What’s all the fuss about Pokemon GO?

By now it’s safe to say that you’ve seen packs of people walking around parks, down city streets, through the suburbs or along bike trails–staring at their phones.

The likely culprit: Pokemon GO, the latest smartphone game to take the nation by storm.

It was released only a week ago, it’s free to play, and it offers a twist on the classic Pokemon games that brought the world to its knees fifteen years ago.

The original Gameboy franchise found the player wandering around a virtual world catching cute monsters to train, whereas Pokemon GO forces the player to walk around the real world to find and capture Pokemon (for the uninitiated, that’s short for Pocket Monsters).

Players hold up their phone’s camera to scan the world around them, and Pokemon are virtually added to the screen via GPS technology. From there, players flick Pokeballs at the monsters to capture them and add to their ever-growing collection of prized Pokemon.

It’s not just a nostalgia trip for millennials–the countless hours players must invest and the “gotta catch ’em all” attitude are driving veritable addictions to the app for people of all ages.

The result? The video gaming masses are getting off their couches and getting outside. Social circles are being expanded as players work together to catch all 151 Pokemon.

Of course, the ultimate irony is that it’s still a video game. Immersing yourself in the great outdoors isn’t exactly the same with a phone in your face.

But hey, breathing fresh air and soaking up some Vitamin D is a good first step.

If you’re already a player, meet some other aspiring Pokemon Masters at the Pokemon Pub Crawl in the Arena District, or the Poke-Party at The Oval!

BROUGHT TO YOU BY