Mini Hacks for Pokemon GO Players

We know the basics of the map and how to catch Pokémon. Now would be a good time to explore one of those blue-square floating things called PokéStops.

You remember that art mural just down the street from your house? Or that water fountain at the center of your neighborhood’s outdoor mall? Chances are they may be a PokéStop now.

Let’s take a look at what happens when I approach a nearby PokéStop on the map. As I get closer, it animates and becomes a rotating circle.

PokéStops are locations where you can collect items like Poké Balls, Razz Berries, incense, lures, eggs, and more. They’re scattered all throughout the game, and exploring a lot of them will give you more items and more opportunities to catch Pokémon. When you’re close to a PokéStop, select it on your map and it’ll bring up that Stop’s title and main image, sometimes displaying more interesting information about it.

To collect items, simply swipe the center circle right or left, and it will distribute items while it’s spinning. You need to tap on the items to retrieve them. You can only use a PokéStop when it’s light blue.

After you collect the items, the PokéStop will turn purple, and you’ll have to wait five minutes until it turns light blue and you can collect items again.

Frequently, you’ll see PokéStops that have what looks like little pink flower petals floating down from them. These are PokéStops that have been powered with a lure module, an item that powers up that PokéStop for thirty minutes and brings in a higher quantity of Pokémon to catch. Here you can see how I selected a lure to use on a PokéStop.

A PokéStop that has a lure module attached is helpful to all players, and you’ll begin notice players in real-life gathering around places where there is a lure module in the game.

PokéStops offer fun opportunities to chat and make friends with other Pokémon GO players in real life. Check out this map of a famous tourist destination in Los Angeles, where both the game and real life were bustling with Pokémon action.

Lures shouldn’t be confused with incense, another item that helps make more Pokémon appear nearby. Incense can also be used wherever you are, so you could activate one, hop on a bus for thirty minutes, and its effects will still work in that new location. Lures only work in one spot, while incense works wherever you go.

There is a way to tell if it was a lure, incense or just plain luck that attracted your Pokémon to you. If a Pokémon spawns, or appears, with a cloud of purple smoke around it, the Pokémon appeared because of an incense. If it appears with a purple ring around it, the Pokémon appeared because of a lure. And if neither appear, the Pokémon just spawned under regular circumstances.

Using a lure and incense at the same time doesn’t necessarily mean more Pokémon will come to you. I tried using both at the same time during the thirty minutes that the items were active. More than ten

Pokémon appeared because of the lure module, while only three appeared because of incense, and two appeared because of both methods. Notice here how the one of the Pokémon has both a small purple cloud and purple rings around it, while the other has purple rings; it suggests both came because of the lure, while the incense only had an effect on the first.

I tried both items again for another thirty minutes and got similar results. Keep in mind I was sitting in the same spot during this process, and they were around the same time of day. So while location and movement may impact what Pokémon will appear while using these items, generally speaking, incense is still best used while moving, and lure while staying in the same spot. But using both at the same time does not attract that much more than if you used them separately.