Pokemon GO was a huge craze this previous summer, shattering usage records and beating even the mighty Twitter in daily active users after just a few days on the market. However, nothing lasts forever and what comes up must come down. Recently, I have heard a lot of doom and gloom about the future of Pokemon Go, and I honestly don't see the same storm clouds that others do. Firstly, it is following a similar decay rate to other major mobile games, it's just more noticeable due to the incredible rate it gained users; there was essentially no slow build up, just an initial explosion. But most of all, I don't see Pokemon GO as even competing with most mobile games on the market right now. To me, it is an entirely different kind of experience.

Pokemon GO is a different kind of mobile game to me. It's not a time waster I play on the toilet, in the waiting room at the dentist's to calm my nerves, or when I'm avoiding doing work. No, I play Pokemon GO during my commute. As a student, there is a lot of walking in my life, even though I live off-campus and drive there every day. It actually makes me look forward to walking to and from my car, and between my classes. Every walk represents forward progress in the game, 1km closer to hatching that egg, gaining more items to catch more pokemon for stardust to power-up my main "dream team", or just the possibility of finding a new pokemon all together. Unlike most games I play, Pokemon GO is not a time-waster, or a distraction for when I should probably be doing something else, it serves to enhance a normally boring and mundane aspect of my daily life. Furthermore, it encourages me to get out and walk more than a simple step counter does because there is an immediately tangible reward in the game instead of a cryptic step or calorie count that most health apps give.

As for the future of Pokemon GO, I'm still optimistic. Niantic has done nothing but add features which improve the game over the past month. From a system which lets player's finally evaluate their pokemon's combat effectiveness, to re-adding the much loved radar, to adding a new buddy system which grants resources for the pokemon that you have as your buddy as you walk. All of these features build upon the common theme of improving my everyday walks. Because of that, I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.