Playing Pokémon Go overseas
Posted on: December 19, 2017
Like the privileged few who get to play Pokémon Go (PoGo) while overseas, I found out how different the experience was compared to playing in Singapore.
I am not referring to catching the regional exclusive Pokémon (like Mr Mime in Europe). I am talking about the culture of play.
Playing PoGo was much less stressful there than here. The gyms had half or almost fully fainted Pokémon, so they were easy to take down.
There were practically no spoofers to contend with. There were also relatively few PoGo actual players around, so there was practically no competition for placing Pokémon in gyms.
Once I placed the Pokémon in gyms, they were easy to defend and I received my daily allotment of 50 coins. In fact, I was worried how long they would stay there and if they would return before I flew home.
Playing PoGo in Singapore, on the other hand, is a battle. Neighbourhood aunties and uncles are territorial about “their” gyms, spoofing and shaving are the norm, and general play is frantic.
I only missed one thing about playing in Singapore. Raids for legendary Pokémon are easy here because players of all ages flock to those gyms. I could have looked for social media channels in Amsterdam to coordinate raids, but I was already preoccupied with coordinating site visits. The game took a back seat to family time.
Even playing a mobile game in different countries reveals their overall psyches — laissez faire there, kiasu here.
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