The words, “I saw him doing the trash, so he isn’t the impostor,” would never have been thought of or spoken if it weren’t for “Among Us.” The action-packed online party game has been an easy way for friends and others to play together during the quarantine.

A Rush of Popularity

   “Among Us,” the now-popular video game by InnerSloth, was a recorded failure back in 2018, and entertainment-based news website Comic Years stated that “InnerSloth wondered if the game was a flop” due to the small number of players. Over the course of its first few months in release, the game only had an average of 8.2 players per month and about 50 players yearly. 

   However, within the last month or two, you may have noticed a growing trend in “Among Us” videos on your Youtube feed. YouTubers such as Dream, Mr. Beast and PewDiePie have begun playing the game and helped accelerate growth for the game, according to the New York Times. 

   This recent rush of popularity and attention was most likely fueled by the quarantine as a way to interact and play with your friends online. Janet Kim, a freshman here at West Ranch, explained: “‘Among Us’ allows players from around the world to play with each other and provides private servers where friends can interact over quarantine.” Friends are able to FaceTime and play the game together simultaneously. 

   You can easily download “Among Us” for free on the Google Play Store and Appstore, and for five dollars on Steam for your computer.

How to Play

   The main premise of the game resembles the iconic party game Mafia; however, it features unique twists and aspects that distinguish the game from others. Overall, the game’s main players are a group of colorful astronauts together on a spaceship, in which one to three of them are impostors. 

   The impostor’s job is to eliminate all of the other players, the crewmates, in hopes of preventing them from completing their tasks. If the impostors are able to eliminate all crewmates without being caught, they win. On the other hand, if the crewmates are able to complete all their tasks without being removed, they win. 

   Sophomore Haris Mian from West Ranch believes another feature that sets “Among Us” apart from other games is the implementation of “voting sections and voice chat.” If one of the astronauts is able to find an eliminated individual, they are able to report it and start a meeting. “ ‘Among Us’ allows everyone to participate as detectives or cops and determine the imposter themselves.” Mian explained. 

   Within the discussion, everyone uses clues and interactions from the game to narrow down the impostor(s). Everyone can either vote someone out, or simply skip to the next round due to a lack of suspects. 

   As the game progresses, the impostors are able to add sabotages, which could vary from breaking a reactor to turning off the lights. In these sabotages, the crewmates are forced to quickly fix them in a certain amount of time. If unable to, then the impostors can win this way as well.

   Popular strategies and tactics have also been a great part of the interaction between users, and the experience of the game overall. When she is an impostor, West Ranch freshman Amelie Mendoza “just acts the exact same as [she] would if [she] was a crewmate,” which is a popular strategy amongst most players when they’re the impostor. 

   The game is an easy concept to grasp, and has implemented new updates and customizations to its huge platform. As of now, the game includes colors and hats that can be easily distinguished as different users. “Among Us’ also includes a shop in which players can buy pets and skins for a few extra dollars. 

New Updates to Come 

   Due to the game’s recent success, it is clear that the features are long overdue for an update. The unexpected surge in players is overwhelming the servers, causing them to malfunction and kick players out frequently. 

   Player frustrations have also brought attention to the game’s non-inclusion of those color-blind, as the gameplay relies on color recognition. Player avatars are differentiated by color, and crewmate tasks (such as connecting wires) are also color-oriented. InnerSloth announced on their forums that they will be adding visual cues such as shapes and symbols to make it easier for users to tell players apart and complete their in-game tasks.

Along with this, new color avatars for players to choose from will be included. The addition of the color-blind symbols will be placed on the astronauts. 

   Another highly requested update was the addition of a friend and account system. Since the game is very popular to play among friends, sending out a code to every user and arranging games is often a troubling and unnecessary process. Being able to add accounts and easily join a designated game will make playing with friends much easier according to FilmDaily, an online news website.

   The new update will spice up investigations and add more challenges for crewmates trying to reveal the impostor(s). InnerSloth plans to add features such as optional anonymous voting, which will decrease the chances of impostors getting voted out by attentive players. 

   The company also reported that a new map will be added soon, and the theme will be based on “Henry Stickmin,” a series of action/comedy/parody games also produced by InnerSloth.  

    The game developers have entertained a variety of other ideas, such as removing the taskbar or allowing players to do more after they’re eliminated, but more information is being released daily. The release date is still up in the air, but fans can expect “Among Us” merchandise to be available for purchase by the holidays.