There are tons of videos out there describing how to play Pokémon GO. This is a simple, text-based tutorial that gets you all the main points in a single, easy-to-read list.
Enjoy!
Basics
The game is about collecting Pokemon. You do this by actually moving. Yes, I know. It’s weird.
When you start you can pick between three Pokemon; if you don’t select one of them and you walk away from your starting location 4 times, Pikachu will appear and you’ll get him.
You capture Pokemon by throwing balls at them. The balls are containers that land on them and capture them inside. You then own that Pokemon (unless he escapes).
The easiest way to do this is to lob the ball up into the air (pushing your finger up quickly) to throw the ball in the air so it lands on its head
When you capture a Pokemon you get two things: Stardust and Candy. Stardust is like a universal resource, but the Candy you get is specific to the Pokemon you caught.
You use Stardust and Candy to level-up or evolve your Pokemon later in the game.
Moving around
Blue Circles are Pokestops, which are around landmarks and restaurants and such. When you click on one, and you see the circle, spin it from side to side and stuff will drop out of it. These refresh every few minutes so you can come back later.
The items that drop out of Pokestops can be used later when you do combat between your Pokemon and other peoples’ in Gyms
Finding Pokemon
As you move around you will see lots of different icons on the map. If you see rustling in the grass, that’s likely a Pokemon that’s about to jump out. Get ready to catch it.
If you pull up your Nearby map (bottom right), you’ll see a list of shadows representing nearby Pokemon.
The Pokemon closest to you are in the top left of the map, and they have no footprints under them. The ones with two or three footprints are further away (more steps to get them).
As you walk around, you can watch that map. If you see something with no footprints, they’re extremely close to you and you should look for it and catch it.
Growing your Pokemon
Feed your Pokemon Stardust and their type of Candy to make them more powerful, which will help with combat by increasing their CP.
It gets increasingly more difficult to raise their CP level.
Combat
The advanced part of the game starts at level 5 when you can join a team and enter Gyms.
Gyms are the giant spinny skyscraper looking things that you see on the map, usually with a Pokemon on the top of it.
Combat is between your Pokemon and Pokemon from the opposing team.
You do combat with other Pokemon by tapping quickly on the screen.
You swipe side to side to dodge.
You press and hold to do your special attack.
In general, the stronger Pokemon will win, but if you don’t dodge and attack you can still lose to a weaker creature.
Gray Gyms are not owned by anyone. You can enter a Pokemon there and take control of it for your team, but it’ll likely get removed by a stronger force relatively soon.
If a Gym is colored, that color represents the team that has control of it.
Teamwork is a good thing for the combat.
After combat you will need to refresh your Pokemon with potions and other items.
Your Pokemons’ CP is its Combat Power, and they go up by feeding it Candy.
When you battle to take over a Gym you have to knock down the prestige level of the opposing team that owns the Gym.
Once you get their prestige down to 0, you have to enter your own Pokemon there or else someone might steal the Gym you just earned.
Special items
At higher level you will get GreatBalls and UltraBalls that will make it easier to catch them.
You can also get Rasberries to feed difficult Pokemon so they’re easier to catch (after you make them your friend). :(
You can use Incense to attract Pokemon to your location for like half an hour.
You can also create Lures that bring in mad Pokemon to a specific area. Other people will see the Lure and will come there as well, so be ready.
Eggs magnify your experience for capturing Pokemon.
[ NOTE: There have been people being attacked, robbed, etc. at Lure points, so be safe when going to out-of-the-way Pokestops and Lure locations. ]
Advanced
There are advanced ways to throw Pokeballs. Instead of just flicking your finger up to lob the ball, you can also spin your ball fast before you throw it, and then when you throw it it’ll curve.
The rings around the Pokemon are the area you have to hit with your Pokeball to capture the Pokemon. The more accurate you are the better, i.e., it’s better to use fewer balls to capture a Pokemon
There are also accuracy bonuses for the rings. The rings actually move within each other–the inside and outside. When the inside ring is perfectly centered inside the outer one, that’s when you make the most points. If it’s off-center, you make fewer.
The points are 100 for regular, 50 for close to center, and 100 for the rings being centered.
As Pokemon get higher level the rings get smaller and smaller, and they change color.
The circles are green when they’re easy, yellow when hard, and red when really hard.
For advanced targeting at high levels, wait until the Pokemon stops its move routine before you land your shot. It should be landing right as it finishes its movement.
Capturing these get increasingly difficult as they go up in level, and they also get harder to keep in the balls.
The in-game way to earn currency (Pokecoins) is in the Gym, but you can also purchase them through micro payments.
Here are a couple of great high-level tutorials: https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemongo/comments/4snrnu/lv22_player_giving_small_tips_of_advice_also/, and
Notes and tips
1.Consider buying a battery pack. It’ll be super helpful if you’re out and about and run low on power.
2.Like I said in the text, be sure to watch yourself when exploring strange places. Have buddies. Make sure there are people around. Etc.
3.I’ll be adding more advanced tips soon!