Pokemon Go players are visiting an unusual type of location due to how often PokeStops are available.
PokeStops have long remained an integral part of the Pokemon Go experience, inviting players to visit real-world landmarks to supplement their in-game adventures.
Visiting art installations, historical landmarks, and museums may offer content featuring wild Pokemon, Pokemon Eggs, and Research tasks. But one type of location, in particular, seems to consistently play host to PokeStop-related fun – churches.
One Reddit user pointed out as much, where they noted that the town of Gastonia, North Carolina has “more than 30 church PokeStops.”
This isn’t uncommon based on the comments, especially in places like Utah and the Bible Belt in America. One user explained, “Churches are very easy to nominate into PokeStops, they’re also very common if you’re like me and live in the Bible Belt.”
Another player in the thread said there are so many PokeStops and Gyms at churches in their area that they wonder if their POGO friends think they’re “super religious.”
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Someone who lives in metro Utah added that the sheer number of Mormon chapels in the area means there’s an “excessive amount of chapel PokeStops.”
As many people noted under the post, it’s not at all difficult to nominate churches for PokeStop locations. Early Pokemon Go adopters may remember when some churches were embracing, and even inviting, the attention of the Pokemon community.
The First Church of the Nazarene in Fort Myers advertised its status as a PokeStop in 2016, for example. Other churches like First Baptist in Temple readily welcomed Pokemon Trainers with printed signs out front that bore the franchise’s iconography.
While this level of involvement from religious institutions is likely an uncommon occurrence these days, it’s clear POGO players are still welcome to visit these properties for their in-game needs.