When comparing Pokémon GO vs Ingress, the Slant community recommends Pokémon GO for most people. In the question“What are the best augmented reality multiplayer games for Android?” Pokémon GO is ranked 1st while Ingress is ranked 2nd. The most important reason people chose Pokémon GO is:
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.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Uses intuitive setting placement for gameplay
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.
Pro Encourages walking around outside
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.
Pro Rich experience thanks to a seasoned developer team
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.
Pro Great for exploration and physical activity thanks to how much the game asks the user to travel around
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.
Pro Enveloping real-world gameplay where the environment is part of the game itself
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.
Pro Huge organized events where you can meet up with like minded people
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.
Pro Intriguing cyberpunk story that is always evolving
There's a story of espionage, near-future technology and conspiracy surrounding the game. Mainly told through nianticproject.com and later branched to Google Plus.
Pro Helps teach cryptography principles through the gameplay
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.
Pro Great way to meet new people as the game directs numerous people to the same locations
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.
Cons
Con Game play is very shallow and basic
The game is very basic. And only shares the franchise in name only. Gets boring very quickly.
Con Requires a constant data connection
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.
Con Drains battery fast
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.
Con Difficult to find stops for rural and suburb players
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.
Con Requires data plan and location
This game, or any game with the same concepts, cannot be used without both a data plan and location.
That being said, the game works fine over a wifi connection, which is useful if you can sweet-talk portal owners into giving you the password.
Con Congested areas are already dominated
It's an extremely fun concept, walking around and building up an 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. Completely kills the fun. Though if left untended the whole area will be neutral again in around 7 days. There is also a way to gain Experience (AP) off enemy portals.
While being a problem it does appear to be an isolated issue that can be rectified by working in groups. Even when that is not possible there should still be enough density of portals to allow low-level players to achieve higher levels that then can affect most portals.
Con Poor interface
It's a pain to manage 2000 keys manually without any option of group operation on them. This is not an issue at first, but as the players key collection adds up, it becomes a lot more difficult to manage.
Con Now has In-App purchases
With the most recent updates, Niantic have introduced a number of game items that are only available via in-app purchase.
Con Cheating is extremely prevalent
People use multiple accounts/devices and GPS spoofing in some regions, which makes it difficult if not impossible to take points away from them.
Con Drains battery quickly
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.