Ingress for iOS

Ingress is an augmented-reality game that turns your iPhone screen into a map of your immediate surroundings, overlaid with a parallel world. Your mission: Head outside to hack portals, capture seeping exotic matter, and collect items to aid you in saving the world.

Pros

Great introductory training: Ingress makes your mission clear with an informative intro, explaining what your goal is and how to achieve it.

Simple yet powerful storyline: A mysterious, potentially dangerous substance -- known as Exotic Matter, or XM -- has leaked into our world through portals. You must choose between two sides: the Enlightened, who mean to evolve mankind using the matter's power, and the Resistance, who mean to kick our enemy forces' butts. Once you're on a team, you're tasked with capturing portals and XM to save our planet from imminent doom.

Calorie-burning opportunity: Ingress identifies nearby locations that house portals, so you must head from one to another to hack and claim portals and collect additional items. All this moving around is good exercise.

Single or multiplayer: You can play alone or get extra help by joining a local, national, or global alliance.

Cons

Move it or lose it: There's little to do in Ingress from the couch. If you'd rather just stay put, then this isn't the game for you.

Battery drain: You'll need your phone's GPS running to play the game. Unfortunately, this drains your battery fairly quickly. So you might consider taking a portable charger out with you when you play.

Bottom Line

Ingress for iOS is a fun, challenging augmented-reality game that brings a world of mystery, intrigue, and excitement to the world outside your door.