The lights suddenly go dark. Frantically, the astronaut struggles to connect the wires, knowing that they are crucial to the survival of the crew aboard their crashing ship. Suddenly, from behind him, he hears the creak of an opening vent, and his blood runs cold. He feels a presence behind him, but all he can do is continue to connect the wires. He cannot escape. Expectedly, the impostor emerges from the darkness and kills him.

The last thing he sees is the purple suit of another crewmate entering the room, catching his killer in the act, so he dies peacefully, knowing that at least he will be avenged.

… Such is the nature of the extremely popular new game on mobile and PC: Among Us. The experience that has taken the world by storm, and it’s not exactly as horrific as it sounds, relies on tested and true gameplay designed to addictively engage gamers.

Photo courtesy of InnerSloth Website (Innersloth is the developers of the game).

The game follows a classic structure, seen before in video games like Town of Salem, and board games like Werewolf and Mafia. Ten crewmates try to survive aboard a spaceship, completing tasks to attempt to fix it as it crashes towards an unknown destination. However, among them reside two impostors, whose only goals are to sabotage the ship’s functions and kill the crewmates before they can fix the ship.

The fun of the game, as many would argue, comes not from the simplistic minigame tasks, however, but from the meetings in between rounds. Every time a dead body is discovered by a crewmate (or impostor, who has the ability to self-report), or every time a player decides to press the emergency button, the players are gathered to have a discussion. After this, they vote on who they think is the impostor, and that player, whether imposter or innocent, is immediately ejected from the airlock.

Simplistic chat speak and accusations are wildly thrown, as players try to root out the impostors. Some players choose to talk in real-time over an app like Discord, where they have the added ability to listen to vocal cues in order to try and figure out who’s lying. It’s an intense game of psychological manipulation, trickery, and deception- until it’s not, and a simple “red sus” can be enough to vote off a completely innocent player.

So, how did this game, with its simplistic, colorful character designs, and tried-and-true gameplay mechanics manage to become popular over two years after its initial release? So popular, in fact, that the developers have decided to cancel plans for a sequel and instead take advantage of this popularity to make improvements upon the original game?

It may seem like there had to have been a galaxy-wide domino effect that made this game popular at this exact moment, but as far as anyone can see, it was pure coincidence. A few Twitch streamers decided to play the game, which inspired others, including many popular YouTubers, to play, and suddenly, the game was being watched by an average of 100,000 people at any given moment. With the added factors of it being completely free to play (on your phone, at least), and with its popularity rising right as students are going back to school and itching for a way to distract themselves, you’ve got a recipe for pure, unbridled escapism.

Choir director Bethany Meyer has been taking advantage of the game’s recent popularity, and has been using it as a way to stay connected with students during virtual learning.

“Because choir is so much about community and community building and being together, I found that a lot of my students just missed that social aspect of being in school and being in choir,” she said. “It’s just a way for us to continue to be social, and to continue to feel like we’re a part of a community. Right now, people are just looking for creative ways to be connected with other people, and playing games has always been one of those things.”

Beyond ‘community,’ Meyer sees the opportunity to help alleviate other stress issues.

“In this climate, we are really concerned about not being connected with other people,” she said, “and we talk about our students going through different mental health issues because they can’t hang out with their friends.”

However, the game isn’t just another way for friends to communicate with each other; from Meyer’s view as a teacher, she sees plenty of learning opportunities within Among Us.

“The communication skills that are needed to play this game are huge,” she said. “You have to be able to communicate, you have to be able to observe your surroundings, and you’re really using multiple parts of your brain while you’re playing the game, which is just like being in a music class. You have to be visual, you have to remember things, and you have to be able to communicate those things effectively.”

Meyer believes that communication and having fun are important in any classroom environment, but doesn’t necessarily recommend that all teachers use Among Us.

“If they like this game in particular, sure, but there’s other games that are out there that are interactive that they can play with their students that might tie in to their content area more or less,” she said. “I know that with my choir classroom, it’s different; choir is all about being social and together, but I think teachers should feel that they can have fun with their students.”

The game isn’t exactly for everybody, as Meyer points out, and it takes a resilient relationship between teachers and students to get over the murder and betrayal aspect of the game.

“The very first time that I got to be an impostor was with the students,” Meyer said. “I won, I killed them all! That sounds so terrible.”

The cultural impact of Among Us has been undeniable, from the memes, the gameplay, the fan art, and the connections made between both strangers and friends that stretch all across the globe. But in a time that feels so dark, it’s comforting to find some hope among us.

By: Bailey Staerkel

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue II

October 30, 2020

Cosmic murder mystery fosters community building through joys of betrayal, subterfuge