Afraid to roam: The unlevel playing field of Pokémon Go

Abstract

All games contain conflict, and all good games have uncertain outcomes. Whether conflict over resources, knowledge, or territory, to name a few types, games challenge players to overcome obstacles in interesting and fun ways. Pokémon Go challenges players to find and capture Pokémon, which requires time, patience, skill, and the freedom to access the game map (i.e., spaces in the real world) to its fullest extent. When players are denied full access, either through a technical glitch in the game—like when a server crashes or when networks become unavailable—or through real or imagined threats of violence or harassment, the game becomes inherently unfair. How might we make sense of issues of accessibility, privilege, and race raised by the game? When players say “I might die if I keep playing” (Akil, 2016), what might we learn about the limits of mobility and the ways in which pervasive play comes to be embedded in society?