Exploring Lisbon at Pokemon Go City Safari
- Exploring Lisbon
- I got a Shiny Eevee with a Background FINALLY
- Lots of little pop-ups
I've been to a large number of Pokemon Go events, from things like their National Trust collaboration, which runs for ages, to Go Fest earlier this year. I've also been to other City Safari events previously, but it was my first time going to Portugal and being in Lisbon! That's sort of the thing about City Safari events - they are an excuse and a motivation to explore a new location and see more of a city you might be familiar with.
There are two types of players when it comes to a Pokemon Go City Safari: a full collector who spends every moment of the day catching Pokemon throughout the city and trying to complete the stamp challenges. I prefer to play as a more casual player, meeting up with other members of the Go community and completing the stamp rally main requirements while being a tourist in a new (or previously seen) place.
For those who are looking at the gameplay element, Pokemon Go City Safari transforms the map for those that have tickets. There are often regional spawns, an increased shiny rate, tons of extra raids... and the stamp rally! This is in-game, with lots of clusters of stamps at specific points that are of interest. These are in tourist areas or green spaces. You only need eight per day (Saturday and Sunday) to catch all of the special Eevees with their costume and backgrounds. It's fantastic, really and can be done in about 20 minutes. If you did want to get all of the stamps in a location, it's 78 in total for this city; you do get a background for your album and a little check mark that says you fully completed it.
This seemed like an impossible task, so Dann and I walked around one of the hub areas. There were two in Lisbon, and they had a physical stamp rally at the locations, so that you could go between the two and pick up some merch. There was a code card that gave you a raid pass, a poster, some of the team wristbands, and some new items: lure pins, egg pin, pokeball keychain and a pokeball pin. I do love the idea of having merch!
There is a research for being in the area, which gives an Eevee on the first page, along with some other little bits and bobs in-game. After we had done the six near the hub, we decided to meet up with some of our Pokemon GO friends to try some snacks before parting ways. They are intense players, so we were going to ride the tram back and forth, collecting Pokemon and hitting stops as they went. Dann and I started catching Pokemon all over Lisbon.
We went to the aquarium, we tried some of the traditional pastries there, we walked to the giant elevator (which had plenty of stops at it as well, so it was easy to finish our stamps!), and we enjoyed Lisbon. When it comes to Go Fest, there is the specific park that has all of the activities, like a hub for a time slot in your day, and it feels like everything should be packed in this timeframe. Go Safaris feel like such a different type of event - an event that encourages Pokemon Go players to really explore somewhere new, with the encouragement of some cool Pokemon and some friendly faces everywhere.
We had a fantastic time in Lisbon - it's a great city for them to have explored. I do love the pop-up hubs, though they had a huge line outside, and I find it great that they have these key areas of interest so that Pokemon Go players that may not have a friend to explore with can find others and enjoy playing in whatever way that they do play. I cannot wait for the next one and the next city that we get to explore together!
