'Garfield GO' Is Real, Exists On iOS And Android

'Garfield GO' Is Real, Exists On iOS And Android

Here it is: the genuine article. We now have a true Pokémon GO knockoff in the form of Garfield GO, which I think everyone agreed was the next logical license to go with after Pokémon.

It's the Garfield treasure hunting game we've all been waiting for, where the player hunts for coins out in the real world collecting hats, comic strips and other treasure, leveling up all the way.

It's out now on iOS and Android in the US, Canada and Australia. We've seen at least one terrifying Pokémon GO knockoff before, but this one is a bit more together than that one.

It's you might say, a little less polished than Pokémon GO. The map looks a little jankier, and the collection conceit doesn't work nearly as well with Pokémon around.

The lack of Niantic's giant database of Pokéstops and gyms makes the world feel flat. Still, the bones are there. You throw lasagna at Garfield to collect treasure because apparently, the Pokéball mechanic is the only way to interact with AR now.

Other than that, it's basically the same: walk around, tap coins when you get close to them, hurl some lasagna. Curiously, you can also apparently collect real-world rewards in the form of Amazon, Starbuck's and Domino's gift certificates, but I haven't played long enough to see how prevalent that is. My guess: not very.

This does, however, appear to be a genuine licensed game.

Seriously, however, the fact that there's nothing particularly interesting about this game reminds us that it isn't necessarily the AR conceit that made Pokémon GO such a monster success.

Remember, that game was basically a reskin of Ingress, a perfectly well-respected game that never reached anywhere near the heights that Pokémon GO managed in an instant.

No, Pokémon GO is a rare combination of game and brand, a perfect storm of old characters and new technology. Still, my guess is that we're teetering on the edge of a whole lot more AR games, especially with the coming advent of Apple's ARKit.

We know that every game company on Earth got very interested in the format immediately after Pokémon GO came out, and at a certain point, we'll see the fruits of those labors.

Personally, I'd love to see a backend platform from Niantic to help with some of this stuff: the company is better at tech than it is at game design, and I'd love for other people to able to play with those Pokéstops. Via Source: forbes