Pokémon Go’s newly-introduced Showcases are one of my favourite additions to the game in years. They’re local leaderboards, in a nutshell – a feature which first debuted in developer Niantic’s now-canned NBA All-Stars – that let you show off specific Pokémon and win in-game rewards. What’s really great about Showcases, though, is their smart design with a very low barrier to entry, meaning there’s no need to meet other players, or cough up for premium items in order to get involved. This ease of taking part has ensured Showcases are a success, but has also led to something of a revelation for me, as I’ve looked at my local leaderboards and read dozens of player names I’ve never seen around my area before. These are people who aren’t in my local raid groups and whose names don’t regularly appear in gyms, but who are still clearly playing and enjoying the game every day. And the fact this is possible is a great sign for Pokémon Go’s ongoing popularity in general, I think – that a very wide spectrum of people are playing and finding fun in the game, and doing so in different ways.
Nowhere is this clearer than Pokémon Go Fest, which touched down in London for the first time at the weekend. Go Fest is the game’s biggest annual event, and runs each summer in a selection of cities, bringing together tens of thousands of players. Last year’s event took me to Berlin to experience a new city. This time, it was all happening much closer to home – but the familiar sense of being part of a giant community of players felt just as special. As you might expect, Go Fest is where you’ll find attendees keen to grind for hours on end to get as many rare species, Shinies and hundos as possible. But it’s also where I found people for whom the event was simply a chance to share their love for Pokémon, and spend a day walking with family and friends around a colourful city park.
London is extremely well-equipped as a place to play Pokémon Go already, as you might expect from a city filled with landmarks, historical sites and big city parks. The fact you can play pretty much anywhere central was a factor in Niantic splitting each Go Fest day ticket between a half-day in the city itself and a more curated experience which filled Brixton’s Brockwell Park. (It was also a good way to sell twice as many tickets without Brockwell Park ever feeling cramped.) For the city portion, I initially played around Victoria, drifting over to St James’ Park which offers a good walking loop around its lake, dodging tourists and pelicans. Pokémon Go players were everywhere, every in-game location was lit up, and the game’s first event questline – to unlock Mega Rayquaza for the first time – was fun. Every raid lobby I joined immediately filled. It was brilliant stuff.
