Have you ever had trouble meeting people, despite your best efforts? Have other dating apps not produced the results that you had initially hoped? Well look no farther, as this new app will be the end of all your troubles. Place down a lure onto the ground and people will literally flock to your area.

Now if you understand the concept of a lure then you most definitely know what app I’m talking about. Pokémon Go. That’s right, those little creatures from our childhood are back and are back in a big way. So far Pokémon Go has been downloaded over twice the amount that Tinder has, so in all reality you have a fairly good chance of meeting some new people. It’s daily use is at 3% and slowly rising which sounds low, but compare it to twitter with a 3.5% use daily which is fairly stagnant on the rate of growth and you see the popularity of it. Now it’s all good and dandy that it’s popular, but what are the effects of this widespread game?

Over the summer I work in the middle of nowhere at a summer camp, but the moment the game came out I, alongside most of the other staff, downloaded it and began to play. Obviously we didn’t play it in front of campers (no cell phone policy), but whenever we were on break we would hide in the staff area or 'ninja' around catching Pokémon. This in itself was an odd sight to see, as staff members who had issues with each other were seen comparing Pokémon and smiling together. After observing this spectacle I wanted to see what it would look like in a larger community with complete strangers. If it can bring together two people who have a known dislike of each other, who knows what it would do for a chance meeting of unknown persons.

So on my night off, my tent mate and I decided to head into Danville after a few hours of food and screwing around in Walmart. At that point the sun had set, making us both think that if there were any trainers (individuals who play Pokémon Go) it would be a smaller amount than during the day. We could not have been more wrong. Instead of one or two people, there were about four to five groups of eight individuals walking around all with their phones out, a clear sign of Pokémon Go activity. Now the surprising thing is that we’ve been in Danville before on our nights off, and there are never people simply walking around in such large groups. Yes you’ll see the occasional couple or small group of friends hanging out but never the amount of people we were witnessing. After walking around a couple blocks we decided to grab some coffee, only to mistake a Burger and Beer place for a coffee shop. Upon entering and ordering an appetizer so we didn’t appear rude, we heard a dialogue from some of the other customers and their waiter about, you guessed it, Pokémon Go. It was an interesting experience, but an important one none the less.

The night off, alongside talking to some friends in other parts of the world, showed me what a huge impact such a small game can make. From bringing enemies together on common ground, to gathering people into a city that hasn’t seen a great deal of tourist business for quite some time, Pokémon Go has overnight changed our society. If the popularity of Pokémon Go continues to rise, and if it manages to keep it’s player base, then we are on the cusp of something incredible. Even ignoring the possible economic and social benefits, the game is simply fun to play.

With the new school year fast approaching, the possibility for campus wide activates revolving around something like this are becoming larger and larger. And who knows? Perhaps during a walk to catch an Eevee you may meet your new best friend.