I know that Niantic’s mobile monster has been out for years, but this is the first time I truly dived into Pokemon GO and a Pokemon GO Fest. Prior to my first Go Fest this past weekend, my children had always been in and out of this mobile game, yet always raved about it for its unique way of getting them out of the house (a house full of gamers that don’t like going outside — just like their pop).
This past weekend my youngest (6) was excited about Pokemon GO Fest 2020. She had been playing Pokemon Go for the last four weeks, unaware of GO Fest 2020 until I asked her if she was interested in participating in it. No, this isn’t a writer that somehow convinced his child to get excited about Go Fest, rather it was the child that convinced me to get excited about going on a journey with her to catch Pokemon. And a journey we did go on. Penelope led the charge into the University of Kentucky’s Arboretum, a gorgeous preserved land full of flowers, bugs, and a boatload of Pokemon waiting to be caught.
Our journey, in 94-degree weather with about 50-60% humidity lasted about an hour and a half. We found unique Pokemon waiting for us, found new Pokemon we had never seen before, and we found a very active community that was wildly aware that there was a Pokemon GO Fest happening. Armed with a phone, three tickets to Fest (one courtesy of Niantic, two courtesy of our Mastercard) and masks, we traversed the long trail (4,500 steps) and found some cool things, including a battle Pokemon named Slakoth.
Our adventure through GO Fest 2020 was mostly us hunting Pokemon and laughing about what we caught. Most captures were repeats, but it honestly didn’t matter. Being that GO Fest 2020 was online due to the pandemic, just knowing that others were having fun (including some trainers we met at the Arboretum) made the event special. It was also the first time that Penelope and I had gone gaming together. That sort of experience was absolutely priceless, although tonight we are diving into Cuphead on the PS4 as a team and that isn’t priceless.
Now, a few things should be noted about the online event. First and foremost, it’s inexpensive fun. For $14.99 you get to go journey and experience new content in the Pokemon GO world. The gifts and such that you get from that cost and the access to new Pokemon were worth it. You honestly should have seen the girl cheese out when she found a Pokemon she had never seen before. It was insanely adorable.
In addition to inexpensive cost, experiencing it in your neighborhood or in an arboretum is safe, and it’s good for the body, as well as the soul/mind. We’ve all been cooped up in our houses, so while practicing social distancing and wearing a mask, going outside was a treat. For Penny and me, this might have been the biggest plus for participating, outside of father/daughter time. It was good to feel the sun, stretch the muscles and legs, and catch a bunch of goofy looking (in a good way) and goofily named Pokemon (in a very good way).
Playing a game while going outside is doubly a treat. According to the folks at Niantic, millions of people that span 124 different countries thought it was a treat as well. Those folks walked an average of 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) to catch nearly one billion Pokemon. That’s quite impressive. We made it a little over 4500 steps before we threw in the towel. Every step was a treat.
Anyway, while we would have loved to go all-day tracking and trapping Pokemon, sadly we had to wrap up early due to weather. We were both too wiped to continue the Fest into Sunday. That said, we will be back for next year’s Pokemon GO Fest. The experience was just delightful and truly a family affair.
