Among Us, the new craze for gamers in Fall 2020, has brought out the detective and liar in all of us. The space-themed murder-mystery game, released almost two years ago, has recently found popularity through the video streaming apps Twitch and YouTube due to its engaging and unpredictable nature. Like many others, I have hopped on the trend and have come to see why Among Us is the third most popular game on Twitch as of October 5, 2020, topping Grand Theft Auto V, League of Legends, and Fortnite.

Among Us, a murder-mystery game, resembles games such as Clue and Town of Salem, while introducing fun, new feaures. Four to ten players can play together and be transported to one of three space-themed maps.

From there, it’s simple. Impostors, consisting of 1-3 randomly chosen players, use an assortment of tools, such as sabotages and deception, to eliminate crewmates without being caught and ejected from the ship before crewmates complete the tasks assigned to them. Alternately, crewmates are given a list of tasks, consisting of small minigames, located throughout the map. Their goal is to either eject all impostors or to complete all of their tasks as a group; both paths lead to victory. Crewmates also have a set of tools, ranging from cameras to a map, identifying the number of people within each room to help in their search. During the majority of the game, players do not have any verbal contact with one another. However, the aspect of play that separates Among Us from its competitors is the cooperative, engaging, and exciting discussions that occur whenever a fallen crewmate is discovered, or an emergency meeting is called. During these discussions, players can converse with the remaining players for a predetermined amount of time, whether impostor or crewmate, to try and determine the culprit among them.

The core gameplay mechanics are simple, and the user interface is easy to learn. When first loading into a lobby, the waiting area players join before a game, some settings of the game can be changed. These settings include the amount of time for discussions and voting, player speeds, visibility for crewmates and impostors, the number of tasks assigned to each crewmate, and many others. It allows you to play the game in the format that you enjoy.

Within the game, the user interface is easy to learn as arrow keys or the keys “W,” “A,” “S,” and “D” are used for movement and everyone must remain silent or muted, except during discussions, a feature of game play. In addition, crewmates need only three clickable buttons that are nicely placed in the bottom right of the screen and impostors have a selection of 5 buttons. Crewmates’ buttons include a map that allows them to view their location as well as the location of their tasks, a “use” button that allows players to interact with tasks around the maps, and a “report” button that pops up when a fallen crewmate is spotted that causes the body to be reported and a discussion to begin. Impostors’ buttons consist of a “sabotage” button used to cause several timely emergency situations within the maps that crewmates must deal with, a “vent” button that allows impostors to jump into vents, or shortcuts, around the map and travel to the closest vents around them, the same “report” and map button as crewmates have, and a “kill” button that is used to eliminate crewmates. Each player’s individual tasks and goals within the game are located in the top left corner of the game, showing green for completed tasks, yellow for tasks in progress, and grey for unstarted tasks. A task bar is also located on the top of the screen to show the total completion of tasks by the crewmates.

During discussions, which occur whenever a player reports the body of a fallen crewmate or an emergency meeting is called, crewmates discuss their stories and who they believe are the impostors based on what they have seen during the game or the stories being told. There is a point when voting occurs. During this, there is a complete list of players, players who are no longer alive are crossed off and faded, as well as a “skip vote” button. To vote, players must click on the player they want to vote off the ship or choose the “skip vote” button. After voting, a small “I voted” icon will appear by your character.

Once all votes are in or the voting time comes to an end, everyone can see the votes of each player, showing the players’ icons by their choice. In this game, majority rules. If votes are tied or the majority chooses to skip the vote, then nobody is ejected from the game. However, if a player is voted off by others, a small animation occurs, then that player is no longer alive and becomes a ghost. As a ghost, players can spectate, but may not participate in discussions or emergency meetings. Crewmates that have become ghosts must still complete their tasks and the inability to do this may lead to defeat. If impostors are voted off, on the other hand, they become ghosts, can interact within the game, and are solely spectators. The game ends when all impostors have been ejected, all tasks have been completed by crewmates, or the number of impostors is a 1:1 ratio with the number of crewmates alive. The first two result in a victory for the crewmates, the last one, a victory for the impostors. Games typically last five to fifteen minutes, adding to the fast pace of the game.

Although simple at heart, Among Us has fun, engaging, and at times, complex gameplay. “Discussions” are the only contact among players, apart from visuals. These discussions can be organized and well run, or chaotic with stories getting mixed, both of which add to the game’s dimensions and strategy. Along with this, discussion allows everyone to try their hand at being a detective or liar. For example, impostors can accuse other players to cause commotion and confusion, while crewmates can survey each player’s last known locations. Every answer you give must be carefully thought through as any inconsistencies, accusations, or strong, erratic statements could cause suspicion to be placed on you, whether you’re the impostor or not. However, discussions are most fun when playing with a group of friends either on Discord, FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, or a large group call as trying to read your friends’ statements and discovering trends can add yet another aspect to the dynamics of the discussion. The playable maps in the game also add an interesting twist on the game. Although there are only three maps, soon to be four, each map offers a different experience. They contain the same basic rooms and tasks, but each has unique tasks and a unique layout. These small changes allow the maps to be easily learned by new players, but also create new strategies and secluded locations for the impostors, which creates a new game experience.

Among Us doesn’t do everything right though. ‘Tasks’ consist of mini-games that are entertaining at first, but after time, they get repetitive. Some tasks, especially ones that consist of swiping an ID card through a scanner, can be frustrating as one small inconsistency or accident will cause incompletion or restarting of the task. Online gameplay is the other. As the game has been gaining popularity, server issues have become evident as the player base begins to grow rapidly. Due to this, during peak hours, or where the majority of players are active on the game, finding a game server can be difficult or close to impossible. These issues are being addressed as the developers begin to catch up with the sudden popularity.

Among Us is not a new concept, and it is definitely not the most advanced gameplay or graphics out on the market, but it excels in its genre while adding a few fun twists. Along with its fun gameplay, Among Us is an affordable game for anyone, whether you are into gaming or not, due to its low price of $5 on Steam (free on mobile devices) and its socially-oriented gameplay; it also serves as a good way to spend time and have fun with friends as the global pandemic continues. I definitely recommend this game and if you want to get the most out of it, find a group of friends to play with and dive into the fun together.