Ingress is a location-based phone game. Real places such as murals, statues, churches and parks are portals, and two factions compete to control them by walking around and interacting with them through a map app called the Scanner. The game is free on iOS and Android. It has run since 2012 and is developed by Niantic Spatial.
Pick a faction
You join the Enlightened (green) or the Resistance (blue). The story gives each side a different view of a mysterious energy called Exotic Matter, but in practice most people choose the side their friends or local community play. Changing later is possible with a paid in-game token, so don't agonize. You'll also see red Machina portals, which belong to neither faction and can be reclaimed by either.
The basics of the Scanner
The circle around you is your action range, 40 metres. You can only interact with portals inside it, so you do have to go to them. Glowing specks on the map are XM, the energy every action spends. Walking over them refills your XM bar.
Hacking
Hacking a portal gives you items such as resonators, weapons and portal keys. A portal needs a few minutes to cool down between your hacks (five minutes, or three on your own faction's portals), and after four hacks it burns out for you for four hours. Glyph hacking is a short memory game of tracing symbols that earns extra items. Your first hack of each day is worth 500 AP. The key farming calculator shows how mods change these numbers.
Capturing a portal
A neutral portal has eight empty slots. Deploy a resonator into one and the portal is yours. Fill all eight and you earn a bonus. The portal's level is the average of its resonators, but each agent can only place a limited number of each level on a portal:
| Resonator level | Most one agent can deploy |
|---|---|
| L8 and L7 | 1 of each |
| L6 and L5 | 2 of each |
| L4, L3 and L2 | 4 of each |
| L1 | 8 |
That's why a level 8 agent working alone tops out at a level 5 portal, and why an L8 portal takes eight L8 agents. To take an enemy portal, destroy its resonators with XMP Bursters and Ultra Strikes until it goes neutral, then capture it. Resonators also lose energy every day, so portals you want to keep need recharging. With a portal's key you can recharge it remotely.
Mods
Portals have four mod slots, and one agent can fill two of them. Shields and Aegis Shields protect a portal, Heat Sinks and Multi-Hacks make it better to hack, Link Amps extend its range, and Turrets and Force Amps make it hit attackers harder.
Links and fields
With a portal's key in your inventory, you can stand at a fully resonated friendly portal and throw a link to the one the key belongs to. Three linked portals close a triangle called a control field. Fields are how the game is scored: each one earns your faction Mind Units (MU) based on its size and the population under it. The score is tallied at checkpoints every five hours, in cycles of 175 hours.
Links can't cross other links, and the order you make them changes how many fields you get. Our fielding guide covers that in detail.
Leveling up
Almost everything earns Access Points (AP). Levels 2 to 8 only need AP. From level 9 you also need medals, which come from achievements such as hacking many unique portals or walking long distances. A link is worth 313 AP and a field 1,250 AP, so fielding is the fastest route up. The level-up calculator shows what you still need.
Your first week
- Finish the in-app training, then hack every portal on a walk you already take.
- Capture neutral portals and fill all eight slots. It's the quickest AP while you're low level.
- Hack for keys to three portals close together and make your first field.
- Check Dispatch in the Scanner for Daily Bounties, which pay out items and count toward event medals.
- Find your local faction group. The game is far better with other people, and they'll help you reach level 8.
- Redeem a few passcodes for free gear, and watch your inventory cap as it fills up.
Events worth joining
First Saturdays are monthly in-person meetups for new and returning agents. Second Sundays are monthly exploration challenges, and Mission Days are walking tours built around a city. The biggest gatherings are anomalies, where both factions fight for points in one place.
Playing safely and fairly
- Never play while driving, and watch where you walk.
- Stay out of private property, even if a portal is inside it.
- One agent per person, and no faking your location. Spoofing and multiple accounts are against the rules and get agents banned. If you suspect someone, here's how to report it.
- The other faction are neighbors too. Plenty of agents have friends on both sides.