You are in a small corridor in a spaceship. The oxygen is depleting and you have one task left to complete. All of your crewmates are counting on you. Suddenly, you see your friend in the corridor with you. Or so you think they are.

Developed in June 2018 by Intersloth, Among Us is one of the most popular games in the country played by teens right now. Even though the game has been out for around two years, it recently took off because it is a great game to play with friends. It is especially convenient to play during COVID-19 as it is played online.

“I love that the game can be played with my friends virtually,” junior Cameron Balamaci said. “The fact that I can play an actual video game with my friends during the coronavirus is an awesome feat.”

The game works as follows: you and four-to-10 others are in a spaceship together. Before the game even starts, there is a starting screen that will tell you what your role is in that game. The majority of the people’s screens will say “crewmate” in blue except for one. The one whose screen glows “imposter” in red before the game starts is the villain of that round. The goal for the imposter is to kill all of the crewmates, avoiding detection before the crewmates finish all of their tasks. 

One of the interesting things about the game is that there is no talking unless a meeting is called. A meeting is called when either a crewmate finds a dead body and reports it, or a crewmate is suspicious of somebody and calls a meeting themself. Once a meeting is called, everyone can discuss what they saw and who they think the imposter is. If all of the crewmates agree on the imposter, the crewmates can vote out that person. The only way someone gets “voted out” is if they get voted out by a majority. The reason why the game is tricky is because the crewmates could actually vote out the wrong person. If the crewmates vote out the right person — the person who is the imposter — the game is over and the crewmates win.

“I really love Among Us because you have to have so much trust in your friends/teammates because they could easily be lying and you might not ever know who to trust. That’s what makes it so addicting,” junior Dylan Edwards said.

The game has an estimated 7.4 million players as of early November, which was five times what they had two months before, according to Play Tracker, a website that tracks the amount of people playing a game. 

Along with the public enjoyment of the game, lots of influencers of the gaming world started to play the game on their respected channels and streams. The trend also continued when U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez played Among Us on Twitch with other influential streamers. This led to an Among Us takeover. From memes, to jokes, to gameplay, Among Us has blown up very fast.

“I loved that all of these streamers on Twitch and Youtubers started playing Among Us as well. It just showed how impactful this new game was,” Balamaci said.

Along with the actual aspect of the gameplay, the game became very popular for being memed. A meme started where people would use the term “sus” to signify what person was being “suspicious” or the one that looked like they were the imposter. Now the term “sus” is used all the time.

Though confusing and difficult at first, once a user gets the hang of it, the game can be very addicting.

The game is so unique because it is the perfect combination of competition and fun. There are certain games that lose their popularity because it gets boring after a while but with Among Us there is endless fun.

“Another thing I love about the game is the customization of your character. Choosing the color and hat of your character is a must and is an absolute essential to enjoy the game,” Balamaci said.

Unlike other games, all of the colors and hats that your character wears are completely free and there is no purchase necessary.

All in all, Among Us is a super fun phenomenon that is taking gaming apps to the next level. The game is perfectly balanced with the use of skill, humor and RNG (randomness).

“I love Among Us because it’s going to be known as the game to play during the pandemic. When we think back to what games we played when we were bored during COVID, the answer will be ‘we played Among Us.’ That’s awesome to me,” Edwards said.