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Augmented reality lifehack replaces the rubber bands and clips that worked for previous Pokémon games.

Even though just-released smartphone game Pokémon GO was developed by San Francisco-based Niantic, it still retains many of the traditions that were started by series creator Nintendo. Familiar faces, such as Magikarp, still show up (sometimes in unexpected places), and even certain gameplay mechanics have been carried over in the transition to Pokémon GO’s mobile game format.

For example, every experienced Pokémon trainer knows that when you get an egg containing a growing Pocket Monster, you have to walk a certain distance before it’ll hatch. In previous generations of the game, clever players found ways to streamline the process, such as using rubber bands or clips to lock the D-pad of their Game Boy or DS into position so their in-game character would continue striding ahead without any input from the human player.

But Pokémon GO presents a special challenge. As an augmented reality title, Pokémon GO takes place in the real world, meaning your phone actually has to be moving real-world distances for your Pocket Monster eggs to hatch. The standard required distance seems to be 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), which is a lot more walking than most people expect to do when playing a video game. What’s more, Niantic was clever enough to add another wrinkle, in that if the phone is moving at a speed greater than 10 kilometers an hour, the distance doesn’t count towards hatching the egg, meaning that you can’t cheat by simply driving your phone around in a car or taking it for a ride on the train.

However, in putting together a historical collage of Pokémon protips, Japanese Twitter user @adure_ also highlights how to hatch your Pokémon GO without ever taking a single step.

As shown in the bottom right photo, all you need to do is set up a model railroad with a looped track layout, lay your smartphone down on one of the cars, then sit back and relax. Unless you’ve got an extremely speedy setup, the train’s speed should still be low enough to fly under Pokémon GO’s anti-vehicle radar, meaning it can do the egg-hatching legwork for you.

Just keep you fingers crossed that no one calls you before your baby Pokémon cracks its shell.

Source: Jin
Top image: Pokémon GO official website

Already hatched all your Pokémon eggs but still got your smartphone handy? Why not see what Casey is up to on Twitter.