Among Us was released over two years ago, but the online game Jellybean / Astronaut is currently experiencing a massive surge in popularity that began in early September. The world may have started with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a healthy game about friendship and caring for our islands, but after many months of pandemic life, we are hungry for the void of chaos and deceit. That’s what Among Us is all about.
The foundation of Among Us developed by InnerSloth is simple: a social withdrawal game where a player is either a crew member or the sole cheater. The cheater must pretend to do the assigned daily in-game tasks while secretly killing each crew member one by one. If a dead body is discovered, a crew member can call an emergency meeting to have a group chat and find out who the scammer really is.
The main level (of three) is aboard a spacecraft, where players will see segregated rooms where daily tasks are carried out. With simple vertical and horizontal movements, the cheater and crew members move from room to room in order to achieve their respective goals without other players having any reason to vote on them. Every emergency meeting discusses who is and who is not, and the player who has the most votes against him effectively gets the shoe. Players who are killed then become “ghosts” to see how the rest of the game plays.
This is where the game gets fun. Imagine: this is my first time playing among us and I am the cheater. I don’t know the tasks or where they are; I’m just a flawed 2D astronaut looking for secret ways to eat my crew members. I’m confused, but I’m using this to my advantage.
A crewmate suspects me, “lilac,” and makes the most insulting accusation ever seen in the game: “lilac is sus” (a popular slang of “suspicious” that is the root of all Among Us’s memes). I panic but then try to see myself through her eyes. “I’m sorry, I just followed you,” I reply. “This is my first time playing. I’m not sure what I’m doing.” My answer ends up the way I need it to, the rest of the players now feel the need to teach me instead of suspecting me. Little do they know it’s the last thing they’ll ever do – at least until this match is over.
This is the level of intrigue that makes Among Us so entertaining, despite the basic graphics. Another attraction is that it also has meme-quality features, as seen in its comedic-art style and low-budget animations. Friends turn against each other, bonds are broken, and the chat is absolutely weird.
Among Us takes meme culture to the max with parody costumes. My all-time favorite is the sticky note on your face that says “dum”. That or that toilet paper. The costumes add a personal touch to the gameplay along with various color options, skins, and even pets. Does this add any statistical value? No, but an adjustment will be added that will allow players to fully immerse themselves in a way that matches the “don’t take this too seriously” feeling that Among Us offers.
What makes this game so successful for me is that many online games these days are set up so that you have to play with friends, otherwise the entertainment value can drop drastically. One aspect of online gaming that puts me off trying to play alone is the heavy trolling that can turn into hateful and vicious in the blink of an eye. While it’s easy to just turn the other cheek, sometimes I don’t want to to have For that I just want to enjoy the game. The whole nature of Among Us is basically one giant troll, so this is where the usual suspects in the online gaming community really lose their power. You are encouraged to troll, which makes it a ingrained mechanic and removes the feeling of satisfaction from people who act with bad faith.
Another refreshing aspect that makes Among Us worth checking out is the minimal amount of time it takes. Some online games are designed so that you can play for months. I often joke that Destiny 2 and Apex Legends are a second marriage because it’s difficult for the former and the latter want to be the best. With Among Us, you can play as much or as little as you want and still have a good time. If I want to stream for a few hours it is a good solution because of the type of interactive content they produce. But I can also pick up the free mobile version and play for 10 or 15 minutes during my lunch break. There are no player levels, there is no Battle Pass; There’s no penalty for playing as little or as much as I want, which makes it easy to come back to over and over again.
As much as I enjoy playing among us, I have to have just as much fun watching it. Its simplicity makes it easy to power up for streamers, and the conversations about who Sus is great entertainment for active livestream chats.
When I dive into Among Us I see the charm despite its simplicity and I can’t help but love the way this game makes me look at everyone like they’re super sus. Between us is what it is, with no excuse. This year may be bad, but having fun experiences is definitely not; Among Us offers a much-needed respite from reality without taking yourself too seriously.
