So here I am, an "old" man marching his way through his 50's who is playing Pokemon GO.
What can I say, I initially resisted the urge, thinking, this is another of those flash in the pan marketing games, come pay lots of money to play games. Lots of hidden pay options that if you want to succeed at the game you need to spend. Well was I wrong.
OK I had a friend sell me the game to get me to play, otherwise I'd never have touched it. Now Glen can sell snow to Eskimo's, he can spin the spin in such a way you can't help but think, all right I'll have a look. The fact the game is free to download and play was the only thing that made me even look at it.
Thankfully having two adult children who play it helped with the learning curve and my own intuitive understanding of systems allowed me to grasp the game fairly quickly. The nuances took a little longer.
What am I getting out of this game? For starters I was taking my daughters dog for a walk daily and just getting the exercise and the view. Now I'm actually getting something out of the walk (as is the dog, which he always has). My walk is just over 2.2km, and I walk that at least once a day, my local shop is 500m (return) away and has 3 pokestops, so I find an excuse to visit it, if only for a chance to take the dog for a walk. In just over two weeks I've done 75.4km (so I think 90-95% is by foot, I don't do much car travel). Weight is down, blood sugar levels are down (I'm Type-2 diabetic),
As of writing I'm level 18, I've 69 caught/seen pokemon. I've yet to look at a gym battle, my only focus is catching them all!
I spoke to my GP (doctor) and Specialists about this and said that it has been a great tool in getting me out of the house. Yes, the family are still there waiting to make my life miserable for me when I return, but for 45 minutes I can forget about them and enjoy the immersion of hunting pokemon. So give it a go, it is fun.
Mrs Kobold (who is beyond the In My Fifties stage) has been playing at as well, on out morning walks.
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