Pokémon GO

What it is

Pokémon GO asks the player to walk to real places. That is healthy in a park with you. It is a problem when a child goes alone to a meetup, or when friends and gifts connect them to strangers who can see roughly where they play.

Gifts, raids, and friend codes are social features. A “friend” may never have met your child.

What to look out for

• Playing alone at night or in places you did not agree.
• Meetups organised in the game chat.
• A friend list full of people they have not met.
• Location shared onward to another app.

Ways to stay safe

These steps are for Pokémon GO. The house rules still apply on every app.

• Do not put your card details on their device. Not in the App Store, Google Play, the game, or PayPal. If you choose to pay, type the card in yourself for that purchase, then remove it.
• Younger children play with you. You decide the places.
• Keep the friend list to people you can name.
• Turn off unnecessary social features and keep their trainer name free of their real name.
• No meetings arranged in the game unless you are going too.

In the news

Published reports you can read yourself. A headline is the proof, not a set of instructions, and this page does not repeat graphic detail.

• Games that sell random prizes are getting higher age ratings BBC Newsround · 2026 This BBC report is about paid random prizes in games children play. Pokémon GO also sells items, and it uses real places, so meetups are with you and the card stays off the phone. The report does not name Pokémon GO.

A way to start the conversation

You can say: "The game knows where you are walking. We only play in places we agreed. If someone wants to meet for a raid, the answer is that I come as well, or it does not happen."

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