The weirdest Pokéstops in Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go’s check-in locations, Pokéstops, are meant to be places of local interest. Churches, museums, landmarks. Often, however they are… not so much.

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To build an app with data for the entire planet, developer Niantic understandably had to crowdsource its information. The studio’s previous augmented reality game Ingress is the basis of this player input data – and it shows.

Ingress was not specifically designed for kids, nor was it designed for the numbers of people Pokémon Go has attracted. This was highlighted last week when several institutions complained of players swarming places in which they probably shouldn’t be catching Pokémon – such as the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.

Somewhat predictably, tabloids have seized on how Pokémon Go includes real-world locations in this way, often with the assumption that Niantic has added the locations to the game itself. It’s a small studio. The idea it has the time to even verify the millions of locations logged as Pokéstops worldwide is, frankly, ridiculous. Still, yesterday, the Daily Mail screamed about how Pokémon Go had encouraged crowds of fans to visit places such as the Cenotaph, which it said the game had “commandeered”.

Back in the real world, Pokémon Go should be celebrated for getting people outside and exploring their local area. Just around here in Brighton, where Eurogamer is based, we’ve spotted statues and graffiti art and other oddities that we’ve never paid attention to before.

That’s not to say that all Pokéstops are beacons of culture – or even particularly family friendly. Last week, The Times reported on a Portsmouth adult shop that’s included in the game, for example. Twitter users have also pointed out Pokéstops at legal weed shops and graves. There’s even a Reddit just for questionable Pokéstop locations.

Here are some of our favourite Pokéstops, all added to Niantic’s database by human hands.

It’s an ashtray.

Some people can’t let Pluto go.

Plutonian propaganda in a Pokestop via /r/rickandmorty https://t.co/AxZSfIdyHu #rickandmorty pic.twitter.com/EDpkmMGiFr

Kind of creepy.

Kind of creepier.

We’re sure this was meant innocently.

It’s right twice a day.

Much pun.

No idea, but what a lovely gate.

Never forget.

He looks familiar.

Want to visit these Pokéstops and make the most of them? Everything you need to be a Pokémon master in Eurogamer’s Pokémon Go guide.

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