This post I will talk a little about a game that I have been playing for a little over 18 years since it first hit America.    Millions of people have played it and I don't think there is anyone in America who hasn't heard of Pokemon.   For me the biggest attraction is the fact that there are so many options to go with and like a lot of people with OCD (a common diagnosis among aspies so don't worry even if you are going crazy with your patterns you are in good company) I like to complete sets where if I get a book I like to complete the whole set and with Pokemon you could do so without having parents complain about the amount of room its taking.

With what I was planning to say about it already above and it being too short a post I will talk a little about it.   It was created by a man named Satoshi Jajiri (who also has aspergers) who as a kid loved collecting bugs.   The story (from Wikipedia) goes that as Japan got more urban he wanted his kids to enjoy collecting bugs like he did so he made a world where you could go around fighting and collecting different animals and they become stronger the closer (and the more levels they grow) you are to them.

As for the game itself.   There are currently 22 games released in the US being Red, Blue, Yellow (designed for the original game boy), Gold, Silver, Crystal, (they are designed for Gameboy Color and due to programming issues the games listed before this cannot trade with the ones after so most players ignore them but they are still fun), Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Fire Red, Leaf Green, (these are designed for the Gameboy Advance system and they could also be played on Nintendo DS originals and lites only), Pokemon Colloseum, Pokemon XD, (both are for the Game Cube only but could trade with Gameboy Advances), Pearl, Diamond, Platinum, Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Black, White, Black 2, White 2 (which are designed for for Nintendo DS').   I know that is a lot to read but looking around Ebay I see a bunch of titles that have never been made so make sure its not a knock off before buying something online.

As for gameplay itself there are currently 693 Pokemon in the game total and you start off with a character who gets to choose either a Grass, Fire, or Water type pokemon.   As you get going you will get Pokeballs to capture wild pokemon which you could train (some get strong most are ignored by experienced players because they don't get strong enough) and you fight in 8 Gyms to get badges towards your goal of beating the Elite Four which is made up of four strong trainers and a champion.   Along the way you will encounter and eventually defeat the villains of the game which is usually a group of bad guys wanting to take over the world or transform it to how they want it.   It is addictive because of how many Pokemon that you could collect and that some of those Pokemon you could only get from past games and others you cannot get on your game and you have to trade with its counter part to get it.

This is a lot simpler to understand if you were to play it and the best thing about the games is if you are in one of those situations where you have nothing to do but sit and wait its good to have something to just pull out and keep from getting bored.