By Noah Shifter
Staff Writer
Red and Blue travel together into Admin, trailed by Yellow and Purple. The lights die, Green leaves with Red and Blue, then Yellow enters the camera view from Cafeteria. As for Purple? Yellow reports his poor lifeless body a few seconds later.
The nature of “Among Us” causes Crewmates to think like detectives. They
do their best to stay alive as everyone brings evidence to the discussion table and accuses potential Impostors. Not only do they unearth the Impostor, but they also sharpen each others’ intellects in the process.
Released in 2018, the social deduction game, “Among Us,” greatly rose
in popularity as people around the world enjoyed playing as customizable cosmonauts. Crewmates have to keep their eyes peeled for Impostors while completing tasks. In the popular maps, The Skeld and Polus, players can use security cameras to see portions of the map. Smart Crewmates can spy on their peers and deduce who the Impostor is.
Once they have a logical theory, the detective can sprint to the red emergency meeting button before another player loses their life.
Emergency meetings are the heart of the game and the best part of “Among Us.” Other games rely on a fast reaction time and internet connection, but in “Among Us” you can win by just listening and investigating. You can win by knowing how your friends act as Impostor and comparing accounts of alleged eyewitnesses.
Unlike other “Mafia” style games, this game is unique in its gameplay for innocent players. When I play murder mystery games on “Minecraft,” “Roblox” and even with cards in real life, I hate being innocent. However, in “Among Us,” instead of waiting to die as a Crewmate, I can actually impact the game by doing tasks, which also puts pressure on Impostors for more engaging gameplay. I have ways to gather information in “Among Us” that are not present in other games of the same genre. Using security cameras, admin panels and crucial signs, I can catch the Impostor in the act.
As great as being a Crewmate is, being an Impostor is still fun. As an Impostor, the sabotage ability and vents are my best friends and a vital part
of my strategy. Of all the options, I have the most fun sabotaging lights. While it hurts Crewmates less than sabotaging Reactor or Oxygen, it creates more beautiful chaos in the emergency meeting. Turning off the lights is most effective since you can put the Crewmates in the dark about where you were.
When no one can account for each others’ actions, suspicions run rampant, which is a perfect outcome for me as an Impostor. I get an opportunity to make a sneaky kill, vent out and throw suspicion on a Crewmate at the same time.
Accessing the gameplay is easy, since “Among Us” is free to download on Google Play and the App Store. However, if you pay $4.99 on Steam to play on a computer, you get access to all of the eccentric costumes and pets. Sneaking around the map and checking camera feeds are a great way to kill time as well as easily solve the quarantine boredom among us.