Pokemon Go Testing Daily Encounters and Free Item Boxes for Players

Pokemon Go is testing out some new features for players, including guaranteed daily encounters and a free box of items for players. Earlier today, Pokemon Go announced plans to test out two new features. The first is a daily guaranteed encounter that uses a special kind of Incense provided by players to Professor Willow. This incense will guarantee an encounter with a single Pokemon. A limited amount of trainers will also receive a free box of items from the in-game store. Players will be randomly selected, with more chosen over the next few months.

The guaranteed Pokemon encounter and free items seems to be aimed at stopping persistent complaints at players who live in areas where Pokemon and PokeStops are more are. While bounteous in urban areas, Pokemon can be hard to come by in rural areas, and players have long asked for a better solution.

Pokemon Go has continued to test new tweaks and proposed changes on small scale to trainers. Earlier this month, they announced changes to a revised PokeCoin distribution test, which focuses equally on completing daily tasks and keeping Pokemon in gyms. They've also made a number of changes based on social distancing requirements, including shortening or doing away with walking requirements, adding a new type of raid pass to allow for remote raiding, and other plans to open up the game without being physically near certain sites.

Pokemon Go has also announced major changes to its upcoming Pokemon Go Fest, shifting to a worldwide model and a two day event due to social distancing. That model will let all players with a paid ticket participate in a two day event with over 75 Pokemon appearing and the appearance of Victini. The game will also introduce Mega Evolutions later this year.