Pokémon Go facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pokémon Go
Developer(s)	Niantic
Publisher(s)	Niantic
Director(s)	Tatsuo Nomura
Artist(s)	Dennis Hwang Yusuke Kozaki Mieke Hutchins
Composer(s)	Junichi Masuda
Series	Pokémon
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	iOS, iPadOS, Android
Release date(s)	July 6, 2016 July 6, 2016 NA
Genre(s)	Augmented reality, location-based game

Pokémon Go (or Pokémon GO) is a free-to-play Android and iOS game. It was developed by Niantic. It is licensed by The Pokemon Company. It was released in July 2016 in the US, Europe, and Australia. The game lets players catch and train fictional living beings, called Pocket Monsters (in Japan) or Pokémon (everywhere else). The game makes them exist in real life by using GPS and a smartphone's camera.

As players walk in the real world, their character in the game moves as well. Players can find Pokemon by using the game map to walk to places where the grass is moving. They can then throw a Pokeball at the Pokemon to see if they can catch it. Players can also walk to special places in the game called "PokeStops" or "Gyms". At PokeStops, players can find extra PokeBalls and candy to feed their Pokemon. At Gyms, players can get their pokemon to fight another pokemon to try to win that gym for their team.

An earlier game by Niantic called Ingress was used to make the special places in the game. Pokemon GO got its start in an April Fool's joke by Google and The Pokemon Company in 2013, called "Pokemon Challenge".

An item called Pokemon GO Plus is being sold to let people play the game without looking at their smartphones all the time. Pokemon GO looks like a Gameplay of Pokémon mixed with the Google Maps pin shape.

Pokémon Go has a current score of 69 critic score and a user score of 5.5 on Metacritic.

The game became more popular after they released the Generation 2 Pokémon, featuring more items and Pokemon. In that update, berries (a type of fruit that makes the Pokémon flee, higher chance on catching, etc.) were added, and evolution items were added in (things that are used to evolve Pokemon to become one certain), such as the Metal Coat and Kings Rock.

Awards

Images for kids

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  John Hanke, the founder of Niantic

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  The Pokémon Go Plus, shown with wrist strap

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  PokéStop in Alameda Central, Mexico City

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  Players gathering around a "gym" in a park in Brest, France

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  Players during the Pokémon Go Fest in Chicago in 2017

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  A variable-message sign in Fontainebleau, Florida, warning drivers to not play Pokémon Go while driving

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  A sign outside Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California, admonishing visitors to not play Pokémon Go inside the temple grounds

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  The Pokémon Go Plus wearable device

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  Several signs, like this one at Nijō Castle, were placed on castles and other monuments around Japan

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  A sign in the Bloomington Visitor Center at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge welcoming Pokémon Go players and encouraging them to play safely

See also

In Spanish: Pokémon GO para niños