Today, Google announced one of their flagship games is now available for iOS devices. Ingress by Google, Inc. is an augmented reality massively multiplayer online pervasive game created by Niantic Labs, a startup within Google. The game allows you to head to locations and place your marks down to keep the portals within your team. There are two teams – The “Enlightened” Green team and the “Resistance” Blue team. You basically pick a side, then find portals – which are usually landmarks around the city – to place your offensive or defensive items on. You can overtake a portal for your team. But be warned – it can be taken back pretty quick. Little blue dots are collected while you walk around to bring your life back up to reinforce and repair your portals. You can quickly find yourself needing more if the portals in your area get some heavy damage. Why Ingress Works Better on iPad Air (or even iPad mini) One big problem with Ingress is its a power-sucking game. I try not to play it on my phone while on travel due to the battery dropping quick just through my normal use. The iPad Air could be a better option with the 8,827 mAh battery – as opposed to the 1,560 mAh battery in an iPhone or 2,800 mAh battery in the Samsung Galaxy S5. The iPad mini can even beat the phones with their 4400 mAh battery. The best battery phone out there is the DROID RAZR Maxx with a 3300 mAh battery. Once the iPad is low on battery, switch to your iPhone or Android to continue while a battery backup charges it up. Remember to close all your other apps for optimal life. Another issue is triangulation. Sometimes you could be sitting right on the item and the device has you across the street or just too far away. It can get frustrating if you are trying to hack a portal, but keep getting whisked around because the towers cannot triangulate you properly. Technical details aside, this is a game of conquest while going out to get some fresh air. The graphics are really nothing to boast about and the sounds can become somewhat annoying. Still, its like playing PONG, or a retro game from Atari days. Even 8-bit games are popular on the iPad, as Tiny Death Star proved. If you love strategic battle games and enjoy going out and walking around, Ingress will help fulfill both needs. It did get me to walk around the cities I visited in the last year – Vegas, Detroit, Austin, along with places in Madison I haven’t been to in years. And it gets better when you meet fellow players – green or blue. There are major fanatic boards out there which you can get into the conversation, bantor, and have fun. Will it Run on iPad1 The program will download and install. If you try to launch, the app crashes instantly. I double-checked using my older iPhone 3GS. The same crash occurred.