Among Us is quite literally among us

Inside the dark recesses of the Electrical Room, a simple crewmate stands doing a task, when all of a sudden, the door to the room locks behind them, trapping them inside with no hope. Slowly, a once-trusted crewmate shows their true colors as an Imposter and then goes on to kill the rest of your friends.

Among Us is a 2018 multiplayer social deduction game, in the same vein as Town of Salem and Werewolf. The developer was Innersloth, the same people who worked on the Henry Stickmin games. In this game, you play on one of three maps where you and a group of 5-10 other people perform various tasks and try and deduce who the “Imposter(s)” is/are. There is so much fun to be had in this game, it’s amazing that it took until 2020 to gain popularity.

When playing, you get one of two possible roles: A crewmate or an Imposter. Unlike other social deduction games that usually have at least three roles, this is all players have to work with. The main goal of the Imposter is to kill every person (who isn’t also an imposter) on the map to make the number of crewmates and Imposters even. The crewmates in the game are trying to boot out the Imposters out before they can do that, while also juggling tasks that they must get done; accomplishing either results in a win for the crewmates.

When playing there are three maps to play on: The Skeld, Mira HQ, and Polus. The Skeld is generally seen as the beginner map, being the first map available upon release, having everything sort of clustered together, and a robust camera system. Mira is the smallest and most straightforward map, having many rooms clustered together, and then a couple split off by a decent distance with one long corridor. Polus is seen as the map for more experienced players, with wide-open spaces, making it easy for Imposters to swoop in and make a kill.

There are a few special attributes of the Imposter worth talking about. On every map, there are vent systems only accessible by Imposters that let them practically teleport across the map. Now, not all vents are connected, and the cooldown for the ‘Kill’ action ceases when entering the vents, but they are a useful tool for any Imposter nonetheless.

Another special trait of theirs is the ‘Sabotage’, where they wreck a function of the map they’re on. It ranges from: cutting off the lights, disabling O2 machines, Reactor meltdowns, and locking doors. Smart use of these ‘Sabotages’ and the cooldowns are essential to give the Imposters a helping hand. 

Many people have already seen the basic skins; a small bean that has a different color smacked on it, however, the real joy in your character comes in the customization. With different hats to wear on your avatar, to full outfits like police suits, many people have fun making their Among Us experience unique. Add to that the plethora of pets that can tag along, like Mini Crewmates, Wall-E like robots, and even characters from Innersloth’s previous games.

Among Us is certainly a different experience and a breath of fresh air in these trying times. Recent news about development of Among Us 2 has got fans excited for where Innersloth plans to take the series.