A Preliminary Study on the Game Design of Pokémon GO and Its Effect on Parent-Child Interaction

In today’s society characterized by information explosion, the smart phone has become an indispensable convenience in modern people’s lives, facilitating information inquiry, shopping, basic needs, as well as entertainment; meanwhile, it has changed people’s living habits. Over the past ten or more years, there have been many game-related studies which mainly focused on online games for personal computers (PC). However, with the popularity of smart phones, mobile games have entered the new mainstream of the market. Pokemon GO is an online game that combines a mobile device with augmented reality (AR). Through their smartphone screens, players can search for cartoon and animation characters in the real world. Ranging from small children, teenagers, and middle-aged people to old people over 70 years of age, all players try to capture virtual creatures, called Pokemon. It is difficult for ordinary mobile online games to attract players of different age groups, i.e., young, middle-aged, and old players at the same time, while Pokemon GO enables a wide variety of players to participate in the game simultaneously. Therefore, this study first analyzed the game design of Pokemon GO and then explored the interactive factors involving the context where parents and children play together. The semi-structured interview was employed, with three participants interviewed. Through the interview, it was found that the game design of Pokemon GO includes the following features: 1) a user-friendly interface, 2) going outdoors, 3) association with places of interest, 4) combining games with exercise, 5) cooperative gaming with the community, and 6) highlighting festivals to attract players. As for its impact on parent-child interaction, Pokemon Go boasts the characteristics below: a) a common topic for the family, b) family members doing their cooperative gaming, c) training children to classify things and use logic, and d) fostering children’s independence. Due to the foregoing factors, parent-child interaction can improve a lot. The results of this study can be referred to by game designers.