“It was Red, he vented!” my friend screams into the microphone.
“NO! It was blue, he vented!” I retort as I lock in my vote against my friend as all of the players in the game frantically scramble as they pick a side to believe. They ask interrogation questions to make us crack like, “What tasks did you do?”, or “Explain to me where you’ve been in this game?” Either through logic, or through a person’s questionable behaviors, or through their gut feeling, a murderer is caught or a crewmate is wrongfully convicted.
Among Us is a ten player game, in which there are usually two imposters amongst them and eight crewmates, who are trying to find out who the imposters are. There are three maps, and each map has tasks which the crewmates can complete. The imposters go around killing as many crewmates as possible until the number of crewmates and imposters are equal. Imposters can also “vent”, or go into holes in the ground to cover up their tracks and get to another location. However, the crewmates can report a dead body to force a discussion time, or call an “emergency button”, to force a meeting. The unique part is that all 10 players are put in a voice call where they discuss what went on during the round. The sole purpose of this meeting is to find the two killers by asking for positions and interrogating certain individuals that could be the killer. Then, all 10 players can vote on who they believe the killer is, and with a majority vote, the player they voted for is ejected from the game. This will continue until the crewmates find the imposters, or the imposters kill all but one or two crewmates.
The game is inspired by ‘Mafia’, but transformed into an online game where people around the world can connect. Among Us is the first game where people are forced to socially interact with other people in the game, whether by chatting or by talking. To add on, it’s allowing famous streamers to play with famous people in other fields like politics. For example, Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, or AOC, recently played with many “gamers” to spread awareness to voting. She interacted with many well known streamers like “Disguised Toast”, “xQcOW”, and “Valkyrae.”
With over 3 million players, and almost 500,000 concurrent players, this game is only becoming more and more popular. Although the game itself is extremely simple, unchanging and straightforward, the game is somehow still gaining popularity because of the social interactions within the game. And especially during this time, when social relationships are hindered due to the virus, Among Us provides a solution to everyone who wants to play a casual, family friendly game with their friends.
I feel like for the first time, people of all kinds are able to come together and play this game, without any experience, and have a great time. Gaming is no longer all about grinding for levels or ranks, or staying locked up by yourself, but gaming is becoming more about interacting with people you know. And most importantly, playing for the fun of the experience. Among Us has given players a refreshing view on what gaming can be, and I expect this to serve as the cornerstone to the future of the gaming industry.
