By Greg Roitbourd '22
Due to the recent introduction of free time into the daily lives of many high school students, a relatively old game has regained its popularity and transformed into a meme. The game, Among Us, is a murder mystery game similar to Mafia, and Werewolf. Each game involves four to ten people, and one to three of those players are designated as imposters. Imposters are the “bad guys” and their main objective is to the crew mates. A main difference between this game and the other two, however, would be the introduction of the space gimmick, where the crew mates have to finish all of their tasks before the imposters kill them off. If the crew mates finish all of their tasks or vote off the imposters, they win! If the imposter kills off all of the crew mates, the imposters win.
The reintroduction of this game in mainstream media allowed it to go viral and has most of us hooked. Just a few days ago, I saw a few clips of gameplay on TikTok. The recognition of this game and resurgence of its fan base brought it to the attention of many mainstream Youtube and Twitch streamers. In just a few weeks, this game’s popularity skyrocketed, even though it was released in 2018. The game has allowed many influential figures and leaders to showcase the sides of their lives unseen by the public eye. An example of this would be Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, two house representatives in the government, playing a weekend game with a group of streamers. The stream gained quick popularity over the course of a couple of days and led many people to quote AOC. The stream was also used to prompt players over the age of 18 to go out on election day and vote.
The gameplay itself is not complicated, and the app has a user-friendly interface. The text is bubbly and large enough to see, and players are given the ability to control sound effects and lower the music. With the ability to use a joystick or touch, players are able to navigate the controls easily. One is also able to control what servers you could play in to allow for more game time.
Honestly, I love Among Us. The thrill of being imposter allows me to channel my anger on a bunch of crew mates and always keeps me on edge. In contrast, the relaxation I experience as a crew mate balances it out and allows me to enjoy connecting the red wire to the other red wire, which is one of the most satisfying tasks you could do as a crew mate. I enjoy the gameplay as much as the experience. With the online option for game play, I am able to play with my friends and see the havoc that is brought upon us as we bicker about who killed who. Also, with the online option, I am able to make new friends with random people who I do not know. Of course, I advise that everyone stays careful on the internet, but I feel that there is no harm in playing a game with someone you will not interact with afterwards.
All in all, I give this game a 10/10 and a huge thumbs up. I recommend this game to players above the age of 10, due to the killing portion of the game, and I hope you enjoy to your heart’s content!
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