So, just to be clear . . .
Pokemon Go is the game where you steal digital animals from their natural home, then train them for brutal pit fights against the captive digital animals of others? And parents are cool with their kids doing this? :P
Yep...
It's a blast! Atleast, the daughters, fiance and I have been having a great time with it. It's already cost me my phone, when it fell into the Comel river. We've got to see an increidble amount of monuments, fouintains, historical markers and plaques that we would've never knew were there if not for the game. We've also encountered a lot of real wild life, from deer (lots of deer) to water moccasins, squirrels and a lot of fish.
It's a lot more of a social game than you would think. I've never seen nerd type people be so open before. Parks and public areas that are usually abandoned at night are now flourishing with people walking around, talking and laughing. I've also seen a few small refreshment entrepenuers spring up. Overall I think this game is a big step in a good direction for everyone. I can't wait to see what types of RPGs come out using this play style. Mix them with some VR headets and you could have a pretty awesome game on your hands.
Level 20 - Instinct
Strategy/tips:
Don't use ANY of your star dust until after you reach level 20. It isn't worth it.
Only evolve your highest CP Pokemon, the stats randomize on evolution.
Save your evolutions for when you have an XP egg.
Only use your XP egg when you have a lot of pokemon to evolve. The exception is for when you first start the game. Make sure you're at a lured pokestop and then use your egg. The bonus XP for finding all new pokemon is worth it.
Make sure that you always have eggs in the incubators.
When you take a gym make sure you start your shop timer. You don't have to hold the gym, you just need to be in a gym when the timer is up to gain the additonal bonus.
When trying to hatch eggs, focus on walking in a long straight line. The distance calculator only checks in at intervals. If you walk in a circle you may not get a lot of the distance you walked counted.
Find a local place where you can sit and hit 2 or more pokestops from a single spot, find some shade and bring a book. We have a great starbucks with free Wifi nearby and 3 pokestops from their patio.
Local museums, gardens and parks usually have a lot of dense pokestops int ehm with shade.
If you're really hardcore, there are a lot of local facebook pokemon groups popping up with good tips on where to hunt and where to find rare nests.