Is Rice Park the best place in Minnesota to catch Pokemon?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJBn1BcgDMO/

It's not going unnoticed that a St. Paul park is home to what could be one of the hottest spots in the country for Pokemon Go players.

Evenings at Rice Park have become unexpectedly crowded in the past month, with hundreds of people milling about late into the night glued to their phones.

That's because the park is a haven for particularly rare Pokemon, with a poster on the Reddit thread "The Insanity that is Rice Park" saying they came out with "2 Aerodactyls, 2 Hitmonchan, 1 Dragonite (finally!), 1 Electabuzz, 1 Machamp, 1 Lickitung, 1 Kabuto."

https://twitter.com/ms_brittneylee/status/762313930823741440

"The screams of joy/horror of that Dragonite being caught/running away was insane!" they added.

Another Redditor commented earlier this week: "I was there on Thursday night around 10pm. That was my first time down there. I'm a pretty casual player (lvl 20.) HOLY S***!! There were almost one thousand people down there!

"I caught almost 35 drowzies, 5 jinx, 4 magikarp, a bunch of pidgies and one hitmonlee and a rhydon within 90 mins. Definitely poppin [sic]."

'One of the best spots in the world'

Alex Winter posts videos of his Pokemon attempts under the name "Obese Puppy" and has found Rice Park to be particularly fruitful ground.

Recent videos (which you can watch below – foul language warning!) shows his attempts to capture a Snorlax and a Dragonite alongside scores of other players.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlQJwLcFYSk

He told BringMeTheNews he has not seen "anywhere that has been even close to how fun Rice Park is" in the Twin Cities, adding: "I would be willing to say it has got to be one of the better spots in the world."

Why's that the case?

Well, firstly, Winter says: "It's well-lit at night and there are tons of people playing the game, making it exciting and social."

Because it's a city landmark, it is home to a lot of Pokestops (where players can get rewards by swiping across places of interest) – and players then attach "lures" to these Pokestops to encourage more Pokemon to spawn.

More importantly though is that at night time (generally after 7 p.m.) the park is a place where rare Pokemon spawn, which attracts floods of people trying to catch their prize before it's gone.

Winter, who is a Level 28 player and streams the game on his Twitch account, says he's been going to the park in the evenings 3-5 times a week.

"Later in the evening seems to be the best time I have seen, starting around 8 p.m. and going all the way till even 2 a.m."

This video he posted on Sunday showed his ultimately unsuccessful attempts to catch a Dragonite, one of the most powerful Pokemon on the game. As of Thursday morning, he still hadn't managed to get his hands on one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ6DcW3geMU

Pokemon Go spots at the State Fair

The Minnesota State Fair is the latest to jump on the Pokemon Go bandwagon, promising plenty of Pokestops and gyms for players as they make their way around the fairground.

A map of the stops and gyms has been released this week.

If you're looking for other decent locations around the Twin Cities to catch Pokemon, check out this Reddit group.