Pokemon Go

I downloaded the Pokemon Go app on my phone the day after it was released and was hooked. I wasn't a huge fan of Pokemon, though I did watch all the English-version episodes of the original Pokemon series during the Saturday morning cartoons line-up when I was a kid, and I did collect and trade Pokemon cards with my friends in elementary school. But I never played the Nintendo Pokemon games (mostly because my parents never bought me and my siblings any games or gaming consoles).

I loved those cartoons though and I watched it every week with my little brother and sister. So I guess Pokemon Go was attractive for its nostalgia factor, and the fact that it didn't need me to purchase a separate device to play it. 

What I didn't factor was all the walking the game required, and the fact that the game made me want to go outside and walk. I'm not a big exercise person. And I don't like to walk, especially now that it's the middle of the summer and it's sweltering hot outside. Pokemon Go made me go outside and take walks, and enjoy it. I had to be moving in order to capture different types of Pokemon, and to go places in order to get items and train at gyms. I had to be physical in order to earn achievements, which is a great exercise and rewards system. 

And I think one of the best things about the game is that, because it's augmented reality, it takes you to real places and to places you might never have gone to otherwise, or walked passed every day without noticing it. It opens up your eyes to the neighborhood around you. When I started playing that weekend, I found treasures in my neighborhood that I never noticed before. There are a lot of churches and statues, and also private gardens and tributes and remembrances. That is the best thing about augmented reality games like Pokemon Go, it takes people outside and takes them away from their insular computerized worlds to experience some part of the real world. It teaches you to appreciate what you never gave a second glance to before. Or at least it did me. 

Here are some treasures I found in my neighborhood: 

Somebody's private Buddhist zen garden

Tribute to victims of Sandy Hook shooting

Tribute to U.S. Marines and model of the Statue of Liberty