By Cam Alsbrook
A&E Editor
Innersloth’s “Among Us” is a deception game based on “crewmates” trying to fend off “imposters” until they perform all the tasks available on the playing field, or eject all the imposters.
At the start of a round, up to ten people are divided into a player-controlled ratio of innocent crewmates or murderous imposters, who either work to fill up a task completion bar, or ensure that the crewmates fail, respectively.
The game is difficult due to each player not knowing who is innocent players must participate in meetings and discuss which party seems most suspicious.
“Among Us” released on the Steam digital game store on Nov. 16, 2018, but rose to extreme popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic as a hilarious way to play with friends online.
This game is either a good teambuilding exercise, or a surefire way to test friendships there is not an in-between when playing with friends.
“Among Us” features a random matchmaking option, but this review will focus more on the friend to friend relationship of the game’s multiplayer, as in my own experience it does not have the same charm playing with strangers as it does with friends.
Generally, my player group stuck with the rule that if you die, you can no longer speak in the voice call with living players.
Though, when a crewmate dies, they become a ghost able to resume doing their tasks to complete their unfinished business and talk to other ghosts for fun.
As the ghost of an imposter, the goal is to sabotage the crewmates by setting off dangerous scenarios such as reactor meltdowns or oxygen removal.
A cute thing to note is that pets such as dogs and hamsters follow the player around unfortunately this makes the player easier to pick out.
It is very important to have clear direction of strategy between the crewmates, as they can only generally speak during called meetings in a voice call or the in-game text function.
Those who have played “Town of Salem” or “Jackbox Party Games” will see that “Among Us” share’s the voting system as it’s way of disposing it’s players.
Voting works during meetings in two ways: either a player reports a found body, or a player pushes the emergency button located generally in the center of the traversable overworld.
I enjoyed this game due to the chaotic nature that players generally behave in, attempting individual approaches at finding out the imposters or killing crewmates.
The joy of this game lies with the people you play with how they play matters a lot for the atmosphere of the game.
I recommend this game to be played with a player group between 7-10 people, as any less will make the rounds feel too short.
The controls of the game and the tasks players have to do are all simple and easy to understand.
The other cool aspect of the game is the multi- platform functionality; it works with iPhone, Android and computers.
All prospective players need to do for the game is either purchase the computer version for $4.99, on the Steam game store, or download it for free on their phones, afterwards they can begin playing with friends or people across the world.
I recommend using a computer, as the game is definitely worth the five dollars, and the controls are more optimized for computer anyhow.
The mobile experience is good, but of course being on a phone might become tiresome it is easier to do tasks and commands with a mouse and keyboard, after all. “Among Us” added companions and maps as downloadable content over the past couple years of it’s lifespan.
This included hats, shirts, pants, pets and free play fields to spice the game up for players.
Innersloth has made a public statement about a sequel to “Among Us”, but has no release date in mind there has not been a start on production for the title yet.
I would put Among Us at a solid 8 – 9.5 / 10, depending on who I play with. I recommend this game for players who want to torture their friends virtually.