I have struggled with the idea of playing the new game Pokémon Go on my Iphone ever since it was released.  EVERYONE is raving about it! My coworkers are playing it and telling me about how they found a rare Pokémon on their way to work today! When I was younger I collected some Pokémon cards, but was not too familiar with the game or the characters so I didn’t know if I would really understand the app.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Well something sparked in me last weekend and I decided to download the game. I found out that you don’t have to have any familiarity with the Pokémon to play this game, just follow the directions on the screen and try to move as much as you can. I hate it and I love it. I wish there were more Pokéstops in my neighborhood and I am mad that the distance is not correct when I am trying to incubate my eggs (10km… you mean 10 miles? Sheesh). At work I want to walk during my lunch now to go hunt some Pokémon. Am I crazy? Maybe. 

If you are still struggling with the decision to play it or not I created a list of 10 reasons to and 10 reasons not to play the game. Pick whichever list you want to do the convincing for you.

10 reasons to play Pokémon Go

1. Interaction with your environment. We just went to the botanical gardens and walked around surrounded by amazing flowers while stocking up on Pokéballs at the Pokéstops. Yea I actually looked around!

   

2. Exercise. I went for a run to catch Pokémon one morning and went for a walk later in the afternoon at the park to catch more Pokémon. Our dog got exercise too!
3. Reward. It is a game and when you catch the Pokémon it feels oh so great! There are also badges to earn to make you feel accomplished.

   

4.  Social experience. Mostly with other people that play the game. In an area where there are a lot of Pokéstops you will see people walking around staring at their phone. If you reach out and talk to them they might either blow you off or talk nonstop about all of the Pokémon they have caught.
5. You become young at heart and reminisce about the days of card trading and Gameboy blue and red games.

   

6. It’s the cool thing to do... for now. 
7. Pokémon are cute. Pikachu is adorable, but so are Evee and Squirtle!

   

8. It is fun. It is undeniable. It’s fun to catch cute Pokémon and take their funny pictures.
9. It is super exciting when you catch a new Pokémon!!!! It comes with a lot of XP too and a chance to level up. 

   

10. Play anytime. Pokemon don’t sleep so if you can’t sleep at night go out hunting until you are tired. Gyms never close so go fight your pokémon whenever. It is the never ending game and you can play whenever you want.

10 reasons not to play Pokémon Go

1. It’s dangerous. Well first of all definitely don’t play this game while driving. I have already found myself walking around a parking lot trying to get close enough to a Pokéstop and not watching out for cars doing the same thing… scary!
2. Less interaction with people while playing. Yea I definitely walked on the beach with my eyes on my phone the entire time instead of enjoying the sunset. Oh well there is a sunset every night right?

   

3. The kids will always win. They have time to ride their bikes around to all of the Pokéstops all day long to catch these things. You will never be the victor.
4. The distance is not accurate. To incubate an egg you have to walk a certain distance. It would be much easier if the distance was accurate. It says 5km, but it is more like 5 miles.

   

5. There are more Pokémon to catch than Pokéstops to get Pokéballs. Yea I just used 6 balls to catch that Pokémon, what a waste.
6. Same characters over and over. Really another Rattata? Are you implying my neighborhood is full of rats? No thank you gimme a Pikachu please. 

   

7. It kills your phone battery. There is a reason that the extra battery packs and portable chargers are all sold out at the stores.
8. It is getting harder to catch Pokémon. Those SOBs break out and run away sometimes. What a waste of Pokéballs. Some Redditors think that this is the company, Niantic, trying to make more money so you buy more Pokéballs! Not cool.

   

9. You need a fancy shmancy phone. Yep go get a new $600 phone just to play this game because it won’t work on your old one.
10. Waste of gas. Driving to the Pokéstops instead of staying home like we normally would is eating up my gas! At least gas is cheap right now.