The top tricks, tips and hacks for mastering Pokemon Go.

Murphy’s Law: just as soon as you finish complaining how lame the Pokemon Go app is, you’ll be asked to write a story on the tips and tricks to mastering the game.

Oh, the irony.

But after an hour or so trawling geek sites for the best ways to, er, ‘catch ’em all’ (did that sound natural?) I am actually a little intrigued. This thing looks ADDICTIVE. Did you know the amount of active users on Pokemon Go is just about to surpass TWITTER?

I was starting to think I was wrong about this game, and then I saw this:

OKAY THEN.

For those already hooked, here are the top sneaky cheats the internet has to offer.

Go forth, and channel the wisdom and bravery of Ash Ketchum: “Eat righteous Ponyta dust!”

How to read the colour and size of the ring around the Pokemon.

When your phone enters capture mode, you'll see a wild Pokémon appear on your phone's camera, with a colored ring circling the Pokémon's body. What does it mean?

The smaller that ring is, the more likely you are to capture that Pokémon. You might not notice much difference early on in the game, but it's a tip that will become more important the further you progress.

The color of the ring when catching Pokémon tells you how hard it is to capture said Pokémon.

-Green = Easy

-Yellow = Moderate

-Red = Difficult

How to find Pokemon that are nearby.

Rustling green leaves on your map is a dead giveaway that a Pokemon is hiding somewhere close - you won't know what type it is, however, until you approach.

On your main screen, you'll also see a little silhouette of a Pokemon with footprints next to it. The number of footprints indicates how far away it is: the more footprints you see, the further you'll have to travel.

Oh, and another thing? The list of nearby Pokemon are actually ordered from closest to furthest away.

Santa Monica was lit today. Constant lure modules and pokestops everywhere. #pokemongo #pokemon #pokemontrainer #pokelife #pokemafia #theverybest #pokemaster #pokemonmaster

A photo posted by Chris Nelson (@nohopokemontrainers) on Jul 10, 2016 at 7:57pm PDT

How to deal with duplicate Pokemon.

The only thing more disappointing that being an adult obsessed with a 20-year-old Japanese cartoon is finding duplicates, ammiright?

Well, never fear. Send those duplicates on to Professor Willow, who will reward you with candy to feed to your Pokemon, which will also eventually help to evolve them.

Duplicates can then be transferred to Professor Willow by selecting them in the Pokémon menu (click the Pokéball, then click the Pokémon submenu), scrolling down, and selecting "Transfer."

TIP: Want to avoid duplicates? Go out at night. Going out at night will increase your chances of finding nocturnal Pokémon!

Everything you need to know about Pokemon Go. (Post continues after video)

How to attract Pokemon to YOU.

Whilst it's no doubt a total drag to have to go to work or uni instead of hanging around in augmented reality, you can sleep better tonight knowing you can still catch Pokemon AND behave like a fully functioning member of society. How? Incense, obviously.

Click the Pokéball at the bottom of the screen to bring up the menu, and select the "Items" circle. From there you can select incense and place it wherever you like. Pokemon will come to you, and uou'll know it's working because your Trainer will show a purple cloud swirling around them.

Take THAT, unemployed friends!

How to catch Pokemon who are moving around too much.

This tip is a little complex, so I'm going to quote directly from TechInsider:

"When you encounter a Pokémon, you tap on it and your phone's camera turns on. Suddenly, there's a wild Pokémon in the actual world in front of you (according to your phone). And that Pokémon is getting WILD, running/flying/flopping all over the place, making them harder to capture.

But if you click the little switch in the upper right corner of your screen that says "AR," it'll switch the game's camera from your phone's camera to a virtual camera in a virtual world (seen above). It's less impressive-looking, no doubt, but it's MUCH easier to catch the Pokémon in that virtual world. They remain centered, and throwing the Pokéball at them is far easier."

How to make the most from a Pokestop.

Some Pokestops are going to have way better items than just a few Pokeballs. The better Pokestops are generally correlated with real-life landmarks, with the better known the landmark, the better the haul that awaits.

(Because if there's one thing our landmarks need, it's more people.)

Oh, and have you ever noticed that some Pokéstops look like they're raining on your map? Well, it's because another player has installed a 'lure module' (purchased in the in-game shop for 100 coins) on it to attracts Pokémon.

How to evolve the eggs.

Yep, those eggs you received at a Pokestop are actually housing baby Pokemon inside.

To access your eggs, click the Pokéball on the bottom of the screen and select the Pokémon bubble. When you've opened that, swipe to the right to go to your eggs menu. Tap one and it'll bring up a menu that offers one option: "Start Incubation."

Just in case you needed reminding (let's face it, you do) - these are not real animals. Incubation is not based on time. Rather, your eggs will only hatch after a certain amount of walking has been done. Off you go then!

But don't commit yourself to unnecessary exercise - walking is only registered when you have the app open. So maybe start some incubation right before a long Pokémon hunting walk. Or maybe just go for a walk for the purpose of good cardiac health. Whatever.

And finally...

How to catch Pikachu.

At the start of the game, you'll be forced to choose one of three Pokemon. Most of you, keen to get started, will catch the one you prefer, and head off.

HOWEVER.

"If you ignore those three Pokemon simply by walking in the other direction, though, they will disappear. Eventually, they will reappear again in front of you, requiring you to yet again walk in the other direction," says ComicBook.com.

"You'll need to repeat this process four times, but after they disappear for the fourth time, they will again reappear with a fourth Pokemon alongside them, which will be Pikachu.

Once the cute little guy appears, you can go and catch him just like any of the other Pokemon, and now you'll have him for the rest of the game."

They think this will take around 40 minutes. I'll say no more.

Oh, and one last thing?

Sh*t gets real past level 5, ladies. Proceed with caution.