It turns out that players don’t have to break a sweat just to hatch a Pokémon GO egg, as there’s a way to trick the game’s pedometer into counting hand movements as footsteps.
Pokémon GO‘s in-game mechanics for hatching eggs have irked many players, as they are required to walk for miles if they want to have that unhatched Pokémon see the light of day. Some have developed creative workarounds to achieve this, feeding the pedometer with any activity that simulates actual steps. Cycling and jumping are just as effective as walking and running, but other players have found different ways to exploit a “flaw” in the Adventure Sync mechanic — and it all appears to be working. An ingenious player has even confirmed in a lively Reddit thread that crocheting is a hassle-free way to hatch Pokémon GO eggs.
A user at r/pokemongo started the thread by posting a screenshot of Adventure Sync accumulated steps, which indicates an astounding single-day mileage of 93.82 miles (151 kilometers). This sparked fervent discussion and debate, with another user sharing an achieved mileage of 15.5 miles by crocheting for an hour while wearing an Apple Watch. That user explained that the watch considers the hand movements as steps, which are converted by Adventure Sync into distance. “Like, they could be spoofing, but there are weird little ways that you can unintentionally get distance without a lot of effort,” the user wrote.
Clever Ways to Game the Pokémon Go System
The same user shared a way to rack up more steps using other people’s devices, saying, “I also am logged in on the same Apple ID on my kid’s phone as well as mine, so all their running around gets pushed to my Apple Health & lands in Pokémon GO.” Another user confirmed the crocheting trick after realizing the connection between her hobby and Pokémon GO achievements. “Omg is this why I’ve been hatching 10km eggs with ease? I’ve been crocheting like a madwoman lol,” she remarked. Another user pitched in saying that it’s also possible to feed the step counter with a phone swing.
There’s consensus in the Reddit thread that the exploits practically game the system, which is merited since these work around the task required for the achievement. The tricks are clever enough to be considered, though, especially with Pokémon GO‘s timed egg events that set hatch windows for certain Pokémon.
Pokémon GO rolled out a new local co-op feature on Tuesday; Party Play allows trainers to team up and cover more ground, unlock bonuses and have better chances of catching elusive Pokémon.
Source: Reddit
