Google Play offers a rare chance to redeem your Play Points for Pokémon swag

Who doesn’t like getting something for nothing? Reward programs that offer incentives on stuff you were planning to buy anyway sure feel like free money, and back in 2019 Google launched its own for Android apps in the form of Play Points. The more you spend on apps and in-app purchases (IAPs), the more Play Points you receive. If you’ve got a pile of points and have been looking for something to do with it, a new opportunity for spending points on physical products has just arrived.

If swag’s not your style, the GO Fest 2024 promotion also lets you redeem points for special encounters in the game, and even includes the opportunity to earn five times the normal Play Points on IAPs made through Sunday.

Google clearly hasn’t forgotten about Play Points, and every once in a while we still get new promotions like this, but physical products you’re able to redeem points for have been few and far between — the vast, vast majority of redemption options concern in-app content, whether digital purchases themselves, or just coupons to save on them.

In the past, we’ve seen offers like the ability to get Google Store credit you could use towards something like a new Pixel phone. Last summer, we got some good ones like discounts on food-delivery services, and even fun Google stuff like Chrome dino socks, but these deals never seem to stick around. For that matter, neither will this offer, and Google is clear that these Pokémon items are very much while-supplies-last; best case, you’ve got until the end of the month to order one. Might as well try and catch one now!