Screenshot/Matt Weinberger
Without further ado, here's everything that's happening in Pokémon Go, along with the days they're happening, according to a blog post from game developer Niantic.
From the morning of December 25th, 2016 through the afternoon of January 3rd, 2017:
- "PokéStops will award one single-use Incubator each day after your first Photo Disc spin." In other words, the second PokéStop you hit on any given day will give up a one-time-only egg incubator. Which is good, because...
- "As you visit PokéStops during this time period, there will be a greater chance of finding Eggs that hatch Togepi, Pichu, and several other recently found Pokémon." Niantic recently added a bunch of baby Pokémon, originally from the "Pokémon Gold and Silver" Game Boy games, that can only be found by hatching. During the holidays, it'll be easier to hatch them.
- "Special Pikachu wearing festive hats will also be staying around a bit longer!" If you're lucky, you'll be able to catch one of the limited-time Pikachu wearing a Santa hat.
From the afternoon of December 30, 2016, through the afternoon of January 8, 2017 (PST):
- "The first partner Pokémon and their Evolutions, originally discovered in the Kanto region, are more likely to be encountered." It's going to be way easier to catch fan-favorite monsters Squirtle, Wartortle, Blastoise, Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur during this period.
- "Lure Modules will also last for 60 minutes instead of 30 minutes."
While the conventional wisdom is that Pokémon Go has peaked, it still has many millions of players worldwide. This is a very nice holiday treat for those Pokémon faithful, and maybe enough of an incentive to get lapsed players back into the game.