Bates, Hamish2018-11-082018-11-082018http://hdl.handle.net/10092/16182http://dx.doi.org/10.26021/8079In 2016, the mobile phone game Pokémon Go was launched. In the span of a few weeks this would go on to be one of the most popular games on IOS and Android and result in its players walking millions of kilometres as part of the game. In order to better understand why Pokémon Go was such a hit, we looked at how the game affects the motivation of its players. Participants were undergraduate psychology students (N = 128) at the University of Canterbury. Participants were randomly assigned into either a just walking condition or a walking with Pokémon Go condition. After walking the same ten-minute path, participants completed a Personal Projects Analysis questionnaire. Results showed that individuals with low self-control, low self-esteem and higher levels of depression achieved higher motivation scores after playing the game than those who did not play Pokémon Go on their walk. These findings suggest that Pokémon Go and games like it could be useful for helping increase motivation in those with low self-esteem or self-control, and higher depression. Implications and future directions are further considered.enAll Rights ReservedTheses / Dissertations