The Strange Tale of “Twitch Plays Pokémon”

Andrew Cunningham of Ars Technica:

Most gamers in my Twitter orbit have been spending their time with the Titanfall beta since invitations began going out late last week, but I’ve become entranced by a different kind of online multiplayer game. I’m talking, of course, about “Twitch Plays Pokémon,” and I haven’t seen anything like it in a decade-and-a-half of Pokémon playing.

I too have been glued to this stream for the last week. Launched by an anonymous Australian programmer, the ‘game’ has blossomed into a fascinating viral phenomenon, with an incredibly active community subreddit, illustrated folklore, raids to manipulate the game by other popular streamers and lengthy analysis on the ‘democracy vs. anarchy’ mechanic in the game.

If you haven’t tuned into Twitch Plays Pokemon yet, you really owe it to yourself to take a look. It’s a gaming experience unlike any other.