There is 1 Imposter Among Us
Among Us, a Unity engine game by Inner Sloth, is one of the most popular online multiplayer social deduction games in the world.
In Among Us, players join servers of up to 10 people, who play as either crewmates or imposters on a spaceship (The Skeld), a headquarters (Mira HQ), or a planetary outpost (Polus). Randomly assigned, Crewmates work to complete tasks around the map while Imposters, hostile aliens disguised as Crewmates, work to kill all of the Crewmates. As Imposters sabotage, kill, and vent (Imposters can go into vents/tunnel systems to easily cross the map), Crewmates try to put together evidence and deduce who the Imposters are. Imposters, and sometimes wrongly accused Crewmates, are voted off by simple majority and forced to be launched into space, thrown out of the sky, or pushed into a lava pit. If all Imposters are voted off or all tasks are completed, the Crewmates win. If the number of Cremates equals the number of Imposters, the imposters win.
Inspired by the live party game Mafia, American game studio Inner Sloth released Among Us on June 15, 2018. However, initial support for the game was relativity low. It wasn’t until around June 2020 that Among Us gained popularity. Starting with streamers in South Korea, Brazil, and Mexico, Among Us became the latest hit game to dominate Twitch, a live streaming platform, and eventually Youtube. Popular content creators like xQc, Pokimane, Shroud, Ninja, and PewDiePie brought Among Us further into the spotlight.
Among Us has created a whole new gaming sector, allowing for new and old YouTubers and streamers alike to become more and more popular. As such, Among Us’ popularity has also been able to affect politics. On October 20th, 2020, U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) live-streamed Among Us with popular content creators to promote the Joe Biden campaign and emphasize the importance of voting in this year’s election. However, in response to AOC’s stream, a pro-Trump hacker, under the identity of Eris Loris, hacked into Among Us servers, bombarding the in-game chat with links to Discord (an instant messaging and communication website) groups for NSFW content and “TRUMP 2020” messages, making Among Us games impossible to play. While the developers have now resolved the issue, the power of popular games like Among Us to promote political agendas has never been more apparent.
Among Us can be played on mobile devices and computers/laptops. For mobile, the game can be downloaded from the App Store or Play Store for free. On PC, Among Us can be bought for $4.99 on Steam. Inner Sloth plans to continually release updates for the game, including new cosmetic items and gameplay fixes.
Have you played Among Us? In the comment section below, let us know what you think of the game or if we missed anything in the article.
Rowan Agraz • Dec 18, 2020 at 9:50 AM
I think that the power that video games and popular media hold over politics is very powerful and yet unexplored. The next generation of politics will be very interesting as I believe they will be able to better utilize popular media to influence voters.
Kaylin Cho • Dec 18, 2020 at 9:49 AM
Among us is now on the Nintendo Switch for $4.99!
Ahkee Northern • Dec 18, 2020 at 9:48 AM
Very well-written article. I actually was debating whether or not to give Among Us a chance, as the concept of the game seemed to be a task that went over my head to be honest. I’m not very good at figuring out mysteries and things of the sort. After having it explained to me, though, the game seems much more interesting. I’d be willing to give it a try with my friends who play the game regularly.