Immersive Game Design Lessons from ‘Pokémon Go’

Pokémon Go has quickly become the #1 mobile game of all time, and while there’s been some debate as to whether it should be considered Augmented Reality or not, it’s clear that location-based gaming has taken to the next level.

I had a chance to unpack some of the game design principles to see how it’s optimized to facilitate cooperative social gameplay with Roadhouse Interactive’s VR Director Kayla Kinnunen at Casual Connect this week. Kayla talks about how Pokémon Go has connected her to more strangers in two weeks than in 15 years, how it’s changing her relationship with her wife, encouraging her to walk more, as well as some of the social contract issues and deeper lessons for the future of augmented and virtual reality gaming.

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Here’s a video of a Pokemon Go stampede that happened in Central Park last week:

And here’s a video of a Squirtle crowd in Bellevue, WA downtown park from Pluto VR’s Shawn Whiting:

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Music: Fatality & Summer Trip