The video game Among Us has gained enormous popularity in recent months due to its online party mode where gamers can play with their friends and socialise at a distance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This comes as lockdown measures have once again begun to tighten across the UK, spurring many young people to put down their pub pints and pick up their game consoles to socialise with friends online instead.
Despite being launched in 2018, Among Us has particularly gained popularity this year. Its premise focusses on murder, deceit and fabrication.
10 crew members are launched into space, whereby the majority of them have to carry out simple, tedious tasks to keep the spacecraft running smoothly. However, at least one of the crew members is an imposter whose aim is to murder fellow crew members and sabotage the spacecraft.
Once a dead body is discovered, the finder of the body calls a meeting where all remaining players discuss who the imposter could be in a time limit. They then can either vote who they think it is or skip the round.
It is announced just before the game commences as to who is an innocent crewmate and who is the deadly imposter. As the game develops, tensions rise, and the lies and paranoia spiral out of control.
Among Us was created by only three people at game company, InnerSloth. It has attracted over 85 million players since March and has been declared as one of the largest video games available for mobile and PC.
Because of the rate of COVID-19 infections increasing and the winter looming upon the UK, many budding gamers, as well as streamers on Twitch, have turned their attention to Among Us. Playing online with nine friends respects the rule of meeting up with six in real life and means nobody is left behind on game night.
Despite the goriness of the game, it has been a catalyst to bring many young people together during the pandemic, particularly if friends are living on opposite sides of the country to one another.
Undoubtedly, Among Us will be replacing the usual Halloween parties and gatherings of more than six on 31stOctober this year. Among Us will be taking tricking and treating to a whole other level.
Among Us is available now on mobile and PC to download.
Words by James Mayer
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.