The addictive mobile game has taken our nation by storm, and we’ve compiled a top five POKEMON GO wishlist for future updates.

If you took a walk through any major park, zoo, or public space in the last few days, you’ve probably seen dozens of people glued to their phones, scouring the area for a rare Scyther or Mimic, or you accidentally bumped into them while you were doing the exact same thing. Social media and major news outlets are constantly giving us updates on the games happenings (don’t play and drive folks!), and here at The Fandom we’ve gotten hooked as well.

However, POKEMON GO is still in its infancy, a level one evolution if you will, and while there are already some promised updates in the works, we had some thoughts on how Niantic can improve upon the experience. So here we go, our wishlist for POKEMON GO!

Number Five: An Instruction Manual/ Help Guide

If you were like me, you heard about the Pokémon craze and were immediately drawn in by the premise. Pokemon is now a franchise that has literally thrived for decades, so kids from four-years-old to forty something kids-at-heart, all have grown up with Pikachu and the gang. When we start the game though, it feels like we were thrown into the deep end of the Pokémon training pool.

While the mechanics of the game are simple enough, there are no hints or prompts at how you are to interact with the touch screen world. I can’t tell you how many Pokéstops I tried to access before I realized you had to spin the silly photo. The same goes for the mechanics of battling, incubating eggs, and pretty much everything else. A simple ‘Help’ screen would go a long way in making sure players don’t spend a frustrating amount of time floundering.

Number Four: Allow interactions with your social networks

One of the most obvious missing pieces in the game right now is the inability to connect in-game with your friends. While players often hunt together in the physical world, outside of seeing a desired Pokémon disappear from your screen when someone else catches it, there is no in-game connection between players.

In an ideal world, you could send messages to friends, add new ones as you meet them in your wanderings, and even see them engaged in battle on your phone screen. It’d also be great to train your Pokémon in battle against theirs without having to take over a nearby gym. Which brings us to our next item on the wishlist.

Number Three: Have more variety in the ways to train Pokemon

While the candy system was an ingenious way to ensure players still catch weaker Pokémon, the fact that it’s the only reliable way to level up your team is a bit limiting. It would be great to have a variety of avenues to train and build up their levels.

Think about the show and all the ways Ash and the gang would train their Pokémon to get stronger. It’d be great if there were a series of mini-games to play through that gave individual Pokémon experience, levels, and new abilities. Speaking of the show, Pokémon had other uses as well, so…

Number Two: Allow Pokémon to do other activities than just fighting

In a real way, POKEMAN GO has the potential to expand far beyond merely catching and battling the creatures. Think of a lovechild between the Sims and geo-caching, where you set your Pokémon around various parts of the city, building little houses, having them do little jobs, etc. The possibilities are almost endless, and considering the fact we’re really talking about the first widespread, augmented reality game, there could be some pretty awesome partnerships between businesses, local communities, and the in-game design. I for one would love to play a mini-game against a locally owned Pikachu!

Number One: Find a way to get updates without having your phone out

While it has been novel to see so many people out and about glued to their screens, if one of the games chief goals is to get people to experience the outside world through physical activity, it’d be great if the app ran in the background even if we didn’t have the screen up. Not only would it save on our battery life, but we’d also have less accidents.

The solution could be as simple as being able to program personal updates, such as notifications of when certain types of Pokémon are around, or if someone wishes to battle us. It seems like an easy middle ground, and would add to the life cycle of the game.

So there you have, our biggest suggestions for addictive game. But what about you, do you have thoughts or hopes for in-game changes? Let us know in the comments below!