6 Things to Expect with the Possible Pokemon GO Halloween Event

Photo: Niantic

Halloween is almost upon us, and will be here by next weekend, and some Pokémon GO players are wondering if Niantic might have any sort of special event planned for the game.

We often see Halloween events pop up in a number of games each year. This year, players have been trying to earn loads of Halloween items in Overwatch, Destiny has its “Festival of the Lost” full of candy and masks, and games like League of Legends always have a few new skins here and there. Other games might do double XP spooky weekends, or something along those lines.

I am not sure if Niantic will do anything for Halloween, as they haven’t really done a single real “event” with the game yet, and I’m sure they’re working on a number of issues. But the game does need ways to try and get people playing again, and some Halloween bonuses might do the trick. There’s been a small hint on Facebook that the game could see some sort of even, or it could just be routine advertising since they know people will be walking around anyway. But we’ll see.

I’ve been thinking about what exactly that might look like in a game like Pokémon GO, and since it’s a title where you walk around and collect candy as is, it sort of seems like a no-brainer in many ways. Some ideas:

#1. Double Buddy Candy

This is a pretty simple one. For a week or so, double the amount of candy you get from walking your buddy. This fits in with the “trick or treat” theme, and would get even dormant players moving even if meant they were getting 2x closer to their Charizard or Dragonite with every step.

Photo: PokeWhereGo

#2. Double Catch Candy

I mean, sure, why not? Given that most of the time, you’re catching stuff you already have a million copies of, the game might as well just double capture candy for a stretch of time too. This would also serve as a moderate XP boost, as players would be able to do more mass evolves for more common Pokémon like Pidgey or Rattata, but it would require them to still be out in the world catching stuff.

Photo: Niantic

#3. Bonus Egg Candy

I’m going to go with “bonus” egg candy here, maybe +5 extra or something, rather than double candy, because I think that might end up being a little broken if suddenly a single 5 km egg hatch would get you 40 out of the 50 candy you need to evolve something in one go. I think the 2 km eggs could benefit from double candy, which is why an extra five per egg seems about right.

#4. Unlockable Cosmetics

This is something that Pokémon GO has not really experimented with at all to this point, the ability of players to earn more cosmetics for their character, but what better time to start than Halloween? Theoretically, these items could be earned through feats of strength (walk X km, catch X Pokémon, fight in X gyms), or they could be bought with coins because well, it’s just cosmetics. Pikachu ears? Squirtle masks? Sign me up.

#5. Most Ghosts

I think it would be sort of funny if at least for Halloween weekend itself, Niantic made ghost type Pokémon spawn at say, a 1,000% increased rate, having Ghastlys, Haunters and Gengars running wild all over the map. Given that it would only be producing candy for one Pokémon tree, it wouldn’t break the game or anything, but it would certainly fit the mood.

That’s pretty much it. It wouldn’t have to be much. As you can see, most of the point is simply to offer some sort of bonus, candy or XP, in order to get players playing again, which is why most games have these sort of events in the first place. And really no one needs it more than Pokémon GO at this point, so some part of me does hope they actually do something for the holiday. But I’m not going to hold my breath.

Photo: Niantic

#6. Ditto

How slim do you think the odds are of niantic releasing dittos "dressed up" as other Pokemon for Halloween?

I think it's blatantly obvious from their facebook post that ditto will be found on halloween, in AR mode only, while appearing to be haunter is on the screen. I could be wrong, but this has been my gut feeling since I saw that post. Since I don't play in AR mode, I won't know either way.