Gaming is often seen as an unsociable and solitary¹ pursuit. But fans of Pokémon GO claim the augmented² reality craze - which since its launch last week has had users chasing around their neighborhoods in pursuit of fictional³ creatures - has given rise to so many chance meetings between strangers that people have started using it as a dating app. 

 

通常来说，人们认为玩游戏是个离群索居的爱好。但是“口袋妖怪”的粉丝称，运用到增强现实技术的这款手游自上周发行以来在用户间掀起一阵风潮，给陌生人之间创造了诸多的见面机会，很多粉丝开始把它用作约会软件。在这款手游中，用户们在他们的社区里四处搜寻虚拟小精灵。

 

Numerous users have shared their stories of romance spurred by the app - claiming that they were either asked out while playing the game or invited on a Pokémon GO date with their potential love interest. It has also proved a hit as a dating activity among existing couples and as a new way of making friends.

 

Such is the popularity of the game - which has already been installed on more Android devices than dating app Tinder - that some fans are using it to replace movie nights, giving rise to the phrase 'Pokémon GO and chill', adapted from 'Netflix and chill'.

 

Twitter is full of stories of people being asked out on dates while out playing the game - which is based in the real world with graphics⁴ superimposed and requires users to walk around the streets trying to 'catch' Pokémon characters that appear on their screens. 

 

A popular dating hotspot for fans of the game are 'PokéStops' - real world locations that are marked on the game map where users linger to get 'Poké Balls' and eggs that hatch into Pokémon.

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