I threw my Poké Ball to catch it… and it unceremoniously broke out and ran away. It gave me little stars when I was apparently doing well, but other times warned me that I was getting too close, or that it couldn 't properly see my toothbrush.Īt the end of two minutes, I felt pretty good about how I 'd brushed, and it gave me the opportunity to capture the attacking Pokémon, which was still engulfed in purple smoke. Often, it would tell me to "brush a little faster, " even though I felt it was going quite fast. The game defaulted to a two-minute brush, and I was slightly surprised at how little time the game devoted to brushing the fronts of the teeth, but I brushed along to the guide anyway, and did my best to keep up with the prompts. At the top of the screen, I saw my own face staring back unflatteringly from my self-facing camera as I brushed-but at least I was wearing a cute augmented reality Bulbasaur hat.Īll the while, the corner of the screen showed me which area of my teeth to focus on for that given moment. Since Bulbasaur is my all-time favorite starter, it was my go-to pick for my toothbrushing adventure.įrom there, the app took my right into the toothbrushing game, asking me to "Brush your teeth well to save Pokémon from cavity-causing bacteria! " At the bottom of my screen, my Bulbasaur fought shadowy Pokémon engulfed in purple clouds of bacteria as they invaded my on-screen virtual teeth. Before you get started, it asks your birthday and gender (both of which you can opt-out of) and to pick a Pokémon partner from Pikachu, Eevee, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander.
Pokémon Smile is a relatively simple game. I downloaded the game immediately, and though I didn 't get around to actually testing it out until the following night, it 's since become a part of my twice-a-day brushing routine. Something about it appealed to me, and I decided that if it worked for little kids, there was no reason it shouldn 't work for me as well.
The game, Pokémon Smile, released immediately upon being announced, and though the trailer made it clear the app was designed for small children, I didn 't care in the slightest.