What Among Us Is (& Why It's So Popular)
Despite its 2018 release, Among Us has recently become one of the most popular online games. What is it, and why is it just now becoming so popular?
In 2018, the online multiplayer murder-mystery game Among Us was released by InnerSloth for Android and iOS, but stayed well under the radar until this year. What exactly is this space-themed game, and how did it become such a widespread phenomenon?
Among Us is an online social deduction game where the majority of players take on the role of crewmates, working together to complete tasks on different space settings like a spaceship or base. Additionally, there are up to 3 impostors aboard with the main goal of sabotaging the ship and killing off crewmates while trying to blend in. Crewmates must try to stay alive and correctly identify the impostor(s) via emergency meetings, where they can discuss why they think a certain player is or is not the impostor. Ideally, no one speaks until a meeting is called. Once initiated, players can debate potential suspects and have the option to vote off a crewmate similar to Survivor's Tribal Council method. Crewmates win the game when they correctly identify all impostors among them. Conversely, the victory goes to the impostors if they've managed to kill off enough crewmates without being detected.
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One of the game's three developers, artist Amy Liu, says Among Us was inspired by the poplar 1986 party game Mafia, aka Werewolf, according to Kotaku. Among Us initially struggled as an obscure gaming experience that only a few people knew about, despite using and enhancing Mafia's successful formula. Two months after it's initial free mobile release in June 2018, the game became available on PC for $5, but stayed largely unnoticed in the U.S. until mid 2020. It's rise in popularity can largely be attributed to its communal engagement amidst a time where social distancing has become the norm in attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Other online party games like Fall Guys or the Jackbox Party Packs have also been doing well during the pandemic. Among Us has become one of Twitch's most streamed games and has accumulated over 400,000 Steam players as of September 2020.
Why Among Us Is So Popular
Arguably, a fair amount of credit for Among Us's rise in popularity should go to the online content creators who began streaming the game last year in countries like South Korea, Mexico, and Brazil, before popular English-speaking Twitch and YouTube streamers discovered it in the late spring and summer of 2020. Because it is an engaging multiplayer game that fans enjoy sharing with their friends, Among Us has rapidly snowballed into the hit it is today. It isn't too uncommon for games, especially smaller indie ones, to have a slow start until they find their audience.
Among Us became so popular that the developers announced a sequel last August, but have already cancelled those plans to fully focus and improve the original. This is a good idea, as another aspect of the game's success is due to it's accessibility. It's free on mobile, cheap on PC, and doesn't require high specs to play. Plus, it's cross-platform, so mobile and PC gamers can play together. Although plans for the sequel originated because the creators wanted to add more content that is challenging to implement in the game's current code, so many people are enjoying Among Us right now that the developers decided to direct all of their focus to improve what they know works.
Of course the game wouldn't be spreading so swiftly if it wasn't actually good. Watching people debate while trying to sleuth out the impostor is very entertaining, as is seeing what kind of arguments the impostor can come up with to divert attention to another player. The thrill of playing an impostor can get hearts pumping as the player stealthily attempts to murder an entire crew and not get caught. With all the new content originally planned for the sequel now going in to the original Among Us, fans can expect the game to stay successful for awhile.
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