Going Crazy!

I have never been one for computer games. Once they progressed beyond bat and ball games and Tetris puzzles, I stopped seeing the point of working out all the complicated stuff you need to know to make the games work. My grandchildren have tried to explain how certain things work in the games they play but all to no avail. 

Consequently I am completely bamboozled by the Pokémon Go phenomenon. As I understand it, this takes the game out of the computer and into the real world. Well, after a fashion. Game players are supposed to collect virtual reality figures from real-life locations. I have NO idea how this works and, before anyone sends me complicated explanations, I am not really interested in finding out. 

But there have been some odd consequences so far. Two men somewhere in the USA managed to step off a cliff trying to capture the Pokémon involved and had to be rescued. I suppose they were lucky not to be badly hurt. And since the game has been available here in the UK, mine rescue experts and fire-fighters have had to go to the aid of four teenagers who were searching for Pokémon Go characters deep underground. They had gone into a network of caves in Wiltshire and got lost. They even had to wander about for quite some time until they reached a spot where they could get a phone signal and call 999. 

It's not just kids who play it either. Well, I suppose that since it involves mobile phones, which need paying for, it is quite likely to have a following among young adults who remember collecting Pokémon cards when they were kids. 

A lawyer in the USA said, "The game itself isn't the fun part. The fun part is taking a walk and seeing things you don't usually see." Yes, I suppose so, like the side of cliff as you step off. 

And then there's the social aspect: "You can chat while playing or goof around taking photos of your friends with Pokémon on their faces." 

Somehow that is not convincing me that I want to discover this new activity.