Jewel Changi Airport's new Pokemon Explorer game

SINGAPORE - Tired of playing Pokemon Go? Try Pokemon Explorer (PEX).

Launched jointly by Jewel Changi Airport and The Pokemon Company, PEX is an interactive game in which players can choose a partner Pokemon - out of 25 Pokemon including Pikachu, Eevee and Snorlax - to accompany them and complete various missions in 10 parts of the Jewel complex.

The game, available since last Wednesday, can be accessed only on the Jewel mobile app, which is available on both Android and iOS.

The missions in PEX include helping Pikachu collect berries around the Discovery Slides at Canopy Park, taking selfies with your partner Pokemon at the North Gateway and catching the fish Pokemon Magikarp at the Shiseido Forest Valley's East Trail. Players must be in the Jewel complex to play the game.

Mr Jeremy Yeo, Jewel's head of user experience, said: "PEX was created as part of the efforts to encourage the exploration of Jewel and complement the myriad play offerings with the complex.

"From time to time, we will organise curated activities with inclusive interactive elements to ensure that guests continue to have unique experiences at Jewel."

"We are seeing a higher number of downloads for the Jewel app, now that PEX is included as a feature," he added. The exact download figures were not available.

[[nid:451544]]

A few of the mission stops in PEX are located in Jewel's Canopy Park, which requires an admission fee of $5 a person. Singapore residents get a 50-cent discount.

Thus, the playing hours of PEX are restricted to 10am to midnight from Sundays to Thursdays and to 1am on Fridays, Saturdays and eves of public holidays, which are the opening hours of Canopy Park.

There will also be ad-hoc assignments issued by the Pokemon Centre Singapore store - located at level four in Jewel - on its Facebook page and players can redeem a gift at the store by completing these assignments in PEX.

A hypothetical example of such an assignment might be players requiring to finish three missions in two hours.

Mr Yeo said: "The prizes for redemption at the Pokemon Centre are planned by The Pokemon Company and we prefer not to spoil the surprise for the players."

For an added incentive, the highest scorers might even find their names on The Hall of Fame display at the store.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUwOt9nzXDI[/embed]

Ngee Ann Polytechnic life sciences student Megan Goh, 19, said her biggest incentive for playing PEX is that "not only did we get to discover places we did not notice before in Jewel, but we also get to interact with our favourite cute Pokemon more".

"It (PEX) allows us to bond more with our loved ones and friends when we play this game with others as well," she added about the game, which she plays with her friends and family.

For more information about PEX, go to www.jewelpex.com.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.