward to playing Pokémon GO on the Road. And, after our 17-day road trip, I wrote about how PoGO On The Road Did Not Disappoint.
Again, this summer, I find myself inspired to write about this game.
Just the fact that all five of us are still playing after two years is impressive. Sure, we were all Pokémon fans to start, but the reason we are still playing this Pokémon game is that Niantic has continued to improve the game, adding new content and features to keep us engaged. And most importantly, they have not turned the game into one big streaming ad platform nor made microtransactions a necessity to play. We can still play all the game’s features for free and there are no ads to wade through.
Over the past year, a whole slew of new Pokémon and new game features have been added. Most recently, Pokémon GO dropped the long-rumored and much-anticipated features: friendship and trading. You can read more about the details over on Niantic’s website.
These latest features, once again, have me excited about playing PoGO on the road. Much like last summer’s addition of gym badges was an exciting development for those of us who like to add PoGO as an activity on our road trips, because gym badges allow us to collect virtual souvenirs from our various travels, now, we can collect gifts and send them, like virtual postcards, to our PoGO friends. I love this idea.
Sending gifts from our distant travels will be lots of fun, but I am equally as excited about this feature for nearby events.
Last summer, Pokémon GO Fest was held in Chicago (a little over an hour from us) but we were unable to attend. Turned out, that was a probably for the best since the fest was fraught with technical issues and widely considered to be a huge fail. But, I believe Niantic learned from its mistakes and I have faith that this year’s event will run much more smoothly.
So, when it was announced that GO Fest would again be held in Chicago this summer, my husband and I decided to try to get tickets. The event sold out in about five minutes (I don’t know the exact amount of time, but it was officially announced as sold out in less than an hour). By some stroke of luck, I was able to snag us two tickets within the first few minutes! However, the kids are sitting this one out.
Enter trading! When we got those two tickets to GO Fest, knowing the kids would be left out felt like a bit of a bummer. Now, with the new trading features, if anything new, special, or rare is released at GO Fest, we will have a way to share with our kids and other friends who play.
Sending gifts and trading with friends will surely add to the experience of traveling, exploring, and attending PoGO events.
If you’ve never played Pokémon GO (or if you stopped during a lull) now is a great time to get (back) into the game!
I am entirely impressed with Niantic and Pokémon GO, two years in. I am truly looking forward to GO Fest next month and some more PoGO on the road as we travel later this summer.
