flexagon | Get up and (Pokemon) go

Pokemon Go: I'm a fan. I downloaded the app two weeks ago out of curiosity (WHAT is this massive buzz?), and began slowly to lob balls at cute little monsters and learn to get things from Pokestops. Before I knew it, I was carrying my phone charger everywhere; this morning I hit Level 20. And, oh -- I've had more positive, helpful interactions with strangers in the last two weeks than I think I've had in the two years prior to this.

Here's why I like the phenomenon:

A good reminder that even in a generally shitty year, there will be good news, and probably something new to delight me that I never saw coming.

Great mechanics overall. A good mix of skill and chance; a great mix of short-term and long-term objectives.

Augmented reality games get to piggyback on the awesomeness and replayability of the real world. Every walk out to find Pokemon is different, because the weather is different and the company is different and you run into different people along the way. Unlike most video games, this adds to the real world instead of creating a whole alternate world. (Yes, I probably should've played Ingress.)

Speaking of which, Pokestops and gyms are real-life art installations, memorials and landmarks. I've legitimately learned about little gems I never noticed before.

There's depth nearly everywhere you look in the game, but it's not forced on you. From lots of subtle hints and tricks in the "catch a Pokemon" mini-game, to the best strategies overall and how to use the different types of Pokemon in combat in the gyms, to what types of terrain spawn what kinds of Pokemon, there's depth. You can also ignore almost all of it, and be a mediocre player and still have plenty of fun. The result is self-paced learning only in areas of interest, as they become of interest, which is by far the most pleasurable way to learn any topic.

The buzz itself. I so often get crazy into something esoteric, or am not at all into the thing everyone is into, I find it fascinating just to experience being into something that lots of other people are into at the same time. I've taken to lingering in a Davis Square park along with 100 other people where the lures rain for hours and cameraderie runs high... yes, the Pokemon come there, but it also feels good just to sit in a crowd that's all happily engaged like that. I don't think I've felt like such a part of such a big fandom / player base since the Harry Potter books were coming out.

It turns the walks I would have taken anyway (mostly to and from LCS) into mini-adventures... and there's always a reward for walking, since walking hatches eggs. I know of some people who are walking/running more because of the game; that's not me, but I have spent more time outside since it came out, and that alone is nice.

ETA: it's a gentle game. The worst that can happen to a Pokemon in battle is fainting (the poor thing, let us revive it), and the documentation on Pokeballs say that they "comfortably enclose" each Pokemon caught. Adorable.