Google has created an alternate reality game that invites users to participate in an adventure that straddles the real and virtual worlds.
Ingress is a team game that gets players to use live maps to search for portals in the real world and draws on players puzzle solving abilities. At the moment it is only available to Android smartphone users and you need to apply for an invite code if you want to get involved but we see this really taking off, especially as the iOS version release is on the horizon.
Alternate reality games are becoming more popular. Last year BEcause Business Director, Joss Davidge, wrote a post for The Marketing Society on Code Runner “A real-world, location-based, iPhone adventure game” that got lots of people talking. We are looking forward to seeing the reaction to Google’s Ingress and how this technique will be used in marketing in the future. 