PEORIA — Less than a week ago plans were announced to attract more people to the Peoria riverfront, but if Pokemon Go remains this popular, it might to do the job itself.

“Increasing traffic on the riverfront helps promote the vision of the city,” Bruce Wineburner, Riverfront manager for the Peoria Park District, said at a Pokemon Go meetup Sunday afternoon that drew hundreds of people to the water’s edge.

Couples and families, young and old, milled around the riverfront, phones in hand, occasionally letting out a gasp and waving everyone nearby to their newest Pokemon discovery by one of the 14 Pokemon stop-points located between Hooters and the opposite side of the RiverPlex Recreation and Wellness Center.

Pokemon Go, an augmented-reality game that allows phone-users to navigate their surroundings and catch Pokemon that appear on their smartphone screens, has become a national craze since its July 6 release.

Tyler Lukehart, one of the masterminds behind Sunday’s Pokemon Go Meetup, said he originally created the event’s Facebook page with the intention of getting 20 or 30 friends together.

As of Sunday afternoon, Lukehart said 850 people had RSVP’d on Facebook, and another 1,400 said they were interested, though no official attendance was taken at the event.

“It’s nostalgic for all of us to get together and play the game we all played in the '90s,” he said, though he wouldn’t get to spend much time as a Pokemon trainer Sunday evening.

Lukehart and a couple dozen volunteers helped host raffles, a costume contest, game incentives and a selfie contest for fellow fans.

“It might be a little overhyped right now,” Lukehart said of the game’s first version, but he added, “the best part of the game isn’t the game, it’s the community.”

Ken Edgell of Washington agreed.

He came out to the meetup with his sons Tavian, 10, and Trezdyn, 8, who both sported bright yellow Pikachu hats as they passed one phone back and forth, taking turns logging into their own game accounts.

“It brought me and my two sons closer together,” Edgell said of the game, which has been downloaded more than 15 million times.

He estimated he spends three to four hours a day playing with his kids in place of the time his sons usually spend sitting down playing video games.

“My son used to stay inside all the time until Pokemon Go came out,” said Amber Erps of Pekin, who also came out with her family and a few neighbors. “He’s more the outdoorsy type lately.”

She said her family spends about two to four hours a day playing the game, often walking around the neighborhood together and talking to people they pass by on the street about nearby characters they find.

Hope Freeman of Manito, who came with Erps, said that although searching for Pokemon did keep her entertained while detasseling corn this summer, she doesn’t think the popularity of the game will last. She compared it to the already phased-out popularity of 2014’s popular app Flappy Bird.

In the meantime, the teen said she still didn’t completely understand the hype. “We drove 30 minutes to play Pokemon Go. It’s ridiculous,” she said.

But Jim Maxwell, owner of the riverfront ice cream shop Emack & Bolio’s, hopes Pikachu isn’t forgotten anytime soon. He said he’s seen a lot more business since the release of the game, mostly from the 18 to 25 age group.

Aside from catching Pokemon in his shop, gamers will briefly leave the virtual world to order ice cream, “but not for long,” he said with a laugh as another group of youth walked into his store Sunday afternoon, phone screens reflected in their eyes, excitedly discussing their latest catches.

Anna Spoerre can be reached at 686-3196 and aspoerre@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @annaspoerre.