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A “lure party,” as they’ve come to be known, involves setting a “lure,” or device that temporarily attracts more Pokémon to one area for the benefit of all who pass by, onto “PokéStops,” which can be landmarks, statues or buildings around the city. Confederation Park, with its four lures and central location, makes it a prime spot to gather.

Photo by Darren Brown / Postmedia

Photo by Darren Brown / Postmedia

Tuesday’s party was spoiled somewhat by the fact that the game’s servers were on and off for the majority of the afternoon, forcing some to head elsewhere downtown in search of better service. Most of the crowd seemed happy to lounge on the grass in the sun (the high was a pleasant 23 C), munch on snacks and talk strategy with fellow players.

(You can watch a replay of our Facebook Live from Confederation Park here.)

Pokémon Go has become ubiquitous since it was officially released July 6 and, after a bit of a wait, on July 17 in Canada. That didn’t seem to matter much, as thousands of Canadians had already downloaded the game through craftier means, either by signing up for a U.S. iTunes account or by “side-loading” the game on Android phones straight to the device, rather than through the app store.

Meanwhile, the game reportedly accrued at least 7.5 million US downloads from July 7 to 11, and has been raking in an estimated revenue of $1.6 million per day in Apple’s iOS store alone, according to Forbes.

Job has spent around $20 on in-app purchases (the app is free but players can buy items like Poké Balls and luresfrom the game’s store). However, there are people Job knows that have “spent hundreds of dollars” on the game.

Some stray notes from the day:

1. Mayor Jim Watson was checking out the start of the event at 2 p.m. with Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney. This reporter had prepared for players “Who’s That Pokémon?”, a game from the television show in the 1990s where viewers try to guess the Pokémon by its silhouette alone. Watson’s special assistant Will Bulmer, standing to the side and relatively silent up until this point, suddenly spoke up and rifled off the names in expert fashion, scoring an impressive six out of seven.