While Pokémon Go is geared toward adults and teens, a lot of parents are playing it with their children too. I helped my kindergartener install it yesterday, and we spent an afternoon at a park looking for Pikachu. There are some safety concerns, but lots of potential for exercise and learning, too.
If you’re still not sure what this game is all about, read our explainer. It’s a free game where you walk to places in the real world to collect in-game supplies and characters. You can catch the pokémon characters almost anywhere, but if you want them to battle, you have to go to real-world locations called gyms. Supply stops and gyms are usually places like libraries, churches, and parks.
For a kid to get the most out of the game, it really helps if they can read and do simple math. You can read them the instructions at the beginning, but they’ll keep encountering creatures and objects that have names and stats.
To involve toddlers and preschoolers, you can play the game yourself, and offer the kid a chance to help at spin at each pokéstop. They can also try to throw pokéballs to catch the pokémon you find. That job takes a little dexterity, but if you have enough pokéballs, why not let them practice?
Once kids are old enough to have their own phones and transportation, they’re certainly old enough to play the game without help—but now you have to worry about where they’re going and whether they’re paying attention to their surroundings. More on that in a bit.
Set Up a Phone to Play Pokémon Go
You can install Pokémon Go on your own phone, of course, but if you hand it to a pokémon-happy kid, you may never get it back. Instead, see if you have an old phone or tablet around that has GPS capabilities. Even if it only has wifi and not a cellular data connection, you can still play the game.
You can do this by sticking to areas with wifi, of course. It’s even possible to catch pokémon without leaving home. Or you can use your own phone as a wifi hotspot, if your data plan allows, so you and your offspring can tour pokéstops together. Be aware that the iPod Touch doesn’t have GPS, so it needs to connect to stationary wifi spots (not your phone’s hotspot) to know its location.
Since Pokémon Go has lots of opportunities to spend real money, you may want to limit in-game purchases. On an iPhone, there’s a setting to turn off in-app purchases. On Android, make sure your phone is set to ask for a password for every purchase (and don’t blab the password).
I go a step further, on my kids’ phones. I have a throwaway google account that’s just for their games, and I don’t enter a credit card for payment. I just buy Play Store gift cards, so if they somehow find a way to spend money, the worst they can do is drain the $25 from their account.
Getting Started With Your Child and a Google Account
My son’s reaction to catching his first Pikachu
The first thing the app does is ask your birthdate. For adults, it then asks if you want to log in with your Google account or with a Pokémon Trainer account. For kids (13 and under), it doesn’t offer Google as an option. Unfortunately, since Pokémon’s servers are currently overloaded, it may be impossible to create a Pokémon Trainer account. You may want to create a dummy Google account (technically belonging to you, the parent) and have them log in that way.
When you begin, you can customize an avatar, and then it’s time to catch your starter pokémon. (You don’t have to wander around for this one.) If your kid’s heart is set on Pikachu, there is reportedly an easter egg that lets you catch Pikachu as your starter. It may not be easy to actually catch the little guy, though, so remind the kid that you can always go looking for wild Pikachu later.
Stay Safe—Especially Around Lures
One of these kids set up a lure before (or during?) soccer camp.
Remember everything you taught your kid about watching where they’re going, holding hands near busy roads, and looking both ways while crossing streets or parking lots? They’re going to completely forget all that when they have their eyes glued to their phone. It’s worth having a little talk with them before they get run over by a car, about how to be careful and how maybe we’re going to put some more rules into effect—like only crossing a street when their phone is in their pocket, perhaps.
If your kid is old enough to wander around on her own, remember that she may now be walking around oblivious to her surroundings (even if she promises to be careful). You may want to revisit rules in this case, too: are you still okay with her traveling to the same places she’s usually allowed?
Lures make the situation a little more complicated, from a parent’s perspective. A player can set out a lure to attract pokémon for 30 minutes, but since these lures are visible to nearby players, they have the effect of luring people too. This can be fun: a bunch of kids can catch pokémon together, or a library or museum can set out lures to help attract people for an event. It can also be concerning to parents. Who’s setting out that lure, and why?
It would be possible for someone to set out a lure to attract kids for nefarious purposes—maybe a potential abuser, or just the neighborhood bully.
Roaming around may be the most worrying part of playing Pokémon Go—but that’s also what makes it worthwhile. How many video games come with built-in exercise, education, and opportunities to learn about art and the natural world?
The exercise is a given: you have to walk to incubate eggs, for instance. Driving doesn’t count, and the app knows the difference. Parks will often have a bunch of pokéstops close together, so even if you have to drive to get there, you can walk around to monuments, statues, and historical signs to collect supplies and look for new pokémon. Different kinds of places have different pokémon. I caught a goldfish-like Goldeen today near a lake.
But there’s more. A lot of pokéstops are at interesting places, including historical markers. Yesterday my son and I visited a cannon in a cemetery (dedicated as a war memorial) and a chestnut tree nursery in a park. I had driven by those trees a million times without knowing what it was, but signs explained how the area’s chestnut trees had been devastated by a fungus and park workers were trying to protect some of the trees so they could reach maturity.
While you’re out wandering, you may even find real animals. Some wildlife experts on twitter are now monitoring the hashtag #PokeBlitz to help you identify the birds, bugs, snakes, plants and other things you might find while looking for pokémon.
The game intertwines so many interests that it’s a natural for family outings. And since you can play it almost anywhere, it works for city strolls as well as nature walks. Watch out for safety concerns, to be sure, but don’t forget to have fun.
Dundee’s Puny Astronaut is shooting for the stars after the fledgling games studio secured a six-figure cash injection from the developer behind the console edition of global sensation Minecraft.
City Quay-based 4J Studios, which is headed by serial entrepreneurs Chris van der Kuyl and Paddy Burns, decided to invest in the Abertay University graduate team after being blown away by Skye, the studio’s debut offering.
The 2016 Dare to be Digital award-winning team’s game is aimed at families and casual audiences and focuses on the adventures of Skye, the friendly flying dragon.
Mr Burns said: “When we met Puny Astronaut, and were first introduced to Skye, we could see instantly the team and game had enormous potential. Both are a perfect fit for 4J as our philosophy is based on developing ‘games for everyone’.
“Although the team was keen to bring Skye to market as soon as possible, Chris and I felt rushing it would be a mistake.
“So, we offered to invest in them instead, which would give them the time, space and resources needed to complete the game in line with their initial vision.”
Cian Roche, Puny Astronaut’s managing director, said: “With 4J’s investment, we’ll be able to produce the game we first set out to create and share our plans with the rest of the games community.”
Minecraft is getting ready to introduce a whole slew of new aquatic features to the mix, and players can now get a look at them a little early. The Minecraft team is now rolling out features from the Update Aquatic to for beta testing on Windows 10, Xbox One, and Android.
Not all of the features that are planned to accompany the update when it finally ships are available as part of this update, but it does give players a look at some of what’s coming. That includes new Drowned mobs, along with new swimming animations and stripped wood. The update also brings the new Trident weapon, along with enchantments meant to help players explore the depth. Of course, a number of fixes are tagging along as well. Here’s a look at all of what’s new and fixed:
Added Drowned mobs
Added the Trident and new enchantments (Channeling, Loyalty, Riptide and Impaling)
Added Stripped Wood
Added Slabs and Stairs for Prismarine, Prismarine Brick, and Dark Prismarine
Iron Golems no longer spawn when Mob Spawning is disabled
Rain, smoke particles, and shadows are no longer visible through lava
Disabling “Visible to LAN Players” for one world no longer disables it for all worlds
Buttons cloned in a “pressed” state no longer remain pressed forever
A warning now appears instructing not to close the game when exporting a world
The power output of Redstone Comparators is no longer lost after a world is converted from Xbox One Edition
Pick Block no longer replaces the item currently selected in the hotbar if other slots are empty
When the update ships to everyone, it’s planned to include coral reefs, shipwrecks, new oceanic species, and more.
Minecraft Bedrock Edition Update 1.2.13 is an upcoming patch to Minecraft. The patch is currently being rolled out to the Minecraft beta in stages, with 1.2.13.8 being the latest version.
Windows 10 players can opt in and out of the beta from the Xbox Insider Hub App. However, while previewing the beta, you will not have access to realms or be able to join non-beta players.
It’s also worth noting that beta builds are likely to be unstable and finished releases may not include all the changes and fixes from the beta.
Make sure you backup your world before joining the beta.
How to Activate Experimental Gameplay
Some features from Minecraft’s upcoming Update Aquatic are being tested on the beta via experimental gameplay. However, these features are incomplete and are not representative of final gameplay.
Experimental gameplay can be toggled in the world settings menu. To prevent your world from crashing, a copy of your world will be created with an [EX] before the world name.
Once experimental gameplay is enabled for a world, it cannot be disabled. Any progress will not be saved to your original world.
Minecraft Beta 1.2.13.8 Patch Notes
Experimental Gameplay
Added Drowned mobs.
Added new swimming animation.
Added the trident and new enchantments: channeling, loyalty, riptide, and impaling.
Added stripped wood.
Added slabs and stairs for prismarine, prismarine brick, and dark prismarine.
Fixes
Iron Golems no longer spawn when mob spawning is disabled.
Rain, smoke particles, and shadows are no longer visible through lava.
Disabling “visible to LAN Players” for one world no longer disables it for all worlds.
Buttons cloned in a “pressed” state no longer remain pressed forever.
A warning now appears instructing not to close the game when exporting a world.
The power output of redstone comparators is no longer lost after a world is converted from Xbox One Edition.
Pick block no longer replaces the item currently selected in the hotbar if other slots are empty.
Fixes for bugs introduced during beta
Increased stability and fixed several crashes.
Abandoned mineshafts no longer generate above ground.
Fixed improper mushroom block obtained from giant red mushrooms when using pick block.
Tools now work properly and no longer shake in-hand.
Sticky pistons no longer turn into regular pistons after being renamed.
Tripwire hooks once again appear in jungle temples.
Players can once again stand on top of ladders.
Mob heads can no longer be duplicated by placing them in water.
Strongholds once again generate with mossy stone brick and cracked stone brick.
More than one line of text can once again be placed on signs.
The B button no longer has to be pressed twice on the controller to deselect a skin in the skin picker.
Heads and skulls that are placed on a walls no longer have incorrect hitbox positions.
Invisible vines no longer appear on jungle trees.
Torches can once again be placed in the same block occupied by a player.
Google search volume interest for “Fortnite” exceeded “Minecraft” and bitcoin in recent weeks.
Epic Games said in January the title has more than 45 million players.
The publisher launched the free-to-play “Battle Royale” mode for “Fortnite” on PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One and Mac in September, which led to a surge in the game’s popularity.
“Battle Royale” type games have 100 online players violently battle to the death until only one player survives.
One of the hottest pop culture phenomenons right now is a game called “Fortnite,” attracting rap stars, top Twitch streamers and gamers alike.
The game, made by Epic Games, is surging in popularity. Google search volume interest for “Fortnite” exceeded “Minecraft” and bitcoin in recent weeks.
Source: Google Trends
At one point last month, 3.4 million people were playing the game at same time, likely making it “the biggest PC/console game in the world,” Epic Games said. The company revealed in January the game has been played by more than 45 million people worldwide.
Epic Games launched the free-to-play “Battle Royale” mode for “Fortnite” on PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One and Mac in September. Critics said the mode was a blatant knock-off of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” [PUBG], which was a big PC gaming success story last year.
“Battle Royale” type games have 100 online players violently battle to the death until only one player survives.
“Fortnite” has surpassed PUBG due to its free-to-play no upfront cost business model, lower hardware requirements, less cheating problems and a more casual cartoon look that appeals to younger gamers.
Source: Microsoft
Top streamers such a Ninja, Shroud and Dr. DisRespect have flocked to playing the game.
Twitch is a live streaming video platform primarily used to stream video game play. It was acquired by Amazon for $970 million in 2014. Many streamers make a full-time living playing games from paid channel subscriptions and viewer donations.
Rapper Drake joined Ninja to play the game Wednesday night, breaking the Twitch record for most concurrent viewers in a non-tournament stream with 630,000 people watching at peak, according to The Verge.
Drake performing
The rising popularity of “Fortnite” is worrying financial analysts about the future prospects for large gaming companies.
“We believe the strong growth of Fortnite creates tactical risk to the video game publishers and could limit potential upside to consensus numbers,” KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Evan Wingren wrote in a note to clients last week. “The game is gaining momentum in Western markets, which is likely to impact engagement for all AAA games to some degree. We believe Fortnite is growing the overall gaming TAM [total addressable market], but some cannibalization is likely.”
The analyst predicted the monetization of multi-player games from other publishers will suffer by about 10 percent due to competition from “Fortnite.”
And the game is about to get even bigger as it launches on smartphones.
Epic Games announced last week that “Fortnite” will be released on mobile devices. An initial invite-only version launched on Apple iOS devices on Monday and an Android version will come out in few months.
