Despite its release in 2018, Among Us has recently gained popularity and found its way to the top of the game charts.
Among Us quickly rose in popularity because of YouTubers and streamers who’ve been playing it, including many popular streamer collaborations. In August, Among Us Twitch streams reached 31 million hours watched. Celebrities such as PewDiePie, James Charles and Logic have also played the game.
“I first heard of the game on YouTube,” Carl Blalock, an Ohio University freshman studying journalism, said. “I found the YouTube channel ChilledChaos and I started watching his show and I thought, ‘that’s fun, I want to try to play this.’”
Not only has it brought streamers together, Among Us has also given students the opportunity to virtually meet and hang out.
“The first time I really played it was with my Learning Community actually,” Blalock said. “We all got on a Teams call and played it for about two hours and it was very fun.”
Learning Communities and other groups have been taking advantage of the game to socialize. In Among Us, students can work together and get to know each other.
“In our classes, we don't really have that much communication, you know?” Blalock said. “We have a group chat, but it's not that active. With a group game, we actually get to see everybody; we get to see and put everybody's faces together and kind of see everyone’s personality. It is really refreshing for that and it really helps to make online school livable.”
This game allows up to 10 players at a time. Depending on how many people are in the game, one or two people are the “imposters” and the rest are crewmates. While crewmates go around the map completing tasks, the imposters try to kill everyone and not get caught. When a body is found or someone calls a meeting, players convene and use the chat to discuss what they saw or who they find suspicious -- or “sus.”
Students have found many effective strategies to use when they are “imposters” in the game.
“I just fake tasks until somebody gets close to me,” Shawn Lewis, an undecided freshman, said. “Then, I would try to kill them right there and get away as fast as I could.”
A popular tactic is to point the finger at someone else. If players can convince the rest that somebody else is the imposter, they have better chances of winning.
“You can’t be the first person to blame somebody, but you’ve got to get everybody off your back and on someone else’s back,” Annie Fink, a junior studying music production and recording industry, said.
The game also offers options to sabotage rooms so players can distract members and get an undetected kill. During these sabotages, the game gives imposters an advantage by still allowing them visibility, for example, when the lights are out.
Among Us is free to download on smartphones and $5 on computers. According to Sensor Tower, Among Us is the number one free game on Google Play and number two free game on the Apple App Store. On Nov. 7, Innersloth, the company that created Among Us, re-launched merch for the game.
