Gaming to Learn- Day One

Let's Play!
I was recently tasked with selecting either Kingdom Rush of Pokemon Go as a game to play for three hours.  I selected Pokemon Go as it seemed like the easier game to learn and let me go outside.

Day One:
Installed the app for free on my phone from iTunes.  I first set-up my avatar and then went outside with someone that knew how to play.  The first concept I learned was something referred to as "farming".  A PokeStop is a place to collect free items like poke balls, potions, eggs, etc.  The stop will take about 10 minutes to reset where you can go back to it and collect again.  I stationed myself near several stops and make a circular path to "farm" the items.

The Take Away:

  • Influence the behavior:  Resource management is a good skill to learn.  Collecting items needed to play the game was the first concept I learned.
  • Appointment dynamic: Game must be played outside and in populated areas.
  • Influence Status: I learned about levels and badges and pretty much thought having them was great.
  • Progression dynamic: I learned about Pokemon Gyms which require users to attain at least a level 5 before battling.  I aspired to be part of this.
  • Communal discovery: The game itself is not super intuitive and requires the user to seek out tips from other players.  It can also be played with other people at the same time which allows for sharing. 
image: iTunes.com

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