Originally posted on November 25, 2018
What?
Obviously I had to try Catholic Pokemon Go. It’s only available in Spanish but with Google and patience I’ve worked out how to play. Yeah this is not a real translation but I wasn’t finding any results elsewhere.Seems all these English language game sites were content to get clicks in with the existence of the game without playing it. Fair enough. Most people just want to laugh at the idea.
How to sign up
I used facebook to sign up as it was fastest. Other than my name no other info autofilled. The other language options are shown with flags but cannot be selected. I’m unsure how much of the profile you need to fill out, not much. This is my “complete” profile. As for your avatar: you can’t select individual elements but as you tap through certain characters will emerge. 30 seconds of searching did not find a promotional code.
Tutorial
The tutorial can be skipped by clicking “omitir ayudas.” Clockwise from your image the icons are:
- User profile
- Access the game menu
- Compass on/off (rotates the screen in the direction your phone is pointed)
- Messages and invitations
- Your eTeam (The saints you have collected)
- Your resources – spirituality, food, and water
- Search for Churches or points of interest
Only Catholic churches appeared when I searched for churches.
How to play – the map
Walk around the real world to move around in the game. If GPS is off then the map appears as just water. Walk into or tap on an icon to interact with it. If the icon is too far away it displays a preview.
There are three types of icons floating over the map: resources, coins, and religious figures. Coins can be spent on trying again on the trivia questions. There are also the three types of religious figures to collect: Saints, Biblical Figures, and Mary. Mary of the many names.
There are also billboard with adverts. If you tap or walk close enough this pops up. You can watch the video and earn points if you finish it. It will use mobile data to load it. “Cerrar” closes the pop-up. As does walking further away.
Unlike Pokemon GO the Saints arn’t going to be in the same place on your phone as your friend’s. Looks like the disks are generated when you get to an area. If you find the boarder between areas you can walk back and forth so it spawns lots of resources.
Answers to the quizzes
I tracked the right answers for a bit and this was the pattern:
ttffttffftffffttfffffffftffffffftfftfftffftfftttf
Go for False unless you recognise the question as almost two thirds are wrong. I’ve already started notice repeats biblical figures like Saul. Maybe this could be used as an educational tool! You can look up Saints in the pokedex catalog and read about their lives and works. Just in Spanish.
If you get the answer wrong then you can pay three coins to try again. The question may not be the same.
Restarting the game
This is why I’m glad I was translating everything. Red usually means STOP or QUIT but here it means continue.
What’s the eTeam?
I think it’s you and your friends getting together to find God Pokemon Saints. You need emails to get someone on the team. Sounds too much like socialising.
World Rankings
When I first checked the account with the most points was “www.jw.org” the website of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. On 13.11.18, I’m 128 in the world. This improves.
How do you get points?
Walking gets you a point every few meters. Answering a question right gets you 7 points and collecting resources gets 20. Which sounds wrong. There are no points for the coins.
Can you cheat?
I tested out a gps spoofer and yeah. Don’t want to push it, though. God will see.
Is it fun? Compared to Pokemon Go?
It’s not as good. I played PoGo most days for a year. There’s no fun catching mechanic or cute monsters. Just cartoon stills and trivia. Slightly fuller review here.