How to Play the most popular mobile game - Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go (stylized as Pokémon GO) is a free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic and published by The Pokémon Company as part of the Pokémon franchise. It was released worldwide in July 2016 for iOS and Android devices.

The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon, who appear throughout the real world. It makes use of GPS and the camera of compatible devices. Although the game is free-to-play, it supports in-app purchases of additional gameplay items. An optional companion Bluetooth wearable device, the Pokémon Go Plus, is planned for future release and will alert users when Pokémon are nearby.

Pokémon Go Guides - How to play Pokémon Go

First things first, you’ll need the Pokémon Go app, available for iOS and Android in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. If you’re not in those areas, hang tight, as Ninantic is rolling out to other regions as time goes on.

After logging into the app for the first time, the player creates their avatar. The player can choose the avatar's style, hair, skin, and eye color, and can choose from a limited number of outfits.

After the avatar is created, it is displayed at the player's current location along with a map of the player's immediate surroundings. Features on the map include a number of PokéStops and Pokémon gyms. These are typically located at public art installations, historical markers, historic buildings, cenotaphs and other memorials, public parks and fountains, places of worship, and other points of cultural significance;these locations are repurposed Ingress portals, Niantic's previous augmented reality game.

Catching pokémon works mostly like you'd expect: you simply walk around with the app open on your phone, which will buzz when pokémon are nearby. Tap on the pokémon on the map, and you’ll switch to the catching interface. The color of the ring surrounding the pokémon helps determine how easy it is to catch — green is easiest, yellow intermediate, and red the most difficult.

All Pokémon are displayed with a combat power. A Pokémon's combat power is a rough measure of how powerful that Pokémon is in battle. Not all Pokémon of the same species will have the same CP. Generally, as a player levels up they will catch Pokémon with higher CP.

Players earn experience points for various in-game activities. Players rise in level as they earn experience points. At level five, the player is able to battle at a Pokémon gym and join one of three teams (red for Team Valor, which uses Moltres as their mascot; blue for Team Mystic, which uses Articuno as their mascot; or yellow for Team Instinct, which uses Zapdos as their mascot) which act as larger factions within the Pokémon Go world. If a player enters a Pokémon gym that is controlled by a player that is not part of their team, they can challenge the leader to lower the gym's "prestige". Once the prestige of a gym is lowered to zero then the player will take control of the gym and is able to deposit one Pokémon to defend it. Similarly, a team can upgrade the prestige of a gym under their control by battling the gym leader.

Pokémon Go Plus

The Pokémon Go Plus is a Bluetooth low energy wearable device that allows the player to traverse the game map without looking at their smart device. When the player is near a Pokémon or Pokéstop, the Plus vibrates. The player can then press the button to capture the Pokémon. The player cannot check what they have caught until it is connected to a mobile device or a tablet.It is set for release sometime in July 2016. The design is a combination of a Pokéball and the shape of the Google Maps pin. The Plus, which had a pre-order cost of $34.99,was being listed on eBay for over $100 after Amazon, GameStop and the official Pokémon store sold out.