I’m sure everyone’s heard about the new Pokemon Go game that’s so popular right now. You go around in the real world and collect pokemon, gotta catch em all, right?
The thing is, when I first heard of the game, I wasn’t really interested in getting it. Sure, the concept sounded good, and it seemed like an interesting game. And for fans of the show it was obviously a must have game. But see, that’s the thing. Whilst I’ve seen quite a few episodes with my nieces and nephews, and one or two with my son, neither my son or I are what you’d call fans. Sure, when we watched the show we enjoyed it, but it’s not one of the shows we go out of our way to watch.
So what got me to download it and get Jay (my son) to play? We happened to be talking to our doctor (we’ve all been a bit sick lately) and he mentioned how his daughter was playing it and using it as a way to go out and get exercise walking around. And that’s what did it, what better way to get Jay out and exercising than as part of a video game he was playing.
And it worked. Too well as it turned out. The first day we had it (I downloaded it at lunch time), we went out collecting pokemon twice, covering around 5 kilometres. The second day Jay had school, and I was supposed to be working, so we couldn’t go out during the day. But that night he insisted we go out and look for more. So we did since he didn’t have school the next day (national day holiday), and went a couple of kilometres.
And so everyday since has been the same, going out trying to catch more. Except for yesterday when he had school and since today was a school day we didn’t go out at night. But he still went through what he’s collected and upgraded and evolved what he could.
But the extra exercise isn’t the only benefit. Whilst we’ve been out collecting he’s spent more time playing in the local playgrounds, while I sit and watch and collect pokeballs and things from the pokestop. Plus, he’s become more interested in going out to do other things instead of staying home and playing or watching TV. Like going to kick the soccer ball around. In fact when we went out to do that I took my phone out so he could try to catch a pokemon on the way to the field, but instead of playing he told me to put it away.
Overall it’s been a success, Jay’s getting more exercise and actually wants to go out. And I’ve even been taking longer walks when I go out so that I can try to hatch eggs for him (which will hatch after you’ve walked a certain distance). My biggest problem is that it’s wearing me out, my body aches more than it has in a long time, and everyday I seem to be even more tired. The truth though, is that I’m also feeling better physically and it seems to be doing both of us a world of good.