If you walk through the shopping streets of Vienna, you see more and more people roaming around like zombies, constantly staring at their smartphones. No, they are not posting new Instagram photos. They are not on Facebook either. If you observe their finger movements, cries of joy, and facial expressions, you know it must be something else: Pokemon Go! The game has now arrived here too and has captivated many smartphone users.
Curse or Blessing?
Its media presence is undeniable; many newspapers and online portals report on what are sometimes bizarre incidents involving the game. Even the ÖAMTC expressed concern and warned against distraction while driving: “A driver on the motorway turned around to reach one of the monsters [...]”.
It is incredible what addictive potential lies within this MMORPG-like game and how quickly the AR monster hunt has caught on. Some companies or institutions react to the game very critically, while others use the new trend to their advantage and position themselves near convenient Pokéstops. Similarly, there are people who fear this new trend and retreat into a defensive stance against this innovation.
Honestly, it was high time an AR/VR game of this magnitude came onto the market. The technologies have been available for years; it just lacked the right game with a reasonably exciting story and sufficient “addictive potential.” Just 13 hours after its launch, Pokemon Go was number 1 in the US App Store. On average, users now spend an incredible 43 minutes a day on Pokemon Go, while only 30 minutes are left for WhatsApp and 25 for Instagram. The 30 million dollar investment has seemingly paid off for Nintendo and Google.
But what makes the game so successful? Below, we look at a handful of possible reasons for the outstanding success of this interactive monster collecting game.
Enjoy the Flow
To speak of gamification in a game might seem a bit absurd, but it is precisely the principles of “playfulness” that are crucial for the long-term success of Pokemon Go. Games are successful when they have a design that induces the longest possible state of flow in the user. From a psychological perspective, one is in a state of flow when at a point between anxiety and boredom. In such a state, one loses all sense of time, becomes totally absorbed in the moment, and feels seemingly infinite motivation.
While in previous centuries (or decades) we achieved flow through activities like painting, making music, or working in the fields, today it is the internet, Tinder, and smartphone games (hopefully not exclusively).
Pokemon Go succeeds in catapulting the majority of users precisely into this “flow zone.” When playing, you are exactly in that desirable area between “shut down” and “not engaged.”
Back to the 90s
If we (Generation Y) are honest, we have long yearned for a new edition of the Pokemon game. The phenomenon of Pokemon Go is actually very easy to explain in this regard, because we often long for happier times. And Pokemon Go awakens memories of the good old Game Boy era. Many of us associate it with our youthful, carefree years. It quickly becomes clear why we are so crazy about the game! This comeback phenomenon can also be observed in magazines and TV series, among other things.
Catch them all!
Almost everyone collects something – stamps, fortune cookie quotes, cars, handbags, trainers, and indeed, monsters. If we did not collect, we probably would not have survived as a species. The motives behind collecting are very diverse from a psychological point of view. For some, it is a pure passion; for others, a form of validation. Pokemon uses this collecting drive to motivate us to gather more and more of the small monsters. There are always better monsters to discover, and ultimately, one wants to have their list as full as their colleagues’.
Reinforcement
How do you succeed in continuously motivating players to play for a reward? Science addresses this under the term “reinforcement.” In casinos, a variable “schedule” is used for one-armed bandits to reward players. That is why players have the urge to constantly feed coins into the machines (also known as “Operant Conditioning”). How the rewards (i.e., the monsters and other items) are distributed in Pokemon Go and at what intervals they are given is currently unknown. In any case, the game uses a type of “reinforcement” to make players a little bit addicted.
Fun, fun, fun
Another simple reason why Pokemon Go is played so intensely: it is simply fun. It combines collecting with competition. So you can not only pursue your inner urge to collect but also socialise and compete with other players. Ultimately, Pokemon Go also provides a brief distraction from often stressful everyday life and allows us to switch off for a moment (a better alternative might be regular meditation practice).
