I know what you’re going to say. “Diana, there’s already been an entry on videogames in college, what are you even doing with your life?” Well, I’m here to talk about something a little more specific than just plain old videogames. This is Pokémon GO.
When I got back to school, EVERYONE was talking about Pokémon GO. There are a dozen gyms on my campus and seemingly hundreds of PokéStops. We have a pretty high percentage of Mystics on campus, so my friends and I are golden. We generally dominate every gym and any intruders are quickly dealt with. My school has an active Facebook page for noting nests—and let’s be honest, these people are way more obsessed than I am. I mean, I’m only level 18.
I was getting lazy. Not opening my app as much, not actively hunting, not hatching my eggs. But that all changed when my friend Denis and I each got our Pokémon GO Plus. Now I’m back in it for sure.
For those of you who don’t know, the Plus is basically a Fitbit without any display features (or that’s what I told my parents, anyway). It tracks steps and lights up whenever a Pokémon or PokéStop is in range. Pressing the button in the center causes the app to automatically attempt to catch the Pokémon, and it flashes different colors accordingly. The best part is that you don’t have to have your app onscreen, just running in the background, so it doesn’t kill nearly as much battery.
The Plus makes it so much easier to catch Pokémon at school because I can just turn it on when I leave for class and let it track my steps, which goes toward my egg hatching. My friends and I will go out sometimes to hunt, too. When everyone’s bracelets start buzzing, it’s a mad scramble.
So, should you get the Pokémon GO Plus? If you’re going to walk a lot, then I’d say yes. It’s really good about tracking my steps—I can’t tell you how many eggs I’ve hatched since I’ve gotten it. If not, then nah, you don’t really need it. But being a college student, it’s been invaluable to me. I adore it. I don’t think this new piece of hardware has caused (or will cause) a resurgence in Pokémon GO, but whenever Gen 2 comes out, I’ll be ready.
And let’s be real—at my school, Pokémon GO is the only reason to go to football games these days.
