Pokemon Go is a revolutionary computer game getting kids off the couch and into the ‘real’ world and parents are rejoicing

POKEMON Go has changed my life. I haven’t played it but I love it. A game that gets kids off the couch and out in the ‘real’ world is a revolution.

POKEMON Go has changed my life. I haven’t played it but I love it.

For the past two weeks of the school holidays, I have been trying to get my 16-year-old son to walk somewhere other than between his bedroom and the couch, to no avail.

No amount of prompting, cajoling or bribing has convinced him do anything other than play computer games and eat.

Fresh air, exercise, dog walking, football ... nothing appealed to the strapping young lad who quite rightly argued he worked hard during school term and intended to make the most of his down time.

But since the release of Pokemon Go, I have hardly seen him.

He rises before me, which is unheard of in our house, and comes back, sometimes eight hours later, having caught buses or walked all over the city in search of the games sought-after Lure Modules.

The Pokemon Go craze is getting kids off the couch in the chase to gather lures.

The lures, can be bought and dropped by any player at any “Pokestop” (or landmark), to benefit all nearby players.

Because of Pokemon Go my son walks the dogs twice a day without me asking. There are no arguments. He is exhausted but happy.

The game has rewards built in if you walk certain distances — two kilometres, five, 10 kilometres to hatch eggs and capture random pokemons — the further you go, the better the pokemon.

It’s making exercise fun.

Lures have been attracting crowds across the globe with fans gathering en masse at various locations across cities.

Pokemon characters can be seen in real world settings. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

There are detractors, of course, saying its only a matter of time before someone gets hit by a car or falls off a cliff because they are watching the screens on their phones as they go.

There are always risks in life. A sedentary life on the couch can lead to obesity and diabetes.

The naysayers claim children should have their heads up observing the delights of the scenery around them instead of having their heads buried in their phones.

Wake up. It’s never going to happen.

A game that gets kids off the couch and out in the ‘real’ world is a revolution.

Now, how far to the next Pokestop? The further the better.