“Among Us”, a social deduction murder mystery online game, has recently spiked in popularity.

“Among Us” is a science fiction murder mystery game developed by Innersloth and was released on June 15, 2018. It’s available to play for free on mobile and can also be played on your computer, but you’ll have to pay $4.99 for it from Steam (a digital distribution service that lets you buy games) or even the Innersloth website itself (http://www.innersloth.com/gameAmongUs.php).

Before playing the game, players wait in a lobby with other players. You can either join a public room with random people or make a private room for you and your friends!

The game begins with visuals displaying whether you are a “Crewmate” or an “Imposter.” A “Crewmate” is assigned with “tasks” around the map to complete in order for the Crew to win. This can include dumping trash outside the ship, connecting broken wires, or spotting an asteroid through a telescope. They are also in charge of figuring out who the “Imposter” is (someone who has to fake their role as a crewmate) and vote them off the ship. Furthermore, all players are able to use the Emergency Meeting at any time to discuss and vote off a player too. 

In order for the imposter to win the game, they must stop the crewmates from completing their tasks by sabotaging and killing others. Some sabotages Imposters are able to do include turning off lights, disabling comms (crewmates are no longer able to see their tasks), and causing a reactor meltdown. Players can choose to ignore the problem or go fix it. Imposters can also close doors, which lets them hide bodies or traps Crewmates in a specific room. 

However some sabotages must be fixed by the crewmates (like reactor meltdown) or they’ll lose the game. Other sabotages like turning off lights only make it more difficult for the crewmates to play, since their vision becomes limited. If there is a sabotage going on, players also can’t call Emergency Meetings. 

Imposters also have the ability to travel around using the vents, which are pictured as gray squares or holes in the ground. This allows them to get to different parts of the map and see where other players are at. 

When someone finds a dead body, they are able to report it, prompting a discussion time amongst the players still alive. During this discussion time, players can point accusations towards other players or defend themselves if they get accused. Players also discuss strategies to find out who the Imposter is, as well as talk about where they were/who they were with. For example, someone might say, “I find this person suspicious, I’ll go follow them to see if they’re doing tasks.”

After the discussion time is up, players can either vote to kill off another player, or if they’re unsure, they can skip voting and continue on with the game. The “Crewmates” win if they complete all their tasks before everyone is killed or they vote off the Imposter(s) in time. The “Imposter” wins if they kill most of the crewmates until there is only an equal number of crewmates and imposters. For example, if the Imposter kills everyone except one other person, they win. They also win if nobody fixes a sabotage that has a time limit (such as reactor meltdown).

If you get killed or ejected out of the crew, you become a Ghost. If you are a Crewmate, you are still able to do tasks that you haven’t finished yet and can go freely around the map. If you are an Imposter who got voted off, you are still able to sabotage for the other Imposter and lead to a win. 

Rating: 5/5

It is such a fun game to play with your friends or even random strangers! All of the minigames are easy to figure out, and it’s also super entertaining to see your friends argue amongst each other to determine who is the killer when you are already dead. I play best as a Crewmate because I am terrible at lying as an Imposter. However, playing as an Imposter is also fun because it’s exhilarating to lie and evade everyone’s suspicions on your role. I’ve won a few Imposter games but it can be quite tricky. My friends tell me I have a lying voice. 

Some problems I have with the game is that the game sometimes crashes, and it’s hard to access private rooms, due to the new spike in popularity; the servers can’t handle so many players from all over the world at once. These issues can include not being able to access the private rooms inside Among Us as well as being disconnected from the server entirely.

Additionally, I wish there were more maps to play on, as there are only three maps right now to play on: The Skeld, Polus, and Mira HQ. Innersloth did announce that they would be making another Among Us 2 to address these issues, but they have recently retracted this statement and explained they would be adding more content to Among Us so it functions better! The new update will include things such as a friend system and new colors for players to use! Despite these minor issues, I am still rating it a 5 out of 5 because of how fun it is.