
After you've finished customizing your avatar, three Pokémon will appear in front of you. Those things are good for something, after all.Īs with all Pokémon games, when a trainer begins their first journey, they're given a choice of which Pokémon to start with. So, don't feel bad if you have 50 Pidgey in your Pokédex. You'll earn what's called a "Catch Bonus" for catching more of a specific type of Pokémon. You'll soon learn that there are a whole lot of Pidgey and Rattata. It isn't a bad thing to catch a lot of the same type of Pokémon. You can head to local lakes, ponds, or beaches to find Water-type Pokémon, for example, or wait until the evening to have a better chance at grabbing a Fairy type. If you keep running into the same group of Pidgey and Caterpie, don't lose hope: You need to travel around your area to find all the Pokémon. We haven't spotted any Legendary Pokémon quite yet, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there hiding.Įach geographical area has a specific Pokémon type, and some creatures are more difficult to find than others. Pokémon come in variety of types, shapes, and sizes: Of the over 100 Pokémon available for capture, you'll find creatures of the Fairy, Psychic, Electric, Grass, Water, Ghost, Bug, Rock, Ground, Poison, Flying, and Normal type. (Heck, the very first screen you see after logging in is of a giant Gyarados menacing an unaware player, as a warning to stay alert while playing.)Īt the start, you'll only be able to catch Nintendo's original lineup of Pokémon - those found in the Red, Blue, and Yellow titles - though we expect expansions to appear as the game grows and works out the bugs. Whether you've never caught a Pokémon before or you've been collecting these creatures since childhood, you'll quickly get introduced to the Pokémon of this world after starting the game. Sightings Screen: Tap on the grey box in the bottom right corner of the screen to see which Pokémon are nearby.Pokémon: Here, you can see all the Pokémon that are in your possession.Pokédex: Your index of Pokémon, complete with information on all the species you've already caught.Backpack: This is where all the items you pick up on your journey are stored.Tap on this to view your character's information, as well as a list of in-game achievements. Player icon: Your player icon is at the bottom left corner of the screen.Pokémon will pop up on the map with a small vibration as you walk along, and if you tap on them, you can try to capture them. As you move in the real world, your avatar does too. You'll see (unmarked) roads, rustling grass (marking Pokémon in the area), and local landmarks disguised as PokéStops and Pokémon Gyms. Once you've done so, you'll enter the main area of the game: The Pokémon Go map.Įssentially, the main area of the game is a brightly-animated version of Google Maps. How to re-customize your Pokémon Go trainer Don't worry about it too much: If you change your mind later, you can go back and re-customize it. You can choose your gender, eye color, hair color, shirt, hat, pants, shoes, and the style of your backpack. Pokémon Go stores all your information on its servers, so you'll need to use one of these two methods to link your Pokémon data to your device.Īfter signing up, you'll want to customize your digital avatar. To sign up for the game, you'll need to use your Google account or sign up for a Pokémon Trainer Club account.
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That means knowing the world, its mechanics, and how to access your Pokédex, Items, and more. You don't have to be a fan of the previous games or even know the lore to have fun with this game: While it may overtly promote itself as a game about catching Pokémon and battling, the real joy is exploring the real world with your friends, giggling while you check in at historical monuments disguised as PokéStops, and making new connections in your neighborhood with other would-be Pokétrainers.īefore you dive in to Pokémon Go, you'll want to get the hang of how the game works. You may have stumbled onto this page knowing nothing about Pokémon. That means instead of tapping or using a D-pad to tell your virtual avatar where to go to find Pokémon, you're actually walking. It retains the basics of Pokémon games past - catching Pokémon, battling at Gyms, using items, evolving your creatures - with a crazy twist: You're doing it all in the real world. If you've been living under a rock or otherwise have kept yourself off the internet this weekend, you may have missed the official launch of Niantic and Nintendo's already-ridiculously-popular new game, Pokémon Go.
