Pokemon Fever (Yes, I'm a Grown Woman)

Pikachu x1000 (Vox article)

I just didn't get into the Pokemon craze at all when I was younger. When I heard about the game coming out I wasn't surprised, but I also didn't pay much attention (for example, I thought it was virtual reality, not augmented reality). Then last Friday, a friend at work said she downloaded it at a family party, and that the Pokemon were even in our office. Later that day, I saw someone on the bus with the game open, apparently searching for Pokemon along our shuttle route. So later that night, after coming home from happy hour, I downloaded it, registered, and found a freakin' Pokemon perched near my armchair.

For much of the weekend I was tagging in at Pokestops and catching Pokemon while walking around San Francisco and even while riding Muni. And I realized how weird and kind of depressing the whole Pokemon story is, but hey, they are oddly cute and the game is oddly addicting. Like many others I enjoy the accidental/not-accidental social aspect of the game. Unlike other apps, you don't connect to social media accounts (yet) to find friends but since the game involves, literally, the real world, you come across a bunch of other people playing it. I was with my husband, standing on the sidewalk (it was empty, we weren't blocking anyone!) and showing him how the game worked. I was catching a Pokemon, and then a car pulled over. He teased me and said the folks in the car would laugh at me, but I knew what they were up to - we all held up our phones with big smiles, excited to be catching these cartoon creatures. I've exchanged quite a few knowing glances with other city dwellers in the last few days. Technology does bring us together, folks.

My favorite feature is the in-depth linkage of the Pokestops to city landmarks. Not only have I found new ones tucked away around San Francisco, but I now know the names of murals, sculptures and buildings that I pass by regularly. The Pokestops are even cooler, in my opinion, than the Pokemon (but I've only just reached Level 5 and haven't started with the gyms yet, I know, I'm lame).

You know what would also be good as augmented reality smartphone games? Monopoly. Mall Madness. Hungry Hungry Hippos. I hope there's some startups out there thinking of these.

Who knows how long this craze will last, or how many new Pokemon names I'll actually remember, but this was fun and made me feel like a kid again.