Pokemon GO takes place in the world around you, and invites you to go out and explore the area. There are Pokestops which offer items, and these Pokestops are typically interesting places such as libraries, churches, parks, etc.
Pokemon also typically stay in regions which appeal to them, water Pokemon show up more frequently around ponds or lakes, while normal Pokemon (Mouth, Ratatta, and Eevee) show up more in urban areas.
You need to physically wander around to find pokémon, visit points, and incubate eggs (your phone tracks your steps which will eventually hatch the egg). It's a great incentive to get a little exercise.
The Pokémon team grouped up with Nyantic Labs (creators of Ingress) for Pokémon GO. Nyantic Labs is affiliated with Google, and use Google's data to create a vast database of public areas. The partnership with the Pokemon Team allows Pokemon GO to use Ingress data to have a rich experience right out of the gate, sharing many of the same points of interest.
While it only takes around 15MB of data per hour (give or take), Pokemon GO requires a constant data and GPS connection. This can use up your megabytes fairly quickly if you go out somewhat frequently.
While battery life varies greatly person to person, with the constant data and GPS connection as well as the screen constantly on, Pokemon GO drains battery very quickly. Hardcore players will want certainly want to invest in a portable battery pack.
If you live in a city or other highly traffic area, you get tons of stops to replenish your supplies and catch more. If you are in the suburbs or rural areas, those places are few and far between.
Ingress is a very social game best enjoyed by playing with others from your own faction. Leaders organize unofficial local Ingress and social events and Ingress has many opportunities to participate official "anomalies" where as many as a thousand players of all levels gather to wage a virtual war over a predetermined territory (usually larger cities or historical places). Occasional cross-faction events are organized to get to know the enemy.
To find other players you can search Google+ or reach out to high level players of your own faction to ask them to how to get involved in your local community. Ingress has an official communities directory here.
Ingress will get you out and about, walk, bike, drive, swim, float or otherwise. You will notice more of your surroundings, more artworks and interesting places. You will explore areas to find potential new points of interest. It will get you fitter in the meantime.
Ingress is at its core is a massively multiplayer online role playing game that allow the user to get immersed in role playing in a game of mystery and global domination.
There's a story of espionage, near-future technology and conspiracy surrounding the game that everyone takes part in, maybe even unkowingly. It is mainly told through the nianticproject.com website.
Niantic posts daily storyline updates containing passcodes solvable with common cryptographic principles for in-game items. Loads of fun, helps you get gear, and lets you learn a thing or two about classical crypto and encodings.
Officially sanctioned anomaly events are hosted in cities around the world. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of players gather to try and dominate for their faction.
Check the Ingress event page as well as the Ingress Google+ page for more info.
Ingress is an augmented reality game, so you have to move around the real world to progress in the game, with all that it entails - weather, time of day, city density, etc. The game will follow your movement through your devices' GPS, meaning it works in real time and considers all of the surrounding environment. This makes for a situation that feels all that more real due to traveling in the real-world.
The game requires players to walk around real life locations using mobile data and GPS for periods of time, which is a massive battery drain. Don't expect to get more than a couple of hours gaming outside from most smartphones
It's an extremely fun concept, walking around and building up affinity with local nodes to you. However, the fun comes to an abrupt stop when a wandering high-level player, in one visit, levels your affinity and puts you in a position where you have no hope of affecting their control. The long-term and serious players leave new players with very little recourse.
Niantic posts daily storyline updates containing passcodes solvable with common cryptographic principles for in-game items. Loads of fun, helps you get gear, and lets you learn a thing or two about classical crypto and encodings.
Meeting new people through a game is a very new concept, and it helps to increase your social circle and gives you a reason to get out of your house and discover your local area.
Ingress will get you out and about, walk, bike, drive, swim, float or otherwise. You will notice more of your surroundings, more artworks and interesting places. You will explore areas to find potential new points of interest. It will also get you fitter in the meantime.
The game is more geared towards using strategy which means those that are in better shape and run more do not necessarily hold an advantage over those that don't have the time or stamina.
Anti-cheat measures have been coded into the game that makes it difficult to trick the app into logging unearned miles. This way everyone is able to compete fairly.
Usually AR games require the player to leave their house in order to really play the game and advance, luckily Parallel Kingdom gives the player a pet dog that can go out and explore even when the player never leaves their house.
Being that the game has been around for so long there is a ton of content including 14 different playable classes. This is great for replayability as well as a great way to expand the type of tactics used in game.
After having spent a few hours in game the balance of food earned does not match what is required to level up at a worthwhile pace. The game is unfairly balanced in order to force the player to spend real world money on a secondary currency. So those that have funds to waste on the game will advance quickly while those that do not will be left to pretty much languish.
In order to be able to play indoors a user will need access to a computer and a printer, to print out tags for the game on paper. Not everyone will have access to a printer, which is a drawback.
Using augmented reality in order to catch ghosts is a perfect fit for the Ghostbusters license. It does not feel forced or cashed in. It is very rare to see a movie license used so well in a video game, which is not only refreshing but also quite fun.
Sitting down is not an option, this is a game that requires the user to be active by standing up and contorting ones self constantly. Which is a great change of pace to the normal casual games found on mobile.