Ingress Back Story

The Niantic Project studied energy anomalies of  a new form of energy called Exotic Matter (XM) but the project goes haywire. In the process it was discovered that a  transdimensional intelligence is possibly entering our dimension through these XM Portals. These intelligence "beings" are called Shapers. But the Shapers do not have a physical form. They are sometimes referred to as an infection or a virus which "manifest" in a human. This is where the story begins. A secret sub-project to the Niantic Project secretly studied the effects of Shaper Infections on the research team.

People are now splitting into two factions the Enlightened and the Resistance. The Enlightened see the Shapers as a benefit to mankind and the next step of man's evolution. The Enlightened are attempting to help the Shapers expand their influence on Earth. The Resistance as the name implies is resisting the Shaper infiltration of Earth. The Resistance work under the belief that they are defending mankind.

Shapers are reaching the Earth through XM Portals. The two factions battle to control Portals and either open them up for the Shapers or close them down to the Shapers. XM Portals are found throughout the world. They are commonly found at post offices, historical sites, historical markers, government buildings, parks, and other public places. Using a scanner factions can hack a portal. Hacking portals allows faction members  to gain items to use in the game. Players can hack both their factions portals and their opponents portals. 

The factions capture these portals by physically going to the portals and either claiming an unclaimed portal. Unclaimed portals will appear gray on your scanner. Once claimed the portal will appear as either blue if it is claimed by the Resistance or green if it is claimed by the Enlightened. 

A portal is claimed by placing a resonator on that portal. Resonators control the energy of a portal and each portal can have up to eight resonators. Resonators have varying levels from 1 to 8. The portal will have a corresponding level to the level of resonators the portal has attached. A portal must have all 8 resonators to be able to link to another portal. Linking portals is one of the most crucial parts of the game. By linking portals, territories are created by that faction. Once a minimum of 3 portals are linked that faction gains mind units. Mind units are the population contained within the controlled territories, and what what the factions are ultimately fighting over. 

But the story is not over when a portal is acquired and linked. The opposition can attack enemies portals. Once they destroy a resonator a link is broken and the mind units in the territory are lost. Once all resonators are destroyed the opposing team can take control of a portal. So portals can and will change hands regularly.

Welcome to Ingress!!!

So what is Ingress?

Ingress is a new (actually still in beta testing) Massive Multiplayer Online  (MMO) game. But unlike many other MMO games, like say World of Warcraft, Ingress incorporates a geography element something like Geocaching where you have to physically go to locations to play the game.

The game is available through Google Play for Android devices. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nianticproject.ingress. The game can only be really played with your Android versus your laptop or PC. That being said there is some very useful information online.

Ingress Intel Maps - This is a great tool to find nearby portals and doing reconnaissance before you head out. You can see the number and status of the resonators and any mods a portal may have.

Niantic Project - This site is interesting to say the least. Each month it has a different theme with online "riddles" which if you solve you can get codes for items.

So you want to play?

Right now that is easier said than done. The game is still in a closed beta stage. You can feel free to request an invitation to play at either ingress.com or nianticproject.com. Be prepared to wait. The selection seems to be rather random. I applied shortly after Thanksgiving 2012 and received my invitation just after New Years.   But others I know have applied before me and still haven't received received their invitation.

There is another way, you can get an invite from someone who plays. Now. I haven't figured out how current players earn invites to give out. I haven't earned any yet, so don't write asking ;)