Extendiality

As you probably know, Ingress is a new augmented reality game from Google. It is currently in beta-status (since the middle of November already) and access is by invite only. Nevertheless, there are already many players in this battle across the globe and their number increases every day. Now, watch the trailer, it’s worth it.

Legend is the following: there are some kind of aliens, called Shapers, who influence our world through invisible portals and Exotic Matter (XM). Theoretically, this influence is positive; it is “enlightment” and is thought to be responsible for human creativity and talents. But not everyone thinks that we need such mentors and therefore two fractions exist – Enlightened and Resistance.

Interesting fact: full story behind it is still unknown, every day new “episodes” and facts are unveiled on Niantic Project website and what is more intriguing, these stories influence game logic sometimes. Everything looks like some sci-fi TV series, nice job, Google!

Now, back to the game. Main tasks are capturing enemy portals by destroying Resonators (which give it energy), link portals between each other and create Fields (to control Mind Units inside them). And yes, these portals are not just somewhere inside your phone, they are located “in your city”. Usually, these are some monuments and other places of interest; you have to be physically there to perform almost all game actions. So, you be prepared to walk around often and explore your home city.

Rules are not difficult at all, but there are many small nuances, which are important to know. I will not describe each and every, you are free to dive into Ingress wiki, everything will be clear after reading it thoroughly and doing couple of walks around the centre.

It is a nice blend of World of Warcraft (team game, you will need to cooperate with other players often), Encounter game (as it is played in real world) and Dots game often played in school due to its simplicity.

Game is for Android only at the moment, sorry iOS fans 🙂 And invites are either requested by leaving email on ingress.com or you can try to get them by solving puzzles in everyday Niantic story updates. I will post on Ingress topic from time to time, stay tuned.