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Beta test report: Google's Ingress
Dec. 2nd, 2013 12:38 pmA number of people have asked why I'd stop playing the game just as I'm hitting level 8, the max level. The game is also coming out of beta soon, though I still have a bunch of invites if you want to try it out. I'm warming up for a gaming/storytelling panel at Arisia next month at which I may talk about Ingress. Writing this down helps me organize my thinking.
Ingress is an artificial reality game played on Android devices in the real world - the game app presents you with layered information relevant to the game overlaid on top of physical spaces and objects. You play as an agent for one of two sides - Resistance or Enlightened - trying to cope with the sudden influx of something called XM (eXotic Matter) into the world. I played as Resistance in part because the Enlightened philosophy creeps me right out and appears to be recapitulating Dr Frankenstein's error. More on this in the final paragraphs.
If you just want the punchline, here it is: Ingress is a great experiment and a terrible game. Google have put together a remarkable analogy for WWI-era trench warfare in which a lot of energy is expended for no actual gain. There's a reason why successful games avoid this part of the reality of warfare - it's boring and pointless.
( What exactly are Ingress's successes and failures? )
I should close by saying that I'm not rage-quitting. I'm not going to delete my account or anything. Part of what makes an experiment good is what it reveals and I plan to hang around and see if Google can fix the game's flaws sufficiently that I'd want to be an active player again.
ETA: I wrote a short follow-up covering a couple of common objections to this post.
Ingress is an artificial reality game played on Android devices in the real world - the game app presents you with layered information relevant to the game overlaid on top of physical spaces and objects. You play as an agent for one of two sides - Resistance or Enlightened - trying to cope with the sudden influx of something called XM (eXotic Matter) into the world. I played as Resistance in part because the Enlightened philosophy creeps me right out and appears to be recapitulating Dr Frankenstein's error. More on this in the final paragraphs.
If you just want the punchline, here it is: Ingress is a great experiment and a terrible game. Google have put together a remarkable analogy for WWI-era trench warfare in which a lot of energy is expended for no actual gain. There's a reason why successful games avoid this part of the reality of warfare - it's boring and pointless.
( What exactly are Ingress's successes and failures? )
I should close by saying that I'm not rage-quitting. I'm not going to delete my account or anything. Part of what makes an experiment good is what it reveals and I plan to hang around and see if Google can fix the game's flaws sufficiently that I'd want to be an active player again.
ETA: I wrote a short follow-up covering a couple of common objections to this post.
