Pokemon Go takes you back in time with augmented reality

Everyone is playing the “addictive” and nostalgic game and finding Pokemon under their desks, washrooms, frying pans and quite recently a user even caught one while his wife gave birth to their child inside a hospital room.

Everyone is playing the “addictive” and nostalgic game and finding Pokemon under their desks, washrooms, frying pans and quite recently a user even caught one while his wife gave birth to their child inside a hospital room.

Pokemon Go is every Indian fans' dream come true. Our childhood was full of Pokemon games, references and the notorious card collections that we guarded so ferociously.

Everyone is playing the "addictive" and nostalgic game and finding Pokemon under their desks, washrooms, frying pans and quite recently a user even caught one while his wife gave birth to their child inside a hospital room.

India and the rest of the world, except Japan, the US, Australia and New Zealand, haven't had the privilege of an official release of the augmented reality mobile game that makes the user go on a Pokemon hunt across the city and train them as they reach successive levels.

But don't lose hope just yet.

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If you're an Apple iOS user you can simply change your store location to any of the countries above to download the app that directs users to capture imaginary creatures superimposed onto the real world crating augmented reality.

And Android users can use this link.

Now, just allow the application access to your camera and location and throw Pokeballs at the Pokemon that appears in front of you.

I have been playing the game since its US release and frankly so have been most of my friends. The big change, I suppose, is the interactive concept and the upgraded graphics that are refreshing as compared to those 8 bit Gameboy ones.

Other than throwing Pokeballs, it also gives you an incentive to go on a daily walk. Yes, this game that is a collaboration between Nintendo and Niantic Labs is much more than a lazy excuse to sit on a chair and fry your eyes out.

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You are actively encouraged, forced to walk around your nearest landmarks to catch more Pokemons or characters from the anime series of the same name to reach level 5 and head towards the training gym. Fans of the game or the animated series will remember that your main goal is to become a Pokemon trainer and fight battles.

Like any other game, it has its cheat codes or helpful tips. The one I discovered was that you are allowed two incense balls in your item bags. An incense ball can basically help you lure a Pokemon towards yourself without moving an inch and you can catch at least 5 or 6 of them in one go within a time limit of half an hour.

A friend of mine also discovered an ingenious method to catch the most famous and coveted Pokemon of them all: Pikachu. All you have to do is just refuse to catch the initial three Pokemons from the options of Squirtle, Charizard and Bulbasaur and the professor will offer you Pikachu instead.

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Now, most of us will not spend money on a game as addictive as this one but gold coins help buy more Pokemons and incense balls that elongate your journey in the game. We can then reach the nearest gyms, fight for their possession with another trainer and make our Pokemon guard it for a day or two which gives you 10 coins.

Out of the 250 Pokemons available, I have sadly managed to find only 13. But if you're not as lazy as I am and would love to get all adventurous, you can find 50 of them every day and catch at least 30.

The only drawback I felt, and the actual reason for its limited release, is its crashing servers around midnight every day since its release. Not only is it frustrating for your progress but also a scary prospect for your phone's battery - it drains out pretty much in an hour of playing.

After all this, it is still such a rage.

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And not to discount the sheer madness that Pokemon Go has brought - it has caused a highway crash, led to the discovery of a dead body, forced disbelievers to actually go to temples and spawned criminals who are using the app to target victims and rob them. Don't worry, all of them were caught.

To be fair, Pokemon Go has also done wonders for Nintendo's stock since its release.

But as they say -- love it or hate it, you definitely can't escape it.