Seniors Are Playing Pokémon GO to Stay Healthy

A recent article by CNET details how some seniors have been playing Pokémon GO and have gotten healthier because of it, as well as getting way too into the game. The article discusses three people specifically that the writer met in Singapore, all of which are over sixty years old and over level thirty in the game.

Though Pokémon GO, and Pokémon in general, is usually thought of as a game for children, these players have proven that anyone at any age can get into it. One woman, Amy Ke, is sixty-five years old and has reached level forty, the highest level in the game. In addition to reaching the highest level, she has also caught every Pokémon available in the game (the only exceptions being the few Pokémon that can only be caught in specific parts of the world). Ke is so into the game that she even IV trains her Pokémon and uses a third-party tracker to find Pokémon. She has also spent over five hundred dollars on in-game purchases.

Another senior, Anthony Seow, states that playing Pokémon GO is good exercise. Seow is level thirty-seven in the game and has also caught every Pokémon aside from region-locked ones. Seow plays the game for two hours a day and says that he knows of another regular Pokémon GO player who, after a year of playing, has alleviated his heart issues. Sixty-five-year old Steve Ashie also plays the game for a couple of hours every day. Ashie is level thirty-three and is just one Pokémon away from catching them all (again, except for region-specific ones). Ashie started playing the game when his wife suggested he start playing with the family for exercise. Since then, Ashie says he has lost weight and has walked as much as eight miles in a single Pokémon GO session.