NEW YORK — In the latest effort to increase its customer engagement, Duane Reade has integrated its stores into the mobile game Ingress.

The 250-store drug chain that is part of Walgreen Co. is one of the first retail partners in the New York market for the game that blends the physical and virtual world.

“Customer engagement strategy via location-based gaming has elevated to new levels, and Duane Reade understands that,” a spokesman says. “Strategically engaging gamification experiences that utilize LBS platforms are becoming increasingly relevant as mobile concentration within the retail space continues to expand.

“It’s important for us to be where our consumers are, including the virtual world,” he notes.

Ingress involves a team of scientists in Europe that have unearthed a mysterious energy called Exotic Matter (XM) that is believed to be influencing the way humans think.

Players in the game choose a side, either “The Enlightened” seeking to embrace the power of this energy, or “The Resistance” working to defend and protect against that same power. Once they have picked a side, players have to move through the real world around them to discover and tap into sources of this mysterious energy.

A global collaborative effort, Ingress players can interact with other players around the world, plan their next steps and communicate via an intelligence map.

To alert players that its stores are participating in the game, Duane Reade has placed an Ingress logo on the front window of each of its stores, letting players know that there is a value-added game asset located inside the store.