When Miitomo launched in the US back in March, it was more like a kooky social network than a video game. It combined the weirdness of Tomodachi Life with Nintendo’s Miiverse social hub. Players used their Mii avatars to ask and answer personal trivia with their friends, buy new outfits, take photos, and so on. It was, for a moment, a hit.

But the novelty of Miitomo wore off quickly. By May, many players had begun to abandon the app. Miitomo suddenly felt like staying too late at a bad party: all you could do is force small talk with semi-friends through inane personal trivia. It failed to give players the ability to freely chat with friends at their leisure, or even a better user experience for filtering questions.

But it seems that Nintendo hasn’t given up on the app just yet. Today the company released an update that will finally allow you to send direct messages with friends. It’s a basic but crucial addition that has always felt lacking from the Q&A-style social network.

The other updates feel pretty minor, like room customization or showing off outfits to other users. The update also expands the question and answer system to a global reach. Players can now create a sidekick, “from fictional characters to anyone in the whole wide world,” that play into these additions. I welcome any activity that can distract me from my encyclopedia-like knowledge of my friends’ favorite bread type.

Mine is focaccia, FYI.