During Summer 2016, like millions and millions of people across the globe, we downloaded the app Pokémon GO on our smartphones and joined the Pokémon hunt.

As a digital lab, we were not only interested in the game itself. We were also fascinated by how Niantic Inc, the game’s developer, quickly established a new paradigm in the gameplay world with its location-based features. Players forced to be active in the real world to progress in the game had never been seen before. The rapid and massive adoption of the game worldwide was the most impressive: there will be a BEFORE and an AFTER Pokémon GO in the gaming world!

Day after day, our team rapidly became addicted to the game — even those of us who didn’t grow up with the dream of being the greatest Pokémon Master!

Rapidly, Coteries Lab’s team became hardcore Pokémon trainers. Pokémon GO “ON” on most phones, in case a rare Pokémon appeared during a meeting or during lunchtime. We also placed lures on the Campus (we are located on EPFL Campus in Lausanne, Switzerland) during breaks. Every day, we challenged each other to know who had the best Pokémon. Eliott had caught a Dragonite after work? You can be sure everyone in the team — and outside — knew about it…

However, the more we played, the more we couldn’t help but feel frustrated: how to find a real and potentially lasting connection with other people playing in the same area?

It’s awesome to meet and discuss with people near lures, but wouldn’t it be even better to be able to continue conversing and playing together later too?

The real value in Pokémon GO is to play with others. Yet, how were you supposed to do that without a great channel to interact and organize gatherings with people in the same area?

Of course, plenty of groups on Facebook, WhatsApp or Telegram were dedicated to the game. But when you were meeting other players, you did not necessarily want to share your phone number or your real name with them (your Pokémon GO username is sufficient, right?). How about having a dedicated channel where you can simply interact with people sharing the same interest in the game, nothing more?

Brainstorming started… What do we need to allow us to interact with players in the same area, wherever we are? As players, we wanted to know what’s going on anywhere, anytime.

That’s how we started building the app that should become the perfect companion for Pokémon GO: GoTeam!

Our goal, providing a real value for the players: anywhere, anytime. A tool that people want to use and nurture. We developed the app with hardcore players and our own needs and desires.

We capitalized on one of the biggest strengths of Pokémon GO: the sense of belonging to a group.

Depending on the team you chose (red, blue or yellow), you won’t interact the same way with other people. As a player, we wanted to create a little team with the people around us, at a local scale, and attack all the rival team’s gyms!

That’s about the origin of the GoTeam! mobile app, that we have designed and developed in less than a month.

But how does GoTeam! mobile app work?

When you open the app for the first time, you need to create an account (from scratch or with a Google account. Then, you need to enter a username (it is recommended to use the same as in Pokémon GO), your team in the game and turn on the location services for the app.

Hurrah! You are now connected to GoTeam! The feed displays all the posts posted by players near you. Every topic has a specific color (Gym = yellow, Hunt = green, Tips = purple).

The aim of the gym section is to provide players in the same team a tool that allows them to organize attacks against other team’s gym. You can propose a plan of attack and a meeting time to maximize the chance of meeting players of your team near the gym.

The Hunt section is to help players ask questions about hunting or catching Pokémon. You need more Magikarp to evolve it in Gyarados? Ask fellow trainers the best spots in the area to catch a maximum or share yours with the community.

The tips section is dedicated to questions regarding the game in general.

To publish a post, simply click on the + button at the bottom of the screen and select the topic of your post. Moreover, feel free to add comments to posts, or upvote them.