Forgotten Pokemon Go mechanic gets a fantastic change
Niantic/The Pokemon CompanyPokemon Go Party Play just got a major upgrade, and it’s about to make playing with friends a whole lot easier. The feature was introduced to Pokemon Go in 2023, and it allows players to join together in a party, to complete challenges and earn some exclusive rewards.
Well months after it was first introduced, evidence from players points towards a major overhaul, as seemingly now Trainers can share items between the entire party. This means items like Star Pieces or Lucky Eggs which boost in-game rewards are now shared between everyone.
The change hasn’t been directly acknowledged by Niantic at the time of writing, but players are pointing it out such as with this Reddit post, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Excited fans dropped into the comments, with one saying, “Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuut that would be huge for my kiddos lol” while others called it “useful.”
There are a lot of questions about the feature though, as the fact it hasn’t been officially unveiled leaves room for a lot of ambiguity. For instance, while items like the Lucky Egg usually work for 30 minutes when activated, it seems that when shared in Party Play they instead are live for 15 minutes.
A comment asked, “So does a 30 min star piece become 15 min star piece when 2 people are in the party? And 7.5 if 4 people are in it?”
Then, an answer from someone who has used the feature explained, that it seems in Party Play any item used gives “half of the duration to all members of the Party regardless of the Party size.”
If this is correct, when people use Party Play – in a party of either 2, 3, or 4 – if you activate a Lucky Egg or a Star Piece, it will work for 15 minutes instead of the usual 30. However, this can be extended by using more of the item to increase the duration.
However, as other comments pointed out, this means that only two people have to use a Lucky Egg for potentially four people to enjoy 30 mins of the Lucky Egg boost. Essentially, cutting the cost of items in two if you have a full party.
A lot of comments reacted positively to this, with one saying, “That’s honestly pretty cool, effectively allows double usage duration of those items if all 4 people in a party rotated who was sharing them.”
The change is clearly helping to bring others back to Party Play, as a separate comment explained “It’s actually a decent incentive to party up. And probably easier for them to program than diving the item buff by current party size.”
If Niantic clarifies the change to the feature, we will report on the exact details as and when they become available. For now, if you want to enjoy some Pokemon Go events – whether in a Party or otherwise – be sure to check out our guides to Spotlight Hour and Community Day.