Google pulled the cover off their new project today, and its an interesting experiment. Titled Ingress, the game (out for Android today and iOS soon) centers around you hacking into nodes spread out all over the world. Using their extensive mapping tech, these nodes populate real world locations. All someone has to do is be in the immediate vacinity and hit a button to hack in. Gameplay wise its pretty simple, but the guys and gals over at Niantic Labs, the developers of Ingress, say that there is more complexity underneath.
Teams are split between Enlightened and Resistance. The nodes, which are portals to a world within our world, are being fought over by said factions. One wants to show and spread the word about the portals, the other wants to keep the closed for our protection. When one side claims 3 nearby nodes (without any opposing ones nearby), a small territory forms. The more territories your side has, the higher your score.
When out in the field you can only see what's around you, but if you happen to be by a computer you can see the whole map and really get a bird's-eye view of the conflict. It's an interesting idea, and while I wouldn't exactly go out to a library just to hack a node, I might be inclined to pull the app up and see if any are nearby while I'm out and about. I assume that's how most people would play, unless they have some other layers of gameplay to really pull me into the experience. Peep the trailer down below and let us know what you think!
