Round Rock Businesses Offer Pokémon Go Deals

The newest craze has started to invade Round Rock with local businesses starting to offer Pokémon Go deals & incentives.  But what exactly is Pokémon Go?  Is it a “safe” app?  And how can we do it together as a family?  We will look at all these aspects of this app that people are obsessed with and show you the places in Round Rock to play it in.

If you head to Downtown Round Rock this past week, you will see groups of kids (and adults) walking around with this smartphones everywhere.  Literally everywhere.  Have you seen this phenomena that just came about in the last week?

What is Pokémon Go?

As a mom of 3 children, I monitor what apps they download on their smartphones and was pretty excited to learn about Pokémon Go when it was first released.  My kids were eager to play outside and walk around the neighborhood to find these little guys.

Pokémon Go  is a free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic and published by The Pokémon Company as part of the Pokémon franchise.  The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual Pokémon who appear throughout the real world. It makes use of GPS and the camera of compatible devices. Although the game is free-to-play, it supports in-app purchases of additional gameplay items.

To log in to the game, you need a Google account or Pokémon Trainer Club account.  Once an account is created and your avatar is customized, you are ready to go hunting.  You need to walk around to find Pokémons to catch by throwing balls at them. This is what I love about the game, it keeps kids active.

Is Pokémon Go Safe?

In recent days, I have read many articles about the safety of Pokémon Go. As a concerned parent, I wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything hidden behind this craze that could endanger my children. Here is what I have been able to find out:

• There was concern that by logging in with your Google Account, the app would have access to your entire account, however that has been corrected and is no longer occurring.
• There has also been reports of accidents with people’s heads into their phones and not watching where they are going – like into the street.  Keep your head up & be aware of surroundings.
• The smartphone vibrates when a Pokémon is nearby, so you really don’t have to be glued to your phone to find one.
• Because people can create ‘lure modules’ in the account, there is also a fear of strangers luring children to places they shouldn’t be.  This is a great opportunity to have a discussion with your kids about personal safety – we encourage our kids to always play in a group and with us as parents.

It’s a fun craze that is soon to die down, but in the meantime, if your kids are excited about it, embrace this time to play something fun with them. That’s why our family is excited about it – it’s fun the trash talk my older two – they are so much better than this mom – and it is getting us all out of the house and playing together.

Local Businesses & Pokémon Go Offers

Several local Round Rock businesses are embracing the craze and offering incentives to play Pokémon Go near them.

The Round Rock Express recently announced that you can “Come catch a “Pika-CHOO” at Dell Diamond this Sunday, July 17 for their Pokémon Go event! Use the promo code “pokemon” for a discounted ticket that allows you to catch Pokémon in the outfield before the game! Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Jana’s House. for more information.

Star Co. Coffee is offering a Pokémon Go Happy Hour: Come in between 5pm and close (10pm), show us them your Pokémon Go app and receive 10% off! Click here for more information.

Svante’s is offering a discount for Pokémon Go as well: Catch a Pokémon inside their restaurant and receive 10% off any appetizer and $1 off a draft beer. See their deal here.

We will keep an eye out for any other Pokémon Go discounts and update this list.  If you know of any, please let us know in the comments below!