Has Zoom University been stressing you out? Have you not been able to hang out with your friends during quarantine? Well, I have an idea for you: play Among Us.
If you have been living under a rock and haven’t heard of this viral sensation, Among Us is a mobile game that started gaining popularity in the last few months. I personally had no knowledge of the game until the beginning of October when my TikTok was filled with memes of the game.
I decided to check this game out and simply put, it was not what I expected.
If you have never played the game, it is similar to the party game Mafia, but on a mobile device with 4 to 10 players. You are either a crewmate, whose mission is to complete the tasks on the spaceship to win the game, or an imposter, whose goal is to sabotage the ship and kill off the crewmates.
Okay, sounds good enough, but why did all the memes take the internet by storm? I think it’s time for AN EMERGENCY MEETING. An emergency meeting occurs if the body of a crewmate is found or one of the players suddenly calls one. These meetings are a way to try and figure out who the imposter is, but the catch is no one is safe. Even if you are a crewmate, you can still get voted out if you are “sus” according to the other players.
With the easy accessibility from any device, Twitch streaming, and of course the memes going around social media, Among Us gained enormous popularity. According to an article posted by Alison DeNisco Rayome for CNET, the game gained popularity from, “…popular personalities on the online game streaming platform like Sodapoppin, Pewdiepie, Shroud and Ninja having all played.” Rayome goes on to add that, “Tons of Among Us memes have also popped up on Twitter and Reddit, spreading the word about the game further.” As I personally do not watch online personalities stream on Twitch, I found the game through the memes I kept seeing on TikTok and Instagram. Wow, finding out about a mobile game through memes. Why is that sentence such a Gen Z thing to say?
Rayome also adds that the easy accessibility aspect also contributed to the increased popularity. She notes that it is, “something new and easy to play from afar.” I would have to agree with her on this; I have been playing with my cousin and even my younger brother after I finish a project, or when I get too stressed to deal with my current load of assignments. We join the same game, allowing for a fun way to engage with even family members remotely during these confusing times.
Another reason why Among Us gained major attraction online recently is from members of the United States House of Representatives hosting a unique stream to call attention to voter registration for the upcoming election. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (known as AOC) from New York’s 14th Congressional District, and Ilhan Omar from Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District (and later Omar’s own daughter Isra joined in) brought attention to the importance of voting to a younger audience. According to an article posted by CNBC, “more than 430,000 people were reportedly watching Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitch channel and the event averaged over 325,000 concurrent viewers.” I was one of those 325,000 viewers who tuned in to the Livestream. It was interesting to see a political figure engage in a game I have been playing for fun, and see a representative acting “normal,” without their political facade.
If you do decide to check out Among Us, I would highly recommend it as a nice way to relax while we continue to navigate the remaining half of fall quarter. Go on a FaceTime or Zoom call with your friends and brush up on those convincing skills, because if you are the imposter, let’s just hope they don’t vote you out.