Despite being released in 2018, InnerSloth’s Among Us has become the hot “new” game of 2020. There’s just something about video games this year and bean-shaped characters doing horrible things to each other. Among Us became a surprise hit this year thanks to streamers discovering the game, and now everyone is hopping aboard the hype train. There’s seven a sequel in the works! But for now, if you’re still getting started, you gotta learn the basics.
Among Us Beginner’s Guide
For starters, you can find Among Us on PC, Android or iOS platforms. It’s a cross-play game, so everyone can play together easily. Games consist of 4-10 players, and if you’ve ever played Mafia (the in-person social game not the GTA derivative), you’ll know what to expect. Among those 4-10 players are one or more impostors, whose goal is to murder everyone and get away with it. Everyone else has to repair the space ship, which has been sabotaged. The crew members have to scramble around the map to complete tasks, all of which are vision-obscuring minigames. Meanwhile, the impostor(s) runs around trying to blend in, sneak around via ventilation shafts, sabotage equipment, and of course kill everyone.
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Crew
As a crew member, you’ll have a list of tasks listed on the left side of the screen. You can check the locations of these tasks on the map, as well as follow the yellow arrows on the screen. Each task opens a window on the screen that takes up most of your field of view, and takes just enough time to make you vulnerable. In-between, you can use certain tools to keep track of where the other players are on the ship, or call an emergency meeting. The impostor may also sabotage something on the ship, which you’ll have to rush to complete before a timer runs out. If you discover a body, reporting it will immediately halt the game into meeting mode.
Impostors
If you’re an impostor, your goal is to kill crew members until there aren’t enough to vote you off the ship. You can use vents to warp across the map, sabotage equipment, and even temporarily lock some doors. You’ll have to make use of all of the above to make those kills without giving yourself away. You’ll have to be careful, because all of your available actions are governed by cooldown periods. Crucially, you won’t actually have tasks to complete like the other players, so you’ll have to figure out how to make yourself inconspicuous.
Voting Time
Once a body is discovered or an emergency meeting is called, everyone is pulled into a chat room to discuss who needs to go. If one or more players are dead you’ll see that indicated here, but beyond that everything else is up to communication. Once a vote is cast, the person who loses the vote will be ejected from the ship, and the game will announce if they were an impostor or not. The crew will win if they complete all the tasks, or if they identify all the impostors. And if your death doesn’t end the game you’ll become a ghost! You’ll be invisible to the other players, but you will be able to contribute to either side in limited ways. So even if you don’t survive to the end, you still have a role to play.
Those are the fundamentals! Among Us is a viral sensation, and the developers are trying to keep up with the sudden demand, which is exciting for sure. And with a sequel now in development, who knows what kind of new shenanigans will be added to the formula. But as long as you have the basics down, you can figure everything else out more easily. And if it doesn’t go well at first, don’t be discouraged! Half the game is stuff you have little control over.
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What do you think of the recent rise of Among Us? Do you enjoy these types of “deception” games? Let us know what your think over at the Prima Games Facebook and Twitter channels!
