Imagine watching live TV in a Youtube format. Now imagine that offered as an app for your phone, then you have Twitch. Once a sister website to Justin.tv, Twitch has emerged as the forefront online video streaming service. The iOS and Android mobile version offer a wickedly fun way to pass the time and keep up with gaming culture.

The main focus of this particular video streaming service is on e-sports and video gaming, but don’t let that turn you off if you’re not into competitive gaming per se. The purpose of the website is to provide real-time coverage of electronic sports, particularly large esport tournaments.

International in scope, these events have begun taking the world by storm, with viewership surpassing major league baseball, and range from League of Legends to Call of Duty to Super Smash Bros to Starcraft.

The site offers plenty more than that however; also available are personal streams of popular players (who often provide their own hilarious commentary), streams of brand new video games (along with reviewers), gaming-related talk shows, live speedrunning (which is phenomenally interesting to watch), and now even interactive gameplay with channels like Twitch Plays Pokemon.

If you are trying to pass time in between class, on the road, or in your downtime at home, give Twitch a try. The app version offers a high-definition stream, along with full functionality and chat features. The recent rise of Twitch Plays Pokemon has opened up an entire new series of options for massively cooperative crowd source multiplayer games, where you can either watch the chaos unfold or actively take a part in it. Don’t underestimate the entertainment factor of e-sports, which are now being streamed at bars and pubs alongside traditional sports. The Twitch app offers the ability to tune in and out of this phenomenon whenever you please.