The booming success of Pokemon GO might be a relief to parents who want their kids to get outdoors more. But it might not be the safest pastime, according to several recent incidents.
The mobile video game, released July 6 by Niantic and The Pokémon Company, scatters virtual pocket monsters—Pokemon—at map locations in the real world. Much like geo-caching, players have to physically reach the location, as confirmed by their phone’s GPS, to collect the critters in the game. Moreover, Pokemon only pop up on the game’s map when the player gets close to them, making the players walk around and explore the area to find them.
Local landmarks, like libraries, parks, fountains, and police stations can be marked as Pokestops and Gyms—where players can collect in-game perks or use their Pokemon to fight other Pokemon.
From anecdotal online reports, the game does make people travel for their points—which is beneficial in many ways.
And it seems to have caught on—it’s the top free app in the iTunes chart and already has more than a million installs on Google Play.
But, the game is a significant distraction and perhaps more dangerous than any other.
While mobile games can be dangerously absorbing to begin with, playing them while walking down the street is difficult, as the real world keeps distracting the player.
Pokemon GO, on the other hand, forces the players to play while walking down the street, while distracting them.
“[B]ecause the game essentially forces you to keep the app open and check it constantly, you are really not paying attention to where you are much of the time. Add in headphones, and the game can feel downright dangerous because of how much it engrosses you,” wrote Paul Tassi, Forbes contributor on video games, technology, and the internet.
Tassi spent a day playing the game and was almost hit by a bike twice and once by a car.
“I really do worry about kids playing this and not paying attention to where they are,” he wrote.
When you almost get in a car accident because of Pokémon Go.... oops
— Olivia B. Walker (@oliviaaawalker1) July 10, 2016
haven’t even been playing Pokemon go for a hour and I’ve already almost got in a car accident
— kate white (@kwhite_08) July 10, 2016
