Doomscrolling? Have they not heard of Pokemon? (New Side Quest! #1)
Games Played: Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket (2024), Pokemon Go (2015)
I can’t lie, I’ve been known to Doomscroll. Spending upwards of an hour cycling through different social media, closing the apps and reopening them seconds later. If I’m not doing that, I’ve got the short form video brain rot. It’s not TikTok for me, it’s YouTube Shorts. Over the past months I’ve seen about half of Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul and the Bay Transformers movies, all in 30 second to 1 minute clips, edited with visual flairs, music that barely fits and subtitles that are wrong.
For a month of 2025 so far, I’ve made an effort to change that. I’ve replaced a bunch of my social media usage with two Pokemon phone games – GO and Trading Card Game Pocket and I can definitely say they’ve helped out, even if one has captured my heart a lot more than the other.
Initially I did really love the trading card game, overt this month I’ve completed nearly the entirety of the two available packs – Mythical Island and Genetic Apex as well as the bonus full arts and things of the like. I even went through the challenge battles, completing them at every difficulty tier. I didn’t have the commitment Jade has as she beat every challenge in every battle of every difficulty. The problem is spending time creating decks and getting good at the game would take longer than my casual sessions playing the game. That and the battles often resorting to coin flips puts me off. I still check in daily for my packs, that dopamine rush never goes away.
Most of my time then has been spent in Pokemon Go. It’s something that is eternally gratifying – see a Pokemon, catch it. You now have that Pokemon. I’ve obviously played the main series before but having also played Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee, I already have the gist of what happens in the game. Despite the fact that I am roughly 9 years too late for the party and running around the streets is no place for a fat 26 year old, I’ve still really enjoyed that basic loop of the game. Of course there is more to it than that, there’s trading (which is done locally???), battling Team Rocket grunts, the Gyms you can put your Pokemon in, the challenges you must complete. I mentioned the loop before and this game really does have it, not just in the Pokemon but in the challenges – both daily, special events and the “Main Missions”. Everything feels like it ties in together nicely which is just enough for me to look over the fairly egregious restrictions the game puts on you for money at times. Maybe it wasn’t so bad when the game was new and popular and people were out and about but since my house is just far enough away from things to play consistently, I’m limited to my bus rides. It has been fun when I’ve been travelling though. Couple that with the fact Jade and I both play and it makes for a fun way to kill time on the trains and whatnot. I’ve also caught like 10 shinies so that’s pretty cool too.
And if you’re not into Pokemon? That’s fine! There are so many cheap or free phone games on your releavant app store that can take depression out of your commutes or your evening time chill. I’m not saying cut out social media, I know I can’t, but maybe replace some of it with some games. You might be pleasantly surprised.
