Pokémon might be bigger than ever right now.
The game seems to ebb and flow in popularity -- like the surge of players in 2016 with the release of Pokémon GO -- but it seems to be gaining popularity again. Zach Zamora, General Manager of Yeti Gaming -- a hobby store in Kirkwood known for their Pokémon cards -- said the sense of the community is one aspect that draws players in.
"The thing that's great about Pokémon is that there's over a thousand different characters and every single one of them is somebody's favorite," he said. "And sometimes it's really simple just to connect over [saying] 'who's your favorite Pokémon' and I think that's a great way to make friends with other people and find friends and family and community."
Zamora said another reason for the current resurgence is the hype around the game's 30th Anniversary this year. He points to the brand's use of social media to live stream games and tournaments as another factor.
Courtesy of Yeti Gaming
Zamora has been involved in the Pokémon community for decades and said while it's always been a hot game, Pokémon seems to be trending across a variety of age groups right now.
"I remember when events were a couple hundred people, now we just had the world championships which had tens of thousands of people," he said. "And then there's card shows that are popping up in basically every city and every town [and] happening every week."
Local players will be collecting them all at the Grant's View branch of the St. Louis County Library Friday night for the 2nd Annual Pokémon Fan Fest.
