A practical guide to Pokemon GO's location-based AR play, including raid meet-ups, PokeStop congregation points, and in-app purchases.
Pokemon GO is a location-based mobile game where players walk around the real world to catch Pokemon, battle and meet others at real-life landmarks.
Official age
13+
We recommend
13+
Developer
Niantic
Risks
5
Pokemon GO is the long-running location-based augmented reality game from Niantic, in which players walk in the real world to find, catch, and battle Pokemon. The game requires precise location access while in use and rewards players for visiting PokeStops, gyms, and raid locations that map directly onto real streets, parks, and landmarks. Niantic provides a separate Niantic Kids portal for under-13 accounts that gates social features. The big distinguishing risk against most other apps is that the gameplay actively encourages children to physically go somewhere and meet other players, sometimes adults they do not know.
Children and teenagers play Pokemon GO to walk around their neighbourhood catching Pokemon, hatch eggs by covering distance, and join scheduled raids and Community Day events. Many use Discord, Niantic Campfire, or local WhatsApp groups to coordinate raids. PokeStops and gyms at parks, churches, town squares, and outside schools become natural meet-up points. In-app spend uses PokeCoins, which can be bought with real money for incubators, raid passes, and event boxes.
Niantic Kids Account
Location: Sign-up flow -> Use a Niantic Kids account for under-13s
Set to: On for under-13s
Gates social features, friend codes, and trading until a parent unlocks them. Required by Niantic for under-13s.
Device Location Permission
Location: Phone Settings -> Privacy -> Location -> Pokemon GO
Set to: While using the app
Stops the game accessing location in the background. Never set to 'Always allow'.
Friend Codes and Trading
Location: In-app Settings -> Niantic Kids parent dashboard
Set to: Off until parent approves each contact
Stops your child trading with or adding strangers met via Discord or at raids.
In-App Purchases
Location: Phone Settings -> Screen Time / Family Link -> Purchases
Set to: Require approval
PokeCoin bundles can be expensive and Community Day boxes are easy to repeat-buy. Approval-required purchases are essential.
Niantic Campfire
Location: Separate Campfire app -> Settings
Set to: Off for under-16
Campfire is the social companion app where players chat about raids. We recommend keeping it off for younger children.
Set up a Niantic Kids account for under-13s and walk through the parent dashboard together
Time: 20 minutes
Agree a rule that your child never attends a raid alone - either you go with them or a known adult does
Time: 10 minutes
Lock in-app purchases behind a parent approval on the device before play starts
Time: 10 minutes
Walk a typical route together and identify which PokeStops are near schools, parks, and pubs so you both know which to avoid late in the day
Time: 30 minutes
Talk through what to do if an unknown adult tries to start a conversation at a raid - leave, tell a trusted adult, report to 101 if it felt unsafe, and CEOP if it was online afterwards
Time: 15 minutes
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
Myth: Pokemon GO is just a walking game, so it doesn't carry stranger-danger risks like social apps do.
Fact: The game deliberately places PokeStops, gyms and raids at real-world landmarks and rewards players for turning up in person, so raids can become meeting points with unfamiliar adults as well as other children.
Myth: If my child's account is a Niantic Kids account, nobody outside their circle can reach them.
Fact: A Niantic Kids account gates friend codes and trading until you approve them, but players still coordinate raids through Niantic Campfire or Discord groups, so conversations about not adding people met at a raid still matter.
Myth: Location permission only matters while the app is open, so it's fine to leave it set to Always Allow.
Fact: Pokemon GO only needs location while it's in use; setting it to 'Always Allow' lets the app track your child's whereabouts in the background for no gameplay benefit, so 'While Using the App' is the safer setting.
This age group shouldn't play independently. If they're keen, catch Pokemon together on your own account during a walk, so PokeStops and gyms stay somewhere you visit together rather than somewhere they go alone.
Set up a Niantic Kids account with purchases locked behind approval, and treat raids as a family outing. An adult should always be there, since gyms and raids draw in adults your child doesn't know.
A no-solo-raids rule still matters at this age. Agree they never go to a raid or busy PokeStop alone, and talk through what to do if an unfamiliar adult starts a conversation there — leave, and tell you or another trusted adult.
Independence grows, but keep talking about attending raids alone, sharing live location in Discord or Campfire raid groups, and staying aware of roads and surroundings while walking with the screen on.
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