Getting Started

Playing Pokemon Go is an adventure in discovery, but there are a few essential things we think you should know before you start playing.

First, a little bit of terminology.

You, the player are called a Pokemon Trainer. After you install the app, you will be asked to create a trainer name. We recommend not using your real name just for privacy and safety, so be ready with a name before you install the app. It can be anything, but just like email, most of the obvious and common names are already taken. The trainer names matters very little, so don't stress over it, but be prepared so that you pick something you can live with.

At some point (and I'm sorry I don't remember exactly when this happens), you will be asked to pick a team for your trainer. The teams are Red, Blue, and Yellow. If you are playing with friends who have already selected a team, it is essential to pick the same team as your friends. That's because later, when you start competing in gym battles, you and your friends will be able to team up to take over a gym.

As you play the game, your trainer will level up periodically. This is a good thing, because in higher levels, you will collect more powerful Pokemon. You need to reach Level 5 before you can enter a Pokemon Gym.

Pokeballs are what you throw at Pokemon creatures to catch them. You are given a certain number of Pokeballs when you install the app. When you run out, you will need to visit Pokestops to get more balls. Pokestops are located all over the place in public buildings, landmarks, historical monuments, and even places like cemeteries and museums. It isn't difficult to find Pokestops. We live in a semi-rural area, and even here, there are many Pokestops we can access easily.

In the picture below, the little blue cubes are Pokestops. When you are close enough to a Pokestop, it becomes larger and circular (as shown below the finger in the picture). At that point, you can touch to open it, and then spin it to obtain Pokeballs and other items. The tall white and blue structure on the screen is a Pokemon Gym in the distance.

Catching Pokemon

Catching Pokemon is the major activity of the game. Pokemon appear randomly on the Pokemon Go screen as you move around in your environment. In the following picture, a Pokemon Weedle has appeared by the avatar's foot. To catch a Pokemon, you need to tap on it.

The map screen will change to the screen where you throw Pokeballs to catch the Pokemon. When a circle appears around the Pokemon (1), simply swipe the ball upward to catch the Pokemon. When you aim properly, the Pokemon will be captured in the ball (2) and you will get credit for catching it (3). Be wary, though -- sometimes they escape and you need to capture them again. Sometimes they even poof away.

This should be enough information to get you started. The purpose of this blog is to post information about game play and tips about strategy that we wish we had known before we started. We will be sharing that in the form of blog posts.

Are you ready? It's time to visit your app store and install Pokemon Go. The official app is from a company named Niantic, and its icon in the app store should look like this:

Enjoy! And check back often for tips and strategies. It's going to take awhile to share everything we've learned (and are still learning), and we look forward to learning more from our readers as well.