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Getting Started
When you boot up Pokmon Go youll be asked to sign in either with Google or your Pokmon Trainer Club account. If youre serious about catching pokmon, its worth signing up to the Trainer Club if you havent already. Make sure you opt in to the newsletter it often contains redeemable codes for in-game bonuses. You cant link the two accounts, so make sure youre happy with your log in settings before you start the game.

After meeting Professor Willow, youll get to choose your trainer. After giving them a name, you can customise their appearance using the different variations of skin tones, eye and hair colour, clothes, and accessories.

Professor Willow will set you up with a starter pokmon, but he wont just hand one over. Youll be introduced to the mechanics when a Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur appear on the map. Tap your desired starter and follow the instructions on the screen to catch it. Bobs your uncle! Youve got your first pokmon.

Catching pokmon
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This is fairly straightforward. Just swipe your screen to lob the pok ball at the pokmon.

Youll see two values above its head HP and CP. HP is the pokmons hit points/ health, and CP represents the combat points which is basically how strong it is.

When you spot a wild pokmon, the capture ring around it will indicate how tricky it is to catch. Green is the easiest, then orange, and red. To maximise the chances of successfully catching the pokmon, tap and hold the pok ball and youll see that the capture ring will start shrinking. Time your throw so that you hit the pokmon when the ring is at its smallest, or as close as you can get. Get your practice in on the green pokmon, because youll need to hone that skill for the orange and red ones.

If youre faced with a tough pokmon, switch pok balls and use berries to make catching them easier, and youll see the colour of the capture ring change. If you see any pokmon out in the wild with question marks where the CP value usually is, its unlikely that youll be able to nab them as theyll be too powerful. You might want to save your items and time by skidaddling.

You can check out the pokmon that are nearby by tapping the bar at the bottom right of the map screen. The pokmon are arranged to indicate their proximity to you, so the one in the first slot will be closer to you than the one in the ninth slot. The order of the list will change as you move around and different pokmon will be hanging around
different area.

Tap on the pokmon you want to track down and look for the footprints on the map. The footprints act as barometer of how far away it is. The more prints, the further away you are.

Pokmon wont hang around the same spot forever, and some of the rarer ones will try to scarper when you try to catch them, so be sure to act quickly once the chase is on.

Once youve caught your pokmon, you can view their stats and abilities in the pokmon section, after touching the pok ball icon on the map.

A pokmon will have either one or two types, a basic/ quick attack, and a special/ charge attack. You can scroll down to take a look at these. The move themselves also fall into types as with other pokmon games.

You can choose how to organise them by tapping the icon at the bottom right of the pokmon screen.

Its not possible to trade Pokmon right now, but this feature might be introduced in time.