Pokémon Go became all the rage when it launched, as it fulfilled one of our childhood promises,You’ve “Gotta catch ’em all!.” At its peak, that game had a monthly player base of about 200 million, which is astounding.
Now, a new iOS app called Gotcha wants to do the same, with the difference being that you are catching real animals instead of Pokémon. The concept is simple and addictive. You point your phone at any creature, be it a pigeon or stray cat, and Gotcha cuts it out from the background, identifies what it is, and adds it to your personal collection.
While I was not down with the Pokémon Go fever, this app sounds like something I will actually enjoy using.
How does catching animals actually work?
Catching is as easy as snapping a photo. Once you locate an animal, launch the app and snap a picture. Gotcha will automatically remove the background and figure out the species on its own.
Every animal you catch turns into a sticker with its own collectible card, ranging from common finds to legendary ones. You can pull up the original photo and share your best catches with friends.
That thrill of spotting something rare and adding it to your roster is baked right in, except the entire world around is the map, and all animals are your collectibles. Honestly, I am surprised no one ever thought of this idea before.
Can you really collect them all?
Gotcha gives you an index filled with hundreds of species, all waiting as silhouettes until you catch them in real life. Mammals, birds, bugs, and reptiles are all sorted into neat collections, and slowly filling those empty slots gives you a real reason to look up from your screen and explore.
It turns a regular walk in the park into a treasure hunt. Suddenly, that bird you would normally ignore becomes a potential addition to your collection.
Gotcha is built by a developer named Jurre and is launching soon on iPhone. It is free to use, and you can join the waitlist now to be among the first to play. Sadly, there is no word on an Android version yet, so iPhone users get to have all the fun first.