I’ve seen claims that Pokemon Go users almost surpass daily twitter users within days of its launch, and it has even passed “adult” google searches. Other articles will claim that Pokemon Go will save America and clear your acne. I’ve also seen the reverse said, but today let’s talk about something that often gets ignored, and could here as well. Disabilities.
If you don’t play Pokemon Go, all you need to know is that it’s very location based. Where you are decides what pokemon types you can get, and you have to travel to parks and places around town to battle, as well as pokestops, which are in similar locations, to get items to play. Sometimes the game gives eggs and to hatch pokemon you have to walk a mile to six miles. For people with disabilities this part is particularly difficult. Mobility is a concern that is not easily fixed, especially when the game forces you to stay under 10 miles per hour for egg hatching purposes.
While it’s no solution, two panda’s, myself and Rachel Sharp started the tag #PokemonGoGently. Its goal is to have a group of players who understand the unique struggles as someone with a chronic illness. While not everyone in the tag shares the same disability, we do share a unique battle while being a pokemon trainer.
I’ve seen many in the tag state that they have been more active because of this game. It allows them to push themselves in a new way. I personally have been to the park more times in 3 days than I have gone in 3 years. I even went out a got a Razor scooter to help keep me more active.
And while this is such a throwback to many of our childhoods, I love this tag which shows that people can have fun from their couch, from their bathrooms, that if they are feeling up to it they can not only explore, but do so in a way that is measured by progress bars and shareable with a unified sense of nostalgia. Which is really the heart of what makes video games so successful as an industry.
Pokemon Go seems to be helping disabled people without mobility issues too, like those trainers with depression and agoraphobia. Psychologist John M. Grohol wrote on PsychCentral, “for a person suffering from depression or another mood disorder, the idea of exercise can be nearly impossible to contemplate, much less do. For someone suffering from social anxiety, the idea of going outside and possibly bumping into others who may want to talk to you is daunting.”
I think part of the charm of Pokemon Go is that this prompting to exercise is not heavy handed. Nor does the game punish you if you don’t go outside. I’ve caught my strongest pokemon from my couch. Exercise is not the end goal of Pokemon Go, simply a side effect of the game’s mechanics.
Grohol goes on to echo my feelings by saying, “I think this is a wonderful demonstration of the unintentional but beneficial consequences of gaming and producing a game that encourages healthy exercise. Hundreds of app developers have tried to develop mood-altering apps by encouraging people to track their mood or providing them with encouraging affirmations. But these apps rarely catch on, and few people continue using them past the first week. Research has long shown the benefits of simple exercise on improving mood. The developers behind Pokémon Go didn’t mean to create a mental health gaming app. But they’ve done so, and the effects seem to be largely positive.”
I do think Pokemon Go, and similar augmented reality apps in the future, can bring about a lot of good for disabled people. Despite the fact that Pokemon Go itself is not very disability friendly, but that too can be patched.
Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokemon, made Pokemon out of his passion for video games and collecting bugs. I truly feel like Pokemon Go is the natural and technological result of combining a love of those two things.
It is also believed that Tajiri has Asperger’s syndrome, which if true, might also explain why Pokemon’s mechanics lend themselves to people with a wide variety of other disabilities. It’s also a reminder that instead of ignoring disabilities, they should be embraced. I think #PokemonGoGently is a reminder that we can be the very best like no one ever was, each in a unique and equally meaningful way.
