Gaming is often seen as an unsociable and solitary pursuit. But fans of “Pokémon Go” claim the augmented reality craze — which since its launch 10 days ago has had users chasing around their neighborhoods in pursuit of fictional creatures — has given rise to so many chance meetings between strangers that people have started using it as a dating app.

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 graphics 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 Poké Stops — real world locations that are marked on the game map where users linger to get Poké Balls and eggs that hatch into Pokémon.

Craigslist has numerous messages from people trying to contact people they met while playing the game. The Chicago Tribune reported that it has led to “dozens of Craigslist missed connections.”

A Reddit post entitled “‘Pokémon Go’ got me a date” tells the story of a gamer who met a woman after she asked, “Hey, are you playing ‘Pokémon Go’ too?”

After chatting about the game they agreed to meet the following day to play and go on a date.

Todd Schlickbernd, a video producer from Washington, hailed the game the “easiest ice breaker ever.”

The game is also being used by couples as a way of spending time together.

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，运用增强现实技术的这款手游自10天前发布以来在用户间掀起一阵风潮，给陌生人之间创造了诸多的偶遇机会，很多粉丝开始把它当约会软件用。这款手游的用户在他们的社区四处搜寻虚拟小精灵。

许多用户分享了玩“口袋妖怪”的浪漫故事。他们说，这个游戏不仅让他们走出家门而且也让他们与同玩“口袋妖

怪”的暧昧对象有了约会的机会。同时，这个游戏也成为夫妻情侣间约会时的一项新活动以及交友新途径。

“口袋妖怪”大受欢迎，在安卓设备上的下载量已超过约会软件Tinder。如今一些粉丝选择玩“口袋妖怪”而不是晚上去看电影。现在人们不再说“看完片滚床单”而是“玩完‘口袋妖怪’滚床单”。

推特上有许多人们因“口袋妖怪”而结缘的故事。“口袋妖怪”是一款结合现实世界和虚拟图像的游戏。玩这款游戏时人们得拿着手机走上街头，捕捉出现在屏幕上的宠物小精灵。游戏中一处大热的约会点是“精灵补给站”— 游戏地图上标注的真实地点。用户在补给站收集用于捕获的精灵球和孵化精灵的精灵蛋。

克雷格列表网站上有大量相关信息，来自于想要和其他游戏玩家取得联系的用户。《芝加哥论坛报》报道称，这让分类广告网站克雷格上涌现大量寻人贴。

红迪网上的一名用户发表了一篇题为“‘口袋妖怪’给了我一次约会”的文章分享他的浪漫故事。他写道，他碰到一个姑

娘，她问他：“嘿，你也玩‘口袋妖怪’吗？”

于是，他们聊了聊这款游戏，并且两人约定第二天一起出去玩“口袋妖怪”顺便约会。托德•斯奇里克伯德是华盛顿的一位影视制作人，他称赞这款游戏为“史上最简易的搭讪方式”。这款游戏也被夫妻和情侣用来共度休闲时光。(Chinadaily.com.cn)

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    【寻找】xúnzhǎo in pursuit of chasing after something

    【孵化】fūhuà hatch produce (young) from an egg