Unleashing the Power of Pokémon: The Ultimate App to Complete the Trifecta
Pokémon's holistic approach to promoting healthy lifestyles through exercise and sleep is commendable However, the missing piece in their app lineup is addressing healthy eating habits This article explores the potential benefits and possibilities of a new Pokémon app that focuses on encouraging nutritious eating
Highlights
Pokemon's recent lifestyle apps, such as Pokemon GO and Pokemon Sleep, have successfully integrated into players' daily lives, promoting activity and rest.
The focus of the series should shift towards creating a new app that revolves around promoting healthy eating. This app could offer guidance on making food choices and provide a wide range of nutritious recipes.
By incorporating elements of gamification and integrating it with other popular apps, Pokemon has the opportunity to develop a trio of lifestyle apps that not only encourage a healthy and active lifestyle but also make it enjoyable.
Pokemon's latest mobile game has been another success, prompting the company to consider a new project centered around healthy food, cooking, and eating habits. This would complete their trilogy of lifestyle apps, which already includes ventures into exercise and sleep with Pokemon GO and Pokemon Sleep, respectively. With expansions into new areas like the Netflix series Pokemon Concierge and the MOBA game Pokemon Unite, it seems the franchise aims to be a part of every aspect of players' lives.
Pokemon's Apps Promote Healthy Lifestyles with Players
Pokemon GO was not only designed to fulfill fans' dreams of becoming real-life Pokemon trainers but also to encourage players to explore the real world. The game's health benefits were supported by a study shortly after its release in 2016, and Niantic has continued to enhance this aspect with the introduction of Gyms, walking with Buddies, and the recent addition of the Routes feature. This has successfully promoted an active lifestyle for players.
In 2019, Pokemon further expanded its goal of bringing people and Pokemon closer together by announcing Pokemon HOME and Pokemon Sleep during a press conference. While walking had already been turned into entertainment, Pokemon aimed to make sleeping enjoyable as well. The release of the Pokemon Sleep app this year has been met with enthusiasm from players, despite initial concerns about data tracking and overheating batteries. It has proven to be popular in helping users achieve a restful night's sleep.
Pokemon Has Yet to Tackle Healthy Eating
Pokemon GO and Pokemon Sleep have successfully integrated themselves into two important aspects of their players' daily lives. The Pokemon franchise has been transparent about its intent to gamify and capitalize on these areas. They have even ventured into promoting better oral hygiene with Pokemon Smile, primarily targeting children. However, there is still one aspect of a healthy lifestyle that Pokemon has yet to explore - eating.
Diets have gained a negative reputation in recent years due to body shaming, unachievable expectations, and exclusionary practices within the community. In response to this, health-related brands, influencers, and apps have shifted towards promoting positivity, support, and celebrating members' accomplishments, regardless of their size. Given Pokemon's current success and the popularity of this trend, it presents a perfect opportunity for Pokemon to venture into promoting healthy eating alongside its existing apps for walking and sleeping.
How a New Pokemon App Could Tackle Healthy Eating
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To protect its reputation, Pokemon must be cautious when associating with dieting. Therefore, a well-designed app promoting healthy eating should avoid perpetuating harmful ideas like calorie counting or food group myths. Instead, the app should focus on educating users about food and healthy diets using Pokemon as a medium.
For example, recent mainline games like Sword and Shield and Scarlet and Violet have featured curries and sandwiches. Building on this, a healthy eating app could provide players with guidance on what types of food they should eat, along with recipes to try. By including food-themed Pokemon, the app can help balance players' perspectives on "good" and "bad" food, showing that all are equal in the world of Pokemon. In fact, the app could even use Munchlax, a Pokemon known for its appetite, as its mascot and partner for players, similarly to how Snorlax represents Pokemon Sleep.
However, it is unclear how an app can gamify the act of eating in the same way that Pokemon has gamified walking and sleeping. To promote a healthy lifestyle, the app could introduce gameplay involving a Pokemon Professor named Willow and Neroli, who focus on studying Pokemon eating habits. By enlisting the player's help in this research with their partner Munchlax, the app can encourage players to track their daily food intake, meal timings, cravings, and more. This information will shape the player's gameplay experience as they receive positive feedback and support from the Professor.
Additionally, connecting this app to Pokemon GO and Pokemon Sleep could provide valuable insights into players' eating habits, offering a more comprehensive view. This integration could also enhance the overall gameplay experience by rewarding players with in-app benefits based on their sleep duration or walking distance. By leveraging the popularity of the Pokemon series and striking the right balance between these apps, Pokemon has the potential to monopolize a trifecta of healthy lifestyle apps, surpassing what others have achieved.
