Pokemon Go. I don’t need to tell you what it is, I don’t need to tell you how great it is, I don’t even need to tell why this game is revolutionary. TheJWittz uploaded a quick video about it yesterday, and he mentioned that one of the biggest flaws of Pokemon Go is that it’s significantly more difficult when you live in a rural area, and you know what? That couldn’t be more true. I’m writing this article to shed some light on one of the main issues of this game that I think gets incredibly overlooked because of the other issues that effect everyone regardless of where they’re playing–issues like staying on for more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time, the battery power it eats up, and so on. If you live in either a rural area or a state where it’s overwhelmingly hot during this time of the year–especially if you live somewhere that’s both at once, as I do–this game loses some of its charm because it’s just so much harder to play since you have to go really out of your way to play it.
I live in Northern Oklahoma City, and contrary to its name, there’s nothing “city” about Oklahoma City. Below is a picture of the area surrounding my house. As you can see, there’s one Pokestop, and it’s a pretty fair distance away. A fair distance I can’t make without a car because the only walkable area of Oklahoma city is Bricktown–which is a 30-40 minute drive away from me. It’s a good thing gas is pretty cheap over here, because you’ll have to drive a pretty fair distance to find a Pokestop or a gym. I don’t even know where the closest gym is to me because I just haven’t been able to find one within 20 minutes of my house.
Wow, look at all these Pokestops
But I know what you’re thinking: Going out and exploring is one of the best parts of Pokemon Go. I’m not denying that, but you know what’s not one of the best parts? Needing to go on a 30 or 40 minute road trip just to catch anything but Rattata and Weedle. Even if you are feeling gutsy enough to go walking around, Oklahoma is incredibly hot. And it’s even worse for me because being the pale ginger that I am, I have a long, illustrious history of sunburns, and even if I were to by some miracle apply enough sunscreen to prevent a sunburn, I live in a very green area full of snakes and bugs. If you don’t believe me, here’s a peek just past my backyard. Pretty, yes, but not very useful for Pokemon hunting.
Welcome to Oklahoma “City”
In summary, it’s really hard for me to really get into some of the best aspects of this game because I just don’t live in a big city. There are a few Pokestops within a reasonable distance of me, but they’re very few and far between, and I can’t even find a gym near me. In fact, despite everything I just said about Oklahoma City, it’s still the most populated area of Oklahoma, alongside Tulsa and Norman. But I know people who live in cities vastly less populated like Clinton and Henryetta who just couldn’t be having a worse time right now for the same reasons, but to a more extreme. I live in a rural state where it’s incredibly hot and sunny, and in a very green area that’s full of bugs and snakes–it’s very unwise to go outside for long over here, especially when you sunburn as easily as me. I hate that I have to go Downtown if I want anything other than Rattata or Weedle. And again, I know that going out and looking for hot spots is part of the fun of this game, but I can’t just make these long, 40 minute trips whenever I want to play Pokemon Go–I wish I could, but I just can’t. As inconvenient as all this sounds though, that doesn’t mean I don’t love this game.
Here’s a screenshot I took in Downtown Oklahoma City today–as you can see, there’s a few gyms and several Pokestops–because it’s walkable, I was also able to wander around and catch several different Pokemon–Pokemon I couldn’t dream of finding by my house, solely because I can walk and wander around here without worrying about getting bit by bugs, and it’s more shady. When visiting an area like this, I feel like I can finally enjoy the game to its fullest potential. This is without a doubt the best mobile game I’ve played–more than that, this game is downright revolutionary. Pokemon fans have been dreaming of a game like this for years–and the fact that a game like this now exists for free is mind blowing. We’re living in this insane cyberpunk future where local news stations make articles about the best Pokemon spots in your city and I’m absolutely blown away. It’s incredible to see so many people enjoy such a wonderful game so actively.
This game is incredible. It’s made me exercise more in the last week than I have in probably my whole life, it’s making all of my childhood dreams come true, and I absolutely love it. I just wish it were more fair for those of us not living in a big city–especially for those of us living in areas where, for whatever reason, going outside for long just isn’t a good idea. I really don’t like being on the road for 40 minutes if I just want to challenge a gym or go to more than one Pokestop. I know going out and exploring is part of the fun of this game, but you gotta’ realize that we don’t all live in walkable areas and gas costs money.