Among Us is not actually a new game like may think it is, it first dropped in 20-18. With the twitch explosion we thought we’d take a quick look and see if it’s actually worth your time, or if it’s one of those games that’s better to watch than to play. Among us is a social deception game.
The Basics
That word social there means, you will be playing with others. In fact you need at least 4 people to play and up to 10 can play together. It is a very simple game of Crewmates versus Imposters. Based on settings there are 1 to 3 imposters who can lock crewmates out of; or into different areas and “sabotage” things to cause chaos and also force the crewmates to do certain tasks otherwise face defeat. The main goal of the Imposters however is to kill the crewmates without being discovered.
When an imposter kills a crewmate an animation plays and a body is left behind, when another Crewmate finds a dead body, they have the option to report it and if they do the game goes into a vote and discussion phase. This is where things get interesting. You see if playing with just the game system for all communication it makes sure that players can’t communicate at all outside of these discussion phases and that the dead players can’t communicate with the living and rat out the imposters, this means if you play with your friends using third party stuff like discord you need to use an honor system and stay quiet.
An interesting thing in this game is that the crewmates don’t need to weed out the Imposters in order to win, they can also win by completing a series of tasks before being killed off. So if the imposters aren’t very good or efficient killers, or if the crewmates are great at getting their tasks done they can win. Also to help with this, once a crewmate is killed they aren’t truly out of the game. While they can’t vote, they can talk in chat to other dead crew and their ghost can still stick around and help out the living by finishing any tasks they had left on their list. This is a great way of encouraging players to stick with a group and not just bail once being killed off.
On the Plus Side
- Tons of customization
- Easy to learn and play
- True cross playform play
The Negatives
- Only 3 maps
- Playing with "randos" can be frustrating
This title was a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be. The task mini-games kept things entertaining, and the longer ones actually add to the tension. If you play online with strangers it is difficult to make voting decisions, and if you play locally in a room filled with friends it is a good way to see which of you is the best liar. Overall it is a very enjoyable little game and for just five bucks on steam well worth it. Also it is free on ios and android; though if you want no ads it’ll set you back two dollars but still well worth it for the amount of play time you will get out of it.