Geocaching and Pokemon Go and Munzee

Good morning everyone.  This week's fun fact is missing in action, or a DNF.  As I went to do this portion of my blog, my main source, project-gc was down.  Hopefully next week fun facts will be back.  Keeping fingers crossed.

This week I want to take a look at a couple of other GPS positioned games.  We all know about geocaching.  Using multi-million dollar satellites to find Tupperware containers in the woods.  Geocaching can be done in an urban setting as well as a rural area.  Getting out to the rural areas can be the most rewarding.  Sometimes it's not just the container that you find, but the trip, the scenery, the history you come across that makes it rewarding.  These are places you would otherwise not have gone to if not for geocaching.  You can find neat little parks in the city that you never knew existed.  Some of these are on routes that you take everyday, but you were too busy to notice.  I also find that the people who geocache are very friendly, helpful, and supportive.

Pokémon Go:  I've been playing since it came out almost two years ago.  The basis of the game is to catch pokemon, catch enough of a particular type to level up that pokemon (evolve it to a stronger pokemon) and do gym battles against other pokemons.  Originally I wasn't going to play, but I thought this would be a fun thing for me to do with my two boys.  They know way more about pokemon than their dad.  I downloaded the app, created a name; Geodadandboys2 (I'm the geocaching dad with my two boys) and got ready to play with their help.  While I was visiting them, I opened the Pokémon Go app.  They heard that.  Their reaction wasn't what I was expecting.  It was comparable to be given a plate of liver and onions.  They wanted nothing to do with it.  Here I am, an old fart who knows very little about the various pokemon, playing Pokémon Go.  I find that the game is more urban based as you need to be within close proximity of a poke-stop or poke-gym to find spawning pokemon.  Even in an urban area, if you're too far away from either a stop or gym, you probably won't be catching anything.  I know at my girlfriend's (sm66) house, I joke that it's a pokemon free area as nothing pops up there.  She's quite ok with that.  I know of other geocachers that also play Pokémon Go.  I've actually bumped into them or recognized the name (they used their geocaching name as their pokemon trainer name) in a gym.

I find Pokémon Go to be more competitive, more cut-throat and ruthless than Geocaching.  You need to be on one of three teams, Valour (Red), Mystic (Blue), or Instinct (Yellow).  That's where the competition, the nastiness kicks in.  Some do play nice with others, but some don't.  I have a co-worker that also plays (she's more hardcore than I am), and she tells me of some of the things that go on that she's encountered.  People whining about having gym control for a raid (apparently this makes a difference as to which team has possession of a particular gym, personally I don't give a rat's ass).  I've witnessed this first hand one Saturday afternoon just before a Mew Two raid.  The gym was in control by Valour.  Mystic was trying to knock Valour out of the gym but wasn't succeeding.  As I was waiting for the raid to start, I got a tap tap tap on my window.  "What team are you?" "Red."  "Are you tossing berries into the gym?  We're trying to take it down."  "Nope."  Tossing berries into a gym gives the pokemon in the gym more health.  They were getting upset by this.  I shake my head at this sort of activity.  It's an imaginary gym.  I can understand fighting over a FTF in geocaching, but this?  As I type this, I'm doing a self-evaluation of my participation in this game.  I find geocaching more rewarding and satisfying.  I would also like to do more of this next one.

Munzee:  I first heard about Munzee last year.  I like to refer to it as geocaching without the container.  All you have to do is find a QR code, scan it, and you've "captured" that munzee.  Easy enough.  I signed up, created a munzee name (Geocacherken, it works for geocaching, so why not munzee?), and I was good to go.  Here's the strange thing; Munzee has never really caught on in Winnipeg.  I look at the Munzee map and I see thousands of Munzees in other cities and towns.  Around here, nope.  I did get the starter kit and deployed a couple of my own.  They've been captured maybe three or four times each in the year that they've been active.  Hopefully one day, Munzee will catch on here.

That's it for this week.  Be safe out there.  Enjoy whatever game you play.  Peace out, and remember, geocaching (and Pokemon Go and Munzee) is suppose to be fun.