While PUBG and Fortnite are popular games, they are not the most downloaded games this year. A new game has emerged and seems to have “stolen the trend” from these games to become the most downloaded on smartphones and computers in 2020. Of course, we’re talking about Among Us, which may not have flashy and attractive graphics like the others, but it has quickly become one of the most played online games in the world, despite being released over two years ago! This encouraged me to try it out, and I found it to be extremely fun despite its simple concept, which is what sets it apart in reality.
So what is the idea behind Among Us and what is the reason for its recent widespread fame? Let’s explain that below.
Initially, Among Us is an online multiplayer game that can be played with a group of players (from four to ten maximum) or with specific people and friends online. The game is available for smartphones on Android and iOS for free with advertisements, while it is available for computers on Windows through Steam for only $5, or the equivalent of 80 Egyptian pounds, without ads. The game’s size is approximately 70 megabytes, which is reasonable, and since the game features uncomplicated graphics, it works on any device regardless of its capabilities. Therefore, there is no reason for you not to try it now.
The unique idea of Among Us is a balance between communication and cooperation versus sabotage and deception. Players are divided into two groups: one group has a list of simple tasks that they must complete cooperatively and quickly to win the round, while the other group’s task is to disrupt things for the first group to win.
This is just a brief analysis of the game’s concept, and while it may seem boring, it is actually quite the opposite in reality. The first group consists of Crewmates who must repair a series of malfunctions and maintain their spaceship to achieve stability and win. Each member of this group must move around the ship and complete the assigned tasks to repair the spaceship. These tasks include mini-games like connecting electrical wires by color, refueling the spaceship, cleaning the air filter, and other simple tasks.
On the other side, there is the second group, the Imposters, who are alien monsters disguised as crew members. Their task is to kill the real astronauts one by one in a cartoonish, simple, and humorous way or to sabotage the spaceship’s systems to hinder the repair tasks performed by the Crewmates, leading to the ship’s explosion. Simply put, the Imposter is the only one with offensive capabilities, while the rest of the crew members are powerless.
As mentioned, the maximum number of players is ten, and they are randomly divided into the two groups, with one to three of these players chosen to play as Imposters, while the rest play as genuine crew members. Therefore, the player has no say in determining their role; they may be a peaceful or aggressive person, being the Imposter in one round and a Crewmate in another.
Now, when the Imposter kills a crew member and their body is discovered by another player in the crew, even if the Imposter themselves, they can hold an emergency meeting among the crew members where they can communicate through text messages to discuss and try to figure out the suspect believed to be the Imposter who killed their friend based on the evidence surrounding the murder. The players vote after each meeting, and the person who receives the most votes is expelled and dies, then it is revealed whether they were the Imposter or not. If the Imposter is indeed discovered, the round ends, and the crew wins. If not… well, the crew has expelled an innocent player. The Imposter continues to deceive the crew, hide their identity in this way, kill everyone until only one player remains from the first group, thus making the Imposter the winner.
Note that anyone who is expelled or dies on the spaceship becomes a ghost, and ghosts can pass through walls, roam the ship freely, and observe the round but cannot interact with the world and are invisible to everyone except other ghosts, although they can communicate with each other as well.
Among Us has many features that make it more attractive than any other game, at least in my opinion. While it may look like an old cartoonish game, this is due to the simplicity of the graphics (which are fully hand-drawn 2D cartoons), but at the same time, it is not a shallow game. The nature of the game primarily relies on the human element, so there is no way to easily shorten the time and win quickly. This is where the fun lies; let me explain more in the following.
The Imposter wants to remain the traitor and continue to kill the crew until only one is left and wins. However, when you find yourself in the group of Imposters, you will not hesitate for a moment to practice some deception on the team. You are the only player who can do as you please on the ship, can kill a crew member in complete silence, can turn off the lights or sabotage the oxygen cylinders, while others have specific tasks to accomplish.
When an emergency meeting is held after the discovery of a crew member’s body, the Imposter starts defending themselves and writing anything that indicates their innocence and tries to convince the rest of the team that another person is the killer. For example, he might say that he found someone hiding in the ventilation shaft (something only Imposters can do) while someone else swears they were with someone else to get out of the situation. In general, everyone pretends to be innocent, and the Imposter does everything they can to shift blame to another person or create enough confusion so that no one receives enough votes to be expelled, keeping the game going.
You might think that if you were chosen to play the role of Imposter, you wouldn’t do these things, but believe me, as soon as you see yourself as one of the imposters, you will not hesitate to engage in some deception with the team. You are the only player who can do what you want on the ship; you can kill one crew member in silence, turn off the lights or sabotage the oxygen cylinders, while others have specific tasks to accomplish.
If you were chosen to play the role of Crewmate, it doesn’t mean you will lose the fun of the game. You still need to complete tasks quickly to win and overcome the Imposters, or at least expose their tricks and get rid of them. Even when you are killed, you won’t feel angry; you can watch the round and see the lie the killer makes to justify your murder!
This is what makes Among Us an attractive game that combines excitement with humor while challenging the mind. It is a unique way that puts a team in a face-off against treachery and cheating dynamics that we haven’t truly seen in a famous video game before, and we expect it to be imitated a lot in the coming years.
How to Play Among Us
The way to play Among Us is unbelievably simple compared to other famous games like Fortnite. After launching the game on your phone or computer, all you have to do is choose whether you want to play online with random players or play via a local network, i.e., devices connected to the same router. You can create a match and share the code with your friends to join or join a new match.
You can then choose a map from three different maps, with Skeld being the main map set in a spaceship. You can then select the number of Imposters in the round from 1 to 3 and choose the language spoken by the crew, and while Arabic is available, you cannot write text in Arabic in the meetings.
After joining the round, you can move using the mouse or controller to navigate the ship. If you are a Crewmate, complete the tasks that appear in the Tasks list on the left. As we mentioned, they are mini-games that are easy to learn in a few seconds. If you are an Imposter, the Tasks list will also appear, but it will contain fake tasks to deceive the spaceship crew into thinking you are one of them.
Why is Among Us Game Famous?
Among Us was first released by InnerSloth Studios in June 2018, designed by a small team of just three developers using the Unity engine. The game was initially available for free on iOS and Android and for $5 on computers. At this time, the game gained some fame, but its popularity was enough for the developers to continue developing the game. However, the real leap in the game’s fame was in our year, 2020, after about two years of release.
The main factor in the game’s fame was content creators on the live video streaming platform Twitch, which saw a surge in Among Us players who were fascinated by its brilliant concept. The game’s ability to play with friends, not just strangers, convinced many to invite their friends to download the game and encourage them to play together. Within a few days, the game spread across continents so suddenly for the developers that the game servers crashed due to not being able to handle the massive influx of new players.
Due to the simple graphics, Among Us attracted different age groups; the game is free, small in size, works on any device… so there is no reason not to try it. The game is also very fast; a complete round rarely takes more than 10 minutes. If you are expelled or killed at any moment, you can exit the round and join another immediately.
Likely, the current world circumstances helped the game spread significantly. The idea of playing with friends from anywhere while everyone is at home due to the coronavirus pandemic made Among Us a great way for some to get rid of boredom and pass the time in a fun and intelligent way. As of writing this review, there are over 100 million downloads of the game across different platforms, which is certainly not a regular number.
In the end, Among Us is one of the best games I have tried in a while, and it truly deserves the fame and popularity it has gained, even if it came late. So, I recommend trying it out, especially since it is free (for phones only) and works on any device regardless of its capabilities. You can enjoy many fun, humorous, and exciting moments at the same time.
As for the game’s future, the small development team at InnerSloth is currently working on improving the game, adding new features, and adding more servers to accommodate the influx of new players. They also face ongoing hacking attacks following the game’s massive success. Among Us receives regular updates to enhance the gaming experience.
