Who would have thought that an online murder mystery game would be exactly what everyone needed to survive the year that was 2020.
This Indie multiplayer game, known as Among Us, requires players to determine who amongst them is a murderer, all whilst the cunning murderer tries to cover up any deceit and win the side of the players in order to slowly kill them off one by one.
Although this all sounds quite violent and not very family-friendly, you’ll actually give-in to its colourful cartoon aesthetic and soon find yourself quite addicted.
The best way to describe the games journey to fame is to liken it to the spread of a wild fire. This game was only just rising to popularity in 2019 in Korea but the flames were only fanned by the 2020 pandemic and the lockdown that was soon introduced after that. Social Media platforms such as Tik Tok and Twitch boosted the amount of users rapidly and soon the game became available on Nintendo Switch. By introducing it to the world of Nintendo users the game increased its profile and soon more casual gamers started to get on board.
For those of you still wondering what Among Us is, Where it came from and Who is responsible we have you covered. This article will cover all you need to know about the 2020 phenomenon.
What is it?
Among Us is essentially a murder mystery game that a maximum of 9 players can take part in . You and 8 other players are trapped in a room with multiple hallways and routes to take. The members of you team are tasked with a mission that has to be completed, whether that is basic maintenance or carrying out everyday tasks. Unknown to the majority of the group is that one or two of your team members are working against you. These players will become known as ‘Impostors’ and it is your job to figure out who they are before hey proceed to murder your whole team.
The game ends when either you and your crew have completed the mission and discovered the imposter, or the Impostor has managed to kill off all members of the team without being discovered.
Who created it?
Among Us was created by members of the indie game studio InnerSloth. The game was released in 2018 by creators Marcus Bromander, Amy Liu and Forest Willard. At first the game could only be played using local multiplayer but they soon expanded to the online version which allows you to customize and choose new maps and play with members all over the world.
Who plays it?
Prior to their 2020 boom, Among Us only had a small fandom which originated in South Korea and soon spread to Brazil in 2019. Soon after that, big names such as Sodapoppin, Pokimane, xOc and PewDiePie had jumped on the trend and were streaming their gameplay, making other want to join in on the fun for themselves.
Increase in popularity:
In September alone they had over 120 million downloads across all platforms and since then it has received over 158 million installs on platforms such as Google Play and the App Store. This is all of course partly down to social media pages and memes that have been created , with Tik Tok generating almost 13 billion views for the game in October.
As a result, the developers cancelled the upcoming release of Among Us 2 and decided to focus all resources and energy on enhancing the original Among Us. This is a rare occurrence in the gaming world so we’re not surprised with InnerSloth’s decisions, in fact we applaud them for it.
Anything bad to say?
Despite a few Pro-Trump hackers and spam chats, there are very few negative things to be said about this game. As it so happens, these issues were soon irradicated when the InnerSloth introduced a server update to combat the hacks.
But is it any fun?
This game is available on both PC’s and mobile phones and is very simple for anyone to pick up quickly. Once you familiarise yourself with the maps and psychology behind the strategies that go on in the game, you’ll soon find yourself a master of discovering who the imposter is and who your allies are.
Meetings take place regularly that ill require you to do some detective work and watch all the other players. At the end of every meeting you’ll be asked who you think the Impostor is and if the majority rules then that person will be flushed form the ship and you’ll find out if your choice was correct or not. If you were wrong then the game will continue on until you figure out who the real Impostor is.
Don’t think that this game is tricky or aggravating because it is. It can be frustrating when you are wrongly accused of being the Impostor when others could have defended you and trying to shift the blame from you, the killer, can be just as tricky. Learning to redirect suspicions and frame others is quite an art form that you’ll have to learn quickly in order to do well in this game.
Where can I Buy it?
The game is available both on iOS and Android for free with ads as well as PC. You are able to pay extra to remove any ads, buy customizable such as outfit changes and pets that will follow you around.
As we are yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel that is this pandemic, we don’t see any sign of this game decreasing in popularity anytime soon so if you haven’t already, download it today and find out what all the fuss is about for yourself.
