With a soaring 20 million daily users, Pokémon GO needs no introduction and if you haven’t played it yet, you witnessed how it took by storm the avenues and busy corners of the world.

At first glance the game doesn’t have a lot of depth to it. You have to go outside to catch Pokémon, battle for gyms and hatch the occasional egg. Still, Pokémon GO broke countless records and quickly became the top-selling mobile game of all time.

Innovative game mechanics and a long-running franchise certainly help to succeed, but is there something else to it?

I want to make a case for the psychological basis of the Pokémon GO user experience: I will show how it works, why it excels and where it could be improved.

PLAYER RESEARCH

“People’s behaviour makes sense if you think about it in terms of their goals, needs, and motives.” — Thomas Mann

Pokémon GO appeals to a diverse group of people. From couples well in their seventies (It’s true, I met them) to kids barely out of primary school, they all can relate to the game.

But what exactly do they get out of the game — and perhaps more importantly — why do they do it?

The obvious answer would be to segment the players by demographic variables like age, gender and go from there. While that may be useful, I decided to probe deeper and find answers to the following questions:

What are the behaviours and attitudes that different players have towards the game? What are their goals and motivations while playing the game? What are they most satisfied with and where do they struggle?

To tackle these questions I resorted to two essential research methods: empathy and immersion. I observed and listened to players, walked in their shoes and went through the ups and downs of their Pokémon-catching journeys. Soon I had over 700 testimonials collected through on-site interviews, contextual inquiries and online surveys.

I had data all right, but did I have meaning?

To derive insight from all the responses, I created six player personas that tell the stories of the different players. Right away three common themes emerged that help to position the personas against each other:

First, the Desired End State is the reason why players are driven to the game and it can be either social or competitive in nature. Are players motivated by the desire to compete or for the social experience that surrounds the game?

Second, the Degree of Investment is the amount of resources spent in the game (e.g., time, money and effort). Are players money-spending power users (high investment) or more casual weekend-only players (low investment)?

Third, the Temperament is the willingness for players to interact with each other. Are players gregarious and open to meet new people (extrovert) or do they prefer to enjoy the game by themselves (introvert)?

The PokéManiac

Experiencing the game, for the PokéManiac, is akin to travelling back in time, to the “good old days” of his childhood when life was easier and stress-free.

Early-adopters and consummated power-users, they have been waiting for a game like Pokémon GO their whole lives. And it’s finally here!

The call has been answered and now is the time to “be the very best, like no one ever was”.

When the PokéManiac is catching rare and powerful Pokémon, he feels the full breadth of the Pokémon ethos. Ash Ketchum traveled the world to defeat all the gym leaders and so does the PokéManiac, in his quest to “catch ’em all”.

This is a phenomenon psychologists call experience-taking and it’s a pretty cool idea. That’s why when you watch a movie you feel what the protagonist is feeling, for example.

Anyway, the PokéManiac is extremely competitive in nature and has invested a lot in the game. He’s on top of local online groups and always goes to Pokémon GO events.

Everybody knows who he is and he knows everybody too — everybody who matters, anyway. And that makes him so proud.

The game gives him a sense of accomplishment and recognition he probably hasn’t felt before. He’s on a mission and there’s no stopping him.

The Social Explorer

The Social Explorer is a different beast. She doesn’t take the game as seriously as the PokéManiac but she enjoys it as much.

She’s looking to catch the cutest Pokémon and explore the game with the help of her friends.

As far as the Social Explorer is concerned, Pokémon GO is the perfect excuse to be surrounded with friends and spend some quality time together.

Do you know what makes her day? Finding that a friend also plays the game and that they can now catch Pokémon together.

That’s because she takes great pleasure from the achievements of others and wishes the game had more ways to interact with her friends. She’s the perfect example of social learning theory — the idea that we learn a great deal from observation and contact with others.

The Double Team

A lot of couples play Pokémon GO together and they usually start as follows: Boy downloads app, boy falls in love with app, boy gently nudges girl to do the same. “See? I told you were gonna love it”, he says.

Next thing you know a weekend is not the same without Pokémon GO and the couple’s newfound ritual is on. Double the party, double the fun!

Pokémon GO has the perfect mix of cooperation and competition that reflect the couple’s own dynamics. The Double Team can be very competitive but they also have their supportive moments.

In the afternoon they may be out conquering gyms — fuelling their territorial and more dominant nature — and during the evening they may stroll through the boardwalk in the hope of incubating a powerful Lapras or Snorlax (talk about maternal connotations).

The Millennial Horde

“Poké what? You mean those dusty old cartridges stored in the attic next to that AC remote control?”, wondered the Millennial Horde. And boy, were they surprised. How could something so worn-out be the next “big thing”?

Even though they were shocked at first, they fell for the bandwagon effect and didn’t need further convincing.

They are the natural-born-Pokémon Masters. They live and breathe the game and every waking moment is another time they could be catching that elusive Dragonite.

PokéManiacs in training, they are very ambitious about their goals in game. And they know how to reach them, too.

They know the game’s hidden mechanics inside out — they learned from their PokéManiac friends — and use that for their advantage.

The Lone Trainer

The Lone Trainer is an ambiguous one. He wants to fit in but he doesn’t know how. He wants to be better at the game but, at the same time, he feels guilty about it.

Because of these contradicting thoughts playing Pokémon GO brings him a lot of mixed feelings.

So how can he solve this cognitive dissonance? He may think to himself: “Well, at least I’m walking and being active” or “I’m getting to know new places around the city so there’s no problem.”

As a result — and depending on the circumstances — he may become a PokéManiac and ignore the negative feelings or stop playing the game altogether.

The PokéFamily

The PokéFamily, on the other hand, are a high-spirited and fun-loving bunch. They too realise that Pokémon might be out of their demographic, but they don’t care about it.

Because the kids love it, they love it too. And after years of experts saying kids spend too much time at home, Pokémon GO came to save the day and parents can appreciate that.

It all started when the young ones wanted to play this shiny new game, but parents were concerned with leaving them alone in the streets. So they gave it a try — as it seemed fun and easy to learn — and before they could spell Pikachu, they were hooked.

The PokéFamily are the seasonal players who will stop playing as the weather grows colder, at least until a major update rolls out and the craving for Pokémon kicks in.

In any case they’ll agree that Pokémon GO is the best way to bond since SingStar.