E. Daniel Arey discusses how location-based augmented reality games like Ingress and Pokemon Go turn the real world into a game. The games encourage exploration and discovery by making real-world locations important features of gameplay. Both games achieved widespread popularity by facilitating social interactions and meetups between players. Their success demonstrates people's desire to play games together and experience shared adventures in the real world.

1. Turning the World
Into a Game
E. Daniel Arey
Director of Game Design and Creative Development

2. And now for the obligatory attention
grabbing opening…

4. FREE MONEY!

5. There are three $1 bills under three seats out there!
And for one lucky seat…a $20 bill!
Go ahead. You can look now. No one will judge you.
It’s okay. Did I mention it’s FREE MONEY?!

6. Why do I make
this point?

7. LOCATION MATTERS

8. LOCATION MATTERS
Where we live. Where we eat. Where we work. Where we play. Who we know.
Where people congregate. Where people go to get away. Secret places.
Places we know well…or only think we do. Places we’ve never been, but want to visit.
Movement = DISCOVERY And endorphins!

9. Can we make the world into a game?

10. In the time honored traditions of Roleplaying, LARPing, and the kinetic college game Assassin, mobile
technology had reached a point where we could begin to make our world into a sort of Holodeck.
And where video games are often isolating, artificial, and “couch dependent,” we
could now make games active and human connecting – full of motion and emotion.
Can we make the world into a game?

11. The World as a Game Board…
• Make a game where locations matter.
• Make movement a key component of
gameplay.
• Create game systems that facilitate
Exploration, Discovery, and Surprise.

12. Niantic set out to do just that…
• Ingress – A game of territory control,
with an espionage overlay…and a little
Cthulhu underbelly to boot!

14. • Portals are locations of creative human
interest – sculptures, murals, art, cool
places you’d want to visit.
• Players visit Portals to power them up,
link them, mod them, create fields, and
get resources.
• Fields capture territory.

15. • If a player moves around, they
discover there are hidden treasures
all over their city, and in new places
they travel.
• S.S. Niantic is a ship hidden under
San Francisco.
• The hidden world is all around us…if
we know where to look.

16. • Portals are locations of creative human
interest – sculptures, murals, art, cool
architecture. Places you’d want to visit.
• Players visit Portals to power them up,
link them, mod them, create fields, and
get resources.
• Fields capture territory.

18. • Two factions – Resistance and
Enlightened
• Agents had a “secret identity”
• People could see each other in
the real world and wonder if…
• Can we make this game
social?
• As it turns out…

19. NEARLY EVERYONE WANTS TO MEET
UP!

20. ALL OVER THE WORLD!

21. Humans LOVE….

22. …to play together and meet new friends!

23. The Result?
• Ingress – Celebrated its 5th
Anniversary in Nov 2017!
• 20M+ installs
• Played in 200+ countries and territories around the globe.
• Unprecedented fan enthusiasm and stickiness.
• Huge database of cool worldwide locations.
• Ingress Prime announced!

24. So why did it work?
• Early mover in geo mobile – location,
location, location.
• With tech limitations we made an early
bet to generate social experience in the
game. Meetups, First Saturdays,
Anomalies, and other events.
• ARG story, characters, and Ingress
Update gave player’s “15 min of fame.”
• Teams formed, flags were made,
marriages and tattoos happened!

25. So why did it work?
• We encouraged our players to be creative, and they responded
beyond our expectations with Field Art and other expressions.
• Anomalies became “Spectacle Events”
• The Social aspect became the strongest game glue.
• Like Burning Man, “If you build it, they will come!” And they will
bring their humanity, enthusiasm, and amazing creativity with
them.

26. Then something wonderful and crazy
happened…

27. • New game, same wonderful player
engagement and enthusiasm! Only
BIGGER!
• A real world tracking experience linked
to actual environments.
• There was always the possibility of a
“little surprise” every time you booted
the game.
• And it was truly social.

28. • Augmented Reality allowed people to share the
game experience on social media…and it
caught fire!
• The rest is history - several Guinness World
Records, including fastest grossing game in a
single month, most downloaded game in its
first month, and fastest mobile game to gross
$100 million.

29. • 800+ Million installs
• GO players caught more than
3.6B Pokemon in 7 days during
the 2017 November Global
Catch Challenge.
• Available in 150 countries
worldwide.
• 10’s of Billions of kilometers
walked!

30. • 10’s of Billions of kilometers
walked! Just to put that in
perspective, it’s only 7.5 billion
kilometers to Pluto! So
Pokemon GO players have
walked to Pluto and back!
And they are still going!

33. • It is so easy to play, for any age.
• Pokeball throw mechanic is simple,
but satisfying - not too easy, not too
hard.
• Allows for opportunistic, “bite sized”
play sessions anywhere, anytime.
• Battling is a selective loop allowing
different player types to play without
having to battle other players.
Why does it work?

34. • “Adventures on Foot, with
Others” is a core mission at
Niantic - Movement is key to the
game.
• Pokemon GO AR brought real
world gaming to a new place of
shared game space for everyone
in real time.
• And AR is only getting better!
Why does it work?

35. • Collection is a powerful human
compulsion loop. Link that with geo
location, real-world environment, (and
now weather) and it becomes “anytime,
anywhere” gaming.
• The Collection Domain grows as we
roll out new Pokemon Generations.
• Three factions battle for control of
Gyms - Mystic, Instinct, and Valor.
Why does it work?

36. • Lures are a shared, “giving” experience
and help with session times.
• Raids recently added a social aspect
PULL into the game.
• It was important to us that monetization
was without pay walls, did not have
begging or baiting, and was never pay-
to-win. Monetization is in GO core
loops, but it is not vital to play.
Why does it work?

37. • Or was it simply Russian influence?
• Yes, we even got coverage on CNN.
Priceless…
Why does it work?

38. So what’s next?
• Augmented Reality technology
continues to improve on its promise of
immersive, shared experience gaming!
• Pokemon GO 2018 looks exciting with
new features and modes.
• Ingress Prime is coming!
• And of course…

39. So what’s next?

40. Questions?