Ingress, a remarkably innovative game, is catching the eyes’ of thousands by differing from ordinary smart phone applications and utilizing an ingenious platform. Niantic Labs, the creator of this exclusive app, has partnered with Google to be able to implement Google Maps into the foundation of their creation.

Ingress, a GPS-dependent game, is based upon an augmented reality, allowing players to view the world differently through their phones because of computer-generated sensory inputs such as sound, video, graphics, and GPS data. Because it is also a massive multiplayer online role playing game, players can compete and interact with each other. The aspect that sets this application apart from the rest, is the way the game is played using Google Maps.

The objective in Ingress is to establish portals at places of cultural significance such as places of public art, landmarks, and monuments and linking them to create virtual triangular control fields over geographical areas. Players achieve this by viewing the “scanner” (the mobile app), determining where said portals are, and then proceeding to walk or drive to establish these portals.

The lore from which the game was based upon is bountiful and ingeniously complex. Two factions exist in Ingress; one being the Enlightened and the other being the Resistance. The Enlightened fight with the hope that their actions will uplift humanity and bring about the next chapter in human evolution, whereas the Resistance believes in preserving what freedom humanity has left. Players can hack the portals of opposing factions to earn Access Points (AP) which grants higher access levels, such as admittance to stronger items and capabilities. AP points can be used to obtain Shields, Force Amplifiers, Link Amplifiers, Multi-hacks, Heat Sinks, and Turrets all of which have effects such as making the portal more difficult to attack, increasing the intensity of the portal’s response to attackers, and increasing the yield of hacking the portal.

Ingress has heightened the standard for 21st century mobile applications by implementing Google Maps as a prominent part of the game’s software. This app is like no other because a player can traverse their local surroundings in the physical world while accomplishing achievements in an augmented reality in the palm of one’s hand. Ingress is truly an ode to what modern technology is capable of.