{"id":1144,"date":"2016-07-28T20:05:47","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T20:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mumblog.co.uk\/?p=1144"},"modified":"2023-09-18T14:10:17","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T14:10:17","slug":"pokemon-go-a-parents-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mumblog.co.uk\/pokemon-go-a-parents-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon Go: A Parent\u2019s Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a couple of weeks since Pok\u00e9mon Go launched in the UK and across the country both young and old are engrossed in their smartphones hunting for these elusive creatures. There has been a lot of negative press about the game, including complaints about players causing problems at hospitals<\/a>, caves<\/a>, and even at the site of the world\u2019s second biggest nuclear disaster<\/a>. Some people are rightly worried about the safety implications of having large amounts of people walking around focusing on their phone and not where they are going (although anyone who has ever walked through central London during rush hour will be aware that this isn\u2019t a new phenomenon), whilst others are concerned about the risks of young children wandering off with strangers whilst playing the game.<\/p>\n

So, as a parent, should you be concerned about your child playing Pok\u00e9mon Go? Being a self-confessed gamer geek who remembers the Pok\u00e9mon craze from the first time round, I was intrigued about all the hype surrounding the game. Therefore, in the interest of informing the Mumblog readership and in no way fuelled by my own attraction to addictive, quirky games, I downloaded the game onto my phone and spent a week playing it with my nearly four-year-old son and my six-month-old daughter. My son became a Pok\u00e9mon Go convert within about thirty seconds, whilst my daughter seemed more interested in getting the phone into her mouth. This is what we discovered.<\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon Go: The Basics<\/h2>\n
\"Pok\u00e9mon

The Pok\u00e9mon Go Map. Nianticlabs.com<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon Go is a free to play game available on both Android and iOS phones. The game is downloaded from either the Apple App Store or Google Play and uses both your phone\u2019s GPS and 3G\/4G signal to operate. Although the game is free to play, in app purchases and the game\u2019s data usage can result in a hefty phone or credit card bill if not carefully monitored. Opportunities to level faster via the purchase of in game items may be very tempting for your child.<\/p>\n

You can password protect in app purchases on both Android and iOS handsets through their settings, and this is worth doing if your child is playing unsupervised and you want to avoid a shock when the bill arrives. The game uses data to load maps etc. and so you will need to monitor your data allowance. Some phone companies will simply stop you using data once you have reached your limit, whilst others will apply a surcharge for every megabyte over your limit, again potentially resulting in a nasty shock at the end of the month. Check with your network provider to see what their policy is.<\/p>\n

How to Play<\/h3>\n
\"Boy

Pok\u00e9mon can be found anywhere. Nianticlabs.com<\/p><\/div>\n

After you have downloaded the game you are asked to create a character and choose a name. You are then shown a map of your surroundings. Walking through an area with the game active on your phone will reveal various objects of interest on the map. These include:<\/p>\n