Photo by Frederick Beavers

A crewmate usually calls an emergency meeting to discuss clues about who the imposter is with other crewmates.

For the past couple of months, the video game “Among Us” has become the go-to game for parties and groups of friends. Celebrities such as rapper Souja Boy and YouTubers such as RDC World and PewDiePie have streamed themselves playing the game. During a time where many people must stay apart, “Among Us” has brought many people together.

Players may not know that “Among Us” was actually created in 2018 by Innersloth Studios. When it was first released, it was a local multiplayer game with basic coding. Unsurprisingly, it did not garner a lot of interest out of the gate. All of a sudden, when Innersloth made Among Us available on the gaming platform Steam and added multiplayer compatibility, it soon became a smash hit. However, Innersloth then encountered a considerable problem—the rudimentary programming was not made for the influx of users.

“Among Us couldn’t handle the server load,” Forest Williard, programmer and co-founder of Innersloth, said in an interview with IGN. Despite this minor setback, developers put in days of work to ensure a smooth gameplay experience.

Most people would compare Among Us to the party game Mafia because their goals in trying to find the enemy as a group are similar. In “Among Us,” you along with up to 10 other crewmates are dropped in a spaceship. The goal is to find the one or two imposters among you. As a crewmate, you have to complete tasks around the map and look for clues to determine who the imposter is. If you identify a clue or a deceased crew member you can report it and tell the others who the imposter is. Imposters win the game by killing all of the crewmates, or successfully causing a crisis on the ship. Imposters also have to be secretive and sly in order to deceive the crewmates into thinking that they aren’t the imposter. Overall, Among Us is a game that requires a lot of teamwork, awareness and deception.

Though the gameplay is fun, the camaraderie found during playing the game with friends holds more value, especially during distance learning.

“I love talking trash to my friends while playing the game,” sophomore Akilu Blumberg-Woll said.

Many will spend hours playing as a substitute for time they would be spending together at school. The chat rooms in Among Us are comparable in entertainment to those of well known multiplayer games like NBA 2K Basketball and Call of Duty.

Among Us is already a very entertaining game, but it has limitations such as allowing no more than 10 players and 2 imposters.

“I like Among Us as it is, but I’m excited to see future updates to the game,” senior Ayuni Fox said.

Innersloth Studios has announced that instead of creating a second version , they will add new game modes and improve the coding of the original model. Among Us is a game that defied the odds and became a hit two years after its release. It has helped to bring people together during this pandemic.