Pokémon Go Takes Players All Over

The worldwide phenomenon of Pokémon Go has taken players all over the world – but poses a problem for the US Holocaust Museum.

Three areas of the museum in Washington, DC, have been designated as ‘PokeStops’, where players collect items like potions, pokeballs, and Pokémon eggs. Andy Hollinger, the director of communications for the museum, argues that playing the game in the museum is “extremely inappropriate,” adding that “we are attempting to have the museum removed from the game.”

The museum isn’t the only case where people have found the extent of Pokémon Go inappropriate – a cemetery in Evansville, Indiana, was overrun with players moving across grave plots late at night. HSPS applicants should consider the globalising force of an interactive game like Pokémon Go, and how the fluidity of boundaries is emphasised when mixing technology and material culture.

Geography applicants should consider the changes enacted by Pokémon Go, which has mobilised young people to interact with the environment in new ways.