Last edit: Jan 9, 2020

Ingress players who want to have a special game experience can apply for a Mission Day they design by submitting a set of missions for their city. Niantic will provide support by uploading your missions and displaying the event on the Ingress official event website and the Ingress community forum.

To help you plan a successful Mission Day, we’ve put together this guide to outline what Niantic needs in order to provide you with this support.

This is your Mission Day. In order to receive Niantic’s support for a successful Mission Day of your design, please include the following in your submission:
  • Completed 2020 Mission Day application form
  • A list of Portals, descriptions, and badge images of 18 official Mission Day missions on Niantic templates. Submissions using altered templates will not be considered.

1. How to Create Mission Day Missions

Please propose 18 missions for your Mission Day. The number of Portals per mission is limited to 6 to 10 Portals. Only Portal hack actions are permitted (passphrases are no longer allowed).

Mission route spreadsheet: Please make a copy of the provided mission route template and replace the sample entry with your mission details.

Be sure to set your spreadsheet permission setting to viewable. 

Mission names:
  • Identify a landmark or theme for each mission name.
  • To easily identify the missions, each mission name should include to the following format: “MD YEAR: City, Name of landmark/theme” ex.: MD 2020: San Francisco, Embarcadero
  • There is a limit of 50 characters for each mission name.
Mission description: Please include a few sentences explaining the highlights of each mission. There is a maximum limit of 200 characters for each mission description. The description may be displayed in your local language, but would be very helpful to also include it in English. 

Mission route badges: Please use one of the following templates to create the Mission badges:

1) The official Mission Day template can be downloaded here. 
  • Note: The Orbitron font is incompatible with non-English languages, such as Japanese. If you wish to display non-English font, please be sure to use copyright-free fonts. 
2) The official Mission Day template which incorporates partner logos can be downloaded here. Please position the partner’s logo within the designated area. 

3) Image format and details:
  • Size: 512px by 512px
  • Format: .png
  • Please name the images according to the mission title  
  • Please make sure your file permission setting is set to viewable
  • Niantic will review images and approve the final version
Mission activation: Missions will go live sometime between midnight and 10:00 am on the day of the Mission Day.

Some tips for creating memorable missions:
  • Focus on showcasing the best Portals in your city
  • Avoid using Portals that require admission/money to access 
  • Avoid starting missions with a Field Trip waypoint (start with an Ingress Portal)
  • Avoid using the same Portals twice or more in one mission 
  • Agents must complete 6 official MD missions to receive a Mission Day medal. It should not take longer than 2 hours to do so; they should be enjoyable and accomplished without rush or difficulty 
  • Mission Day mission route badges may not be designed as a banner mission

2. Approved Partner (eg. Tourism board/City)

While this is not mandatory, Niantic encourages teaming with a local partner for Mission Day to increase your chances of being selected. We recommend the local tourism board of the city as an officially approved partner. In addition, museums, non-profit organisations and any other organisations that support historic, cultural, ecological or artistic values and have a local presence are also well worth exploring. Should you have any candidate partners in mind, please be sure to note it in the application. 

If your local partner is a tourist board or a city, Niantic also encourages you to get their approval to use the official pictures of local landmarks to be used in Mission route badges. This will provide a great opportunity to highlight the beauty of the city within the game and showcase your partnership.

What to provide Niantic: If you would like to incorporate the partner logo into your mission route badge, Niantic will need written proof of partner approval for Niantic to use the partner's logo and/or photos in the mission route badge images within the app. 

What if my partner does not approve the use of their logo?: Mission Days can still proceed without the use of their logos. Note that mission route badges will be created using the standard official MD template. 

3. Communication & information sharing

Please note that receiving contact from Niantic does not automatically mean that your city has been chosen for a Mission Day. We may get in touch with you for clarification or offer advice on how your city can be a great candidate.

After Niantic approves a Mission Day, the applicant will be invited to a private Slack channel to continue sharing information as needed. Applicants will be removed from the Slack channel once their Mission Days have concluded.

4. Optional: Additional Community Support

If you would like Niantic to share your community organised resources and activities, please provide the link/details in the Slack channel and we can share it on the official event page, social media channels and newsletters.

This information can be organised after your application has been officially accepted as a Mission Day. 
  • Community created Mission Maps
  • Community social channels: (eg. Twitter, Telegram Channel, etc.) 
  • Group photo: please note that you will be responsible for acquiring photo permits if required by your local jurisdiction 
  • Schedule: group photo, x-fac meetups, afterparties, etc.

FAQs

  • How is Niantic supporting Mission Day? Niantic will support your Mission Day through the following process:
    • Review and approve your mission routes and mission badge images
    • Upload your missions onto the Niantic Mission Author Tool
    • Prepare and display event details on the Ingress official event website and the Ingress community forum 
    • Activate the missions to go live on the day of event
    • Award Mission Day medals to eligible participants
  • What if I am unable to submit all of the information requested? Will my city not be chosen? Every submission is reviewed. If your application is promising, we will be in touch. 
  • How far in advance should the application be submitted? In general, we aim to have the event publicly announced a month before the date. To have ample time, application submission two months in advance of the event date would be ideal. 
  • Will I find out if my application has been rejected? Yes. We will contact you to notify the status of your application. 
  • When will the selected Mission Days be announced to the public? We aim to have the registration open to the public at least one month ahead of the event date.
  • Do we have to secure a check-in venue? No. The process of checking each individual’s scanner is no longer required, which eliminates the need to secure a physical location. 
  • I completed the required minimum number of missions but have not received my Mission Day medal. Who do I contact? Please contact support through https://ingress.com/support for assistance. Be sure to provide all relevant information such as your agent name, mission day city, and date. 
  • I submitted my application but need to make some changes; what should I do? Applications cannot be modified or retracted once submitted. Please submit a new application. Mention of your resubmission in the form will be helpful. 
  • I applied for the city Niantic has selected for a Mission Day. Do I have to do anything on the actual day of event? No, Niantic does not require you to be onsite the day of the event. However, you are of course welcome to organise your own social meetups, group photos, etc. 
  • When will I receive the Mission Day medal in my scanner? The medal will be sent to your Ingress scanner 24-48 hours after the event is over. To qualify for a Mission Day medal, you must complete 6 official Mission Day missions on the day of event. 
  • Are group photos no longer mandatory? Group photos are optional. If you choose to organise one, please note that you will be responsible for acquiring any permits required by your local jurisdiction. 
  • I changed my agent name after Mission Day; will I still receive the medal? Yes.