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Tinder just announced an app for Apple TV, allowing users to swipe left or right from a television.
“It’s the same dynamite swiping experience you know and love – just bigger, better and streaming live from your living room,” Tinder said in a press release.
Much has been said about the death of dating and relationships as we know it – see Nancy Jo Sales’s controversial piece for Vanity Fair – but with Tinder now hopping from the phone to the TV screen, one can’t help but ask: Is dating the new Dungeons & Dragons?
Now, Tinder already felt like a game, giving you the option to “keep swiping” after receiving a match. With a new app for Apple TV, Tinder seems to be turning into more of a party game than a way to find love.
READ MORE: 8 Signs You’re in a Romantic Movie Relationship
Studies show that the use of dating apps has gone up, with a February 2016 report from Pew Research Center sharing that one in five Americans aged 18 to 24 (22 percent) now report using mobile dating apps, up from only five percent in 2013.
Statistically, the app has been a group venture long before the new update. The study also found that 22 percent of online/app daters enlist their friends to help them in their quest for love.
This is not unlike the team effort that makes up a good Dungeons & Dragons venture, which involves “You and your friends tell[ing] a story together, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, battles with deadly foes, daring rescues, courtly intrigue, and much more,” as listed on the website.
The fantasy game recently made headlines as it was featured in Netflix smash hit “Stranger Things,” and as dating apps become more prevalent in modern romance, it seems more relevant than ever.
Of course, the point of Dungeons & Dragons is to come together with your friends to conquer a challenge, a situation now reflected in the new Tinder app. Previously it was a solo activity, with daters browsing privately on their phones.
Now, humor me here, but doesn’t the definition of Dungeons and Dragons sound exactly like using a dating app in 2016? You tell your story via your photos and bio, which your friends obviously help you edit. For example, pro tip from one of my friends: “You can’t go quirky with your bio AND your photos. Pick one.” So long, goofy “Parks and Recreation” quotes! I’m in it to win it.
The treasure, of course, is a romantic connection, but f–k boys – aka deadly foes? – can trip you up on your way to finding it. The daring rescues one is easy. (Um, hello fake emergency from my friend so I can get out of this nightmare date.)
Of course, even getting to the date is a hurdle, with Pew reporting that one-third of people who have used online dating sites/apps have never actually gone out together. The swiping and reward – you’re a match! – of the mobile format make it an easy boredom buster and perhaps a little hard to take seriously.
The nail in the coffin? Studies show that despite the growing popularity of dating apps, 88 percent of couples still report having met their partner offline. So maybe it would actually be easier to take on the Demogorgon?
Either way, if you’re brave enough this season, grab your friends – or that great aunt that keeps trying to set you up via email with the “charming” son of her friend from rotary club – and get to swiping.
