Emily Gerhart
“Among Us” has been gaining popularity throughout this past Oct. and has been addicting for many teens. Is it worth the hype?
“Among Us” is a mobile game that takes place in a spaceship with two types of characters, Crewmates and Imposters.
There is a selected number of one, two, or three impostors while the other players are crewmates. The catch is the role of competitors is unknown.
It’s a murder mystery game based around crewmates trying to figure out who the imposter is before the impostors eliminate all of the crewmates and win.
Crewmates are assigned basic tasks they have to complete to win or they can vote out the imposters who have to fake tasks to avoid suspicion but sabotage and kill the crewmates to gain victory.
Although it sounds gorey and complicated, it’s very lighthearted with simply animated avatars loosely depicting astronauts with customizable headwear and various colors. The game itself is also simply designed and easy to navigate.
This decision to make the characters personable and user-friendly makes it appealing to a wider range of audiences and ages. Users also love its easy access; free on app stores, or $5 on a PC. So, when “Among Us” started gaining popularity through social media, no ages were excluded.
“Among Us” has just recently gotten ‘the hype,’ but the game itself isn’t new at all. It was released to app stores in 2018. It was created by the developing company Intersloth, who gained a following after releasing the video game “The Henry Stickmin Collection”.
With a small buzz in the gamer community, Twitch streamer “SodaPoppin” began to stream it to his 2.7 million followers, who got hooked and wanted to play for themselves.
This worked as a domino effect among streamers and viewers, and soon enough a game developed in 2018 became one of the most popular video games of 2020.
As most viral content does, it transferred over to the world of TikTok, which only caused the game to grow. TikTok creators ran with the app, creating love stories, trends, and point of view videos based off “Among Us” and its characters.
Mix this viral potential with a lingering quarantine, and Intersloth had a recipe for success.
I think Tiktok made the game more fun, by users participating in the trends and getting ideas to spice up their own gameplay.
It further connected teens across the world that are now playing the same game, at the same time, sharing their humorous experiences.
Another reason teens gravitated toward the game is because it is fun to play with friends or alone. It is a safe way to temporarily meet people and share a few moments before joining another lobby.
When playing with friends, it is entertaining to argue it out in person during meetings, and try to defend yourself or others. Especially now, while things are locked down, “Among Us” is a fun activity that everyone can play together.
Then a body is reported or the emergency button is pressed, the game goes into a voting screen that contains a chat with the other players on your server. A common tactic to accuse another color of being an Imposter is to use the slang word for suspicious, “sus”.
“Among Us” chats are known for being the perfect balance of humor and heat. When a color is accused there are strategies to clear their name, through blaming other colors or saying their own whereabouts and tasks.
Alibis are key, but it is never truly known if they might turn on others and be an Imposter. This makes for very interesting interactions that leave players giggling and wanting more.
The game is also versatile; it is possible to spend five hours or five minutes playing. Games are always able to exit, but never seem to last long enough for boredom.
Although individual games can get intense, “Among Us” is very lighthearted from its animation style to the simple tasks. In its own way it has lightened up 2020 and given Generation Z another outlet to connect through unpredictable times.
I think “Among Us” is worth the hype it has received. Although it came out of nowhere it has intrigued the youth in various ways, and further connected people through a fun and entertaining game. The only question now is, are you the imposter among us?
