What is Party Play in Pokémon Go? How to join a Party, distance, rewards explained

Party Play is a local co-op feature which allows you to team up with fellow trainers and earn unique bonuses in Pokémon Go.

Released alongside 2023’s Halloween event, the headline benefit is the ability to see fellow players on the map screen as you explore, showing off their locations in the world for the first time.

Other benefits include the chance to complete a series of Party Challenges for rewards, and a boost to raid damage when participating as a group.

How to join a Party in Pokémon Go, Party Play requirements

Image: Niantic / The Pokémon Company

Party Play can be accessed by selecting the “Party” tab in the Trainer screen. Players can then invite others into a party by entering a code or scanning a QR code.

Party Play only works locally, and there is no remote option — meaning need to be in close distance with other trainers to join.

Note that Party Play has a trainer level requirement of 15, and those you party with do not need to be in-game friends — so feel free to team up with new acquaintances if you prefer.

Are you a solo player who needs to join a party? A workaround is to have a second account on another device (such as a tablet) and have that join as if they are another player. If you want to roam — which will be required for most challenges — make sure the secondary device has an internet connection to maintain the party, whether that’s through tethering, or using its own SIM card.

Pokemon Go Party Play distance

Party Play has a distance of around 1km, with players straying from the host receiving a warning at around 500m that they are straying too far. (Thanks to crysal0 on The Silph Road subreddit and the replies for confirming this.)

Considering the idea of Party Play is to play locally, this is a more than a fair distance — meaning players can choose to split off and play within the local area without worrying too much about being dropped from the team.

Pokémon Go Party Challenge rewards and bonuses explained

Image: Niantic / The Pokémon Company

Party Play allows you to create a team of either two, three, or four local players. By doing so, you have the following benefits:

• The chance to see your party member’s avatars explore the map around you.
• Party members have access to a Party Tab to show on-going stats from the session (such as Pokémon caught) which can then be shared as a visual recap once the Party disbands.
• Everyone will contribute to a rolling series of Party Challenges — such as catching Pokémon under certain conditions, or spinning a set number of PokéStops — which will reward items based on their difficulty, such as Poké Balls, Berries and Mega Energy.
• With Party Challenges, players can choose between one of three objectives at any given time, with a new Challenge being offered once the current one has been completed. Everyone on the team gets the same reward upon completion.

Image: Niantic / The Pokémon Company

• If one Party member enters a raid, the others in the party will automatically be sent a raid invite to join.
• During the raid, Party members can use the Party Power mechanic, which is a gauge which increases the more each player does damage to the Raid boss. Once filled, the next Charged attack’s damage will be doubled. For players keen to min-max their raid strategies and take down powerful bosses with fewer players, it’s well worth partying up before you battle.

What else do you need to know about Party Play in Pokémon Go?

As well as the above explainers, here are some extra details to help get the most out of your Party Play sessions:

• The maximum party size is four players. If the Party is not full, then any player — not just the host — may invite new members to the group while the session is ongoing.
• Party stats do not carry over to future sessions, even if you are playing with the same group of players.
• The Party Power raid boost works across all difficulties, including — and likely the most beneficial for — Shadow Legendary raids, which by their nature are local-only.
• In the month following launch, the option to complete Routes while in a party was introduced.
• Beyond the Party Play-exclusive Eevee avatar item from completing the “Welcome Party” Special Research, and time-limited events such as Nov. 2023’s “Party Up” event, there are no sign of other rewards (such as the chance to find exclusive Pokémon) being tied to the feature — which is surely a relief for solo players.