- Among Us
Among Us, stylized in the App Store as Among Us!, is an online multiplayer science-fiction/social deduction murder mystery game created by Innersloth that runs on the Unity Game Engine. It was first released on June 15, 2018, for Android and iOS - and was later released on Steam on August 18, 2018. On December 15, 2020, a Nintendo Switch edition was released, which is available on the console's Nintendo eShop. On December 14, 2021, Xbox and PlayStation editions were released for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.[1][2]
Overview
Among Us is set on one of five locations; a spaceship, above-earth base, planet base, a Henry-Stickmin-themed Airship or a mysterious island referred to as The Fungle which contains a group of up to 15 crew members, among which are up to three Impostors who have to Sabotage and kill off the Crew. Crewmates have to complete their chosen tasks, report bodies of other Crewmates who are killed, and initiate emergency meetings if they witness another player doing something incriminating or suspicious to discover everyone's true identity. All tasks are mainly visual and provide a fine user-friendly interface for players of all levels and ages.
By 2020, Among Us was considered by Innersloth to be a complete game, and as of June 11, 2020, MIRA HQ and Polus, which were previously paid for, were released for free for players playing both on Windows and Android/iOS/iPadOS to host.
The game gained an increase in popularity in 2020 due to famous Twitch streamers and YouTubers playing it. A sequel, titled Among Us 2, was announced by Innersloth on August 18, 2020, and was scheduled to be available by 2021 but was canceled in September. Work was instead focused on the original game. Additional roles were released in version 2021.11.9, including Engineer, Scientist, Guardian Angel, and Shapeshifter.
The developers have released other media based on the game, including many forms of merchandise and a manga.
History
- The beta version of the game was officially released on Android and iOS on June 15, 2018.
- The Windows version of the game was released on Steam on August 17, 2018, two months after the mobile release.[3]
- Innersloth officially announced a new version of the game for Windows and mobile in version 2019.8.24.[4]
- Innersloth worked on many bug fixes during 2018.[5]
- New content was added in version 2018.9.20.[6]
- On another update, the game received kick and ban controls, which allow the host to kick or ban any player from a room and sound effects.[7]
- On October 4, 2018, Forest Willard showed Among Us gameplay data, as several players began hosting more than 100 games per day.[8]
- On October 11, 2018, Innersloth announced the addition of hats.[9]
- On December 2, 2018, Innersloth officially announced a Christmas-themed hat bundle for Among Us, in Windows and mobile. However, mobile players would be required to pay US$3 to obtain the new hats.[10]
- On December 22, 2018, Innersloth announced fixes to server issues due to the increase of players, as well as a New Year's hat, which became available until January 4, 2019.[11]
- Reducing prices of MIRA HQ and Polus on the same day.
- Polus will also become free on the same day.
- MIRA HQ and Polus will become free for all players starting June 11, 2020. However, its skins will remain paid.
Evolution video |
Gameplay
Among Us is a murder mystery game that can take place either in a spaceship named "The Skeld," the headquarters of the company MIRA, a research base on the planet Polus, or an Airship. Among the players, one to three will be randomly chosen as Impostors, who need to blend in and kill the Crewmates. The Crewmates' goal is to complete tasks in the form of mini-games, such as fixing wiring, emptying garbage, or swiping an ID card, all the while having the goal of finding out who The Impostors are and voting them out. Impostors can Sabotage the map, which results in either a problem that will cause the Crew an inconvenience until fixed (e.g., turning off the lights, which affects the vision of the Crew, and messing up the Communications, which disables several useful features for the Crew); or even a severe problem which gives the Crew an important task that must be completed under a time limit (such as depletion of the oxygen aboard the ship or meltdown of the reactor inside). The Impostors' goal is to kill off enough Crewmates for an equal number of Impostors and Crewmates to be left, which results in a win for The Impostors as they theoretically could not be voted out. They can do this using the aforementioned sabotaging mechanic, though their main strategy is to directly murder every member one by one.[28]
Players can interact with various useful resources, such as a camera system, a sensors system, an administration panel, and a vitality machine, which can help crew members catch An Impostor killing a player, shapeshifting, or entering a vent. When a player finds a dead body, they can report it, which pauses the game and leads to a discussion where people can chat to find out who The Impostors are. Players can address evidence found with deaths and vote for a person they think is An Impostor. The player with the most votes will be ejected from the map, and the game will reveal if they were An Impostor (if Confirm Ejects is activated). Also, if players are unsure of who may be An Impostor, they can skip the vote. If the most votes are cast to skip, no one will be ejected. This also occurs when the number of votes toward two or more players is equal; that is, it is considered a tie.[28]
When a player dies, they will become a ghost, who can explore the map without colliding with the walls. However, they are not visible to the living Crew and can only be seen by other ghosts. Their communication system is limited, as they can only interact with other dead or ejected players, and they cannot resolve Sabotages. If they are a Crewmate, they can still complete tasks. In the same way, Impostor ghosts can still Sabotage to disrupt the Crewmates who are still alive. Before a game starts, players can configure certain game options, such as the number of Impostors, speed, map, and kill cooldown, among others. They can also customize their character with cosmetics, such as colors, skins, hats, and pets.[28]
Customization
Players can choose from a total of 18 colors. Additional cosmetics are available to further customize, some for free while others requiring a purchase. Hats were added in version 2018.10.10 of the game. Skins were added in version 2019.2.15. Visor cosmetics were added in version 2021.11.9, with several previous hats being converted to visor cosmetics.
Added in version 2019.6.12, pets are small creatures that will follow the player around. Each pet also has unique animations and reactions to gameplay events. As of version 2022.12.8, players are also able to pet their pets, which plays an animation of the character patting their currently active pet.
Maps
The Skeld
The Skeld is the first map of Among Us, also becoming the only free map in the game before June 2020. The Skeld is set within a turtle-shaped spaceship, which the Crewmates used to travel around outer space. Crewmates must complete tasks on the ship and figure out who each Impostor is.
MIRA HQ
MIRA HQ is the second map released in Among Us. Unlike the others, the map was released as paid content and is set on a sky base, rather than a spaceship. The map was officially announced on August 3, 2019, and was released to the public on August 8, 2019.[29][30] Unlike The Skeld, Impostors and Engineers can freely roam around vents that are not adjacent to a specific vent.
Polus
Polus is the third map of Among Us, announced on November 1, 2019, and released on November 12, 2019. It takes place in a research base on the rocky, purple planet of Polus. This map features similarities to both The Skeld and MIRA HQ while also having its features. Due to being a terrestrial planet, there are no ventilation systems on the planet, but rather holes. This map is also currently the second largest in Among Us.
The Airship
The Airship was announced by Innersloth on September 23, 2020, as part of the new content added to Among Us after its sequel's cancellation, Among Us 2. The map is based on the Toppat Clan Airship from Infiltrating the Airship, a Henry Stickmin game also developed by Innersloth. It is the fourth and largest map. It contains several new tasks and new mechanics in it, such as ladders and moving platforms. It is released on March 31, 2021.
The Fungle
The Fungle was announced in the roadmap at Summer Game Fest.,[23] with a trailer releasing in 2023. The map is an island where the skeld has crashed in an unknown planet with a beach, jungle, and mountain. The map was released on October 24, 2023 and contains new mechanics such as the Zipline, Mushrooms, and Mushroom Mixup sabotage.
Settings
Settings are a way to configure player gameplay.
Language
The game supports the following languages:
- English
- Spanish (Latin America)
- Spanish (EU)
- Korean
- Japanese
- Traditional Chinese
- Simplified Chinese
- French
- Italian
- German
- Dutch
- Russian
- Portuguese (Brazil)
- Portuguese (EU)
- Irish
- Filipino (Bisaya)
Future
On January 6, 2020, developers said that "[they] thought it was a completed game twice in the past as we came back to add online multiplayer and two new maps. But as of the Polus release, we're sure that Among Us is a complete game. There are always things that people want and things we could potentially add, but Among Us was always intended to be a small game, and we are just a team of three people with one programmer. We've already added a lot to a small game, and the difficulty of adding new features and content is now very high. You all can see this difficulty in terms of bugs that seemingly never get fixed. Adding more things would undoubtedly add more bugs. So from now on, we are not adding more to Among Us. There will be a few bug-fix-only updates and a plan of price changes, then we will let Among Us take its natural course." Then, they intended that Among Us servers would run until "at least 2021. Probably longer." They also said, "We will announce if we are stopping the servers and provide some alternative," If this is the case, the game will possibly be able to be self-hosted.[15]
Canceled sequel
On August 18, 2020, Innersloth officially announced that a sequel to Among Us, titled Among Us 2, was in development due to the game's core sections not being built and adapted to support the addition of new content. They also pointed out that "Among Us servers would stay alive for as long as they had enough players to start games."[16] However, after several long discussions between the developers, they announced the sequel would be canceled, with all new features of the sequel implemented into the original game.[17]
New content
The developers have announced the following new content coming to the game:
Planned
- More Roles
- Friends List improvements
Completed
- A new Hide n Seek game mode
- Accounts
- Among Us on Xbox
- Among Us on the Nintendo Switch
- Among Us on PS4/PS5
- 15-player support
- New Roles
- Quality of life improvements
- Visor cosmetics
- The Airship map
- The Friends List
- Account Linking
- Achievements
- Quick Chat Rework
- The 5th map: The Fungle
Unfinished/progressively being added
- UI/UX updates
- Improved Matchmaking
Console release
Among Us was released for the Nintendo Switch family of systems on December 15, 2020, and is available on the Nintendo eShop for US$5.00.[31] This was firstly announced at the Nintendo's Indie World conference on the same day. The game was ported by PlayEveryWare, an external development team.[32][33] It also released on the Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and the PlayStation 5,[1][34][35] which released on December 14, 2021.[2]
Trivia
- Among Us was inspired by the real-life group social deduction game, Mafia,[36] and by the science-fiction horror film The Thing.[37]
- The idea for the concept was given by Marcus Bromander, who played Mafia since he was a kid.[38]
- When developing The Skeld, the ship was intended to be always in crisis and Impostors could do tasks to mix themselves with the Crewmates, however, it was discarded as they found it "stressful" and that would affect discussions.[38]
- When Innersloth planned to launch Among Us for consoles, specifically PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but found a problem implementing player communication, as text or voice chat seemed to be useless.[39]
- Despite this issue, Innersloth was able to launch Among Us on Nintendo Switch on December 15, 2020, which is likely because, similarly to a phone, the Switch and Switch Lite both have touch controls in handheld mode, which can be used for typing in the chat.[20]
- MIRA HQ and Polus originally served as additional paid content for Among Us until it was updated on June 11, 2020, when the two maps were made permanently free for everyone.
- During this period, these two maps had free weeks for all players to host temporarily.
- Currently, only the exclusive skins from these maps are paid additional content for the game.
- Among Us was internally named "Space Mafia" during development,[40][41][42] as the Play Store's app package name is "
com.Innersloth.spacemafia
."[43] - During its history, the game faced, and is facing several bugs:
- Several persons are automatically disconnected due to an error.
- Servers getting DDoSed randomly.
- The mobile version of Among Us is the only version to not cost money.
- According to Innersloth, Among Us took six months to enter open beta and more than six months to exit from open beta.
- According to Innersloth via Twitter, they settled for the Crewmate design relatively quickly.[44]
- The Henry Stickmin series, which is also developed by Innersloth, is referenced many times in Among Us for significant motives.
- Even though the game was made back in 2018, it only became popular with major new updates in 2020. The popularity was due to Twitch streamers, especially Korean ones.
- On some platforms, the icon for Among Us was changed in version 2021.6.15 to match the altered art style.
- On other platforms, the app icon was the same as before. The new app icon was later implemented in version 2021.11.9.
Awards
Award | Date of Ceremony | Category | Result | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
Golden Joystick 2020 | November 24, 2020 | Breakthrough Award | Won | [45] |
The Game Awards 2020 | December 10, 2020 | Best Mobile Game | Won | [46][47] |
Best Multiplayer Game | Won | [46][48] | ||
Steam Awards 2020 | January 3, 2021 | Labor of Love Award | Nominated | [49][50] |
Easy Allies Awards | January 26, 2021 | Best Multiplayer Game | Won | [51] |
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | March 13, 2021 | Favorite Video Game | Won | [52] |
Unity Showcase Awards | March 19, 2021 | Best Multiplayer Game | Won | [53] |
Webby Awards | May 18, 2021 | Breakout of the Year | Won | [54] |
Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards | July 20, 2021 | Best Indie Developer | Won | [55] |
Global Industry Game Awards | August 27, 2021 | Support: Community Management | Won | [56] |
App Store Awards 2021 | December 2, 2021 | Top Trend of 2021 | Won | [57] |
Audio
Audio | Description |
---|---|
The main theme song of the game is that in the main menu. |
Videos
Gallery
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "*pops out of vent*
Oops, we've been caught. @AmongUsGame comes to Xbox and @XboxGamePass in 2021!
xbx.lv/3nvUIf8". Twitter, Xbox. December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020. - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "📢 XBOX & PLAYSTATION - DEC 14, 2021 📢
Among Us is dropping on Xbox consoles, Xbox Game Pass, and PS4 & PS5!
gather your crew - we've got Impostors to eject". Twitter, @AmongUsGame. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021. - ↑ "PC and Online Released!". itch.io. August 17, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ↑ "Among Us 2018.8.24 released!". itch.io, Innersloth. August 25, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ↑ "Bug fixes in Among Us 2018.9.6". itch.io, Innersloth. September 11, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ↑ "Find a game easier in Among Us 2018.9.20!". itch.io, Innersoth. September 23, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ↑ "More sounds and kick/ban controls in Among Us!". itch.io, Innersloth. September 30, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ↑ "The Data Among Us". itch.io, Innersloth. October 4, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ↑ "Hats?! In my version 2018.10.10?". itch.io, Innersloth. October 11, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ↑ "Happy Holidays From Among Us!". itch.io, Innersloth. December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ↑ "Server Issues and a new update!". itch.io, Innersloth. December 22, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ↑ "First 2019 Update!". itch.io, Innersloth. January 25, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
- ↑ "New Map Trailer: Polus". itch.io, Innersloth. November 1, 2019. Retrieved MONTH DD, YYYY.
- ↑ "Polus Map Launched!". itch.io, Innersloth. November 12, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Among Us and Innersloth In 2020 - Among Us by Innersloth". itch.io, Innersloth. January 6, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Among Us 2". itch.io, Innersloth. August 18, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "The Future of Among Us". itch.io, Innersloth. September 23, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
- ↑ "Among Us October Beta Update Patch Notes". Attack of the Fanboy. October 10, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ↑ "MIRA now easier to play and more hack-resistant!". itch.io, Innersloth. November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Among Us - Launch Trailer - Nintendo Switch". YouTube, Nintendo. December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
- ↑ "The upcoming Airship map, consoles, and what's next 🎈". itch.io, Innersloth. January 19, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
- ↑ "Info on Accounts". itch.io, Innersloth. March 24, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Among Us Roadmap 🗺️ Our plans for the game!". YouTube, Innersloth. June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ↑
- ↑ "Among Us 2023 Roadmap". innersloth.com. February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ↑ "Announcing Among Us X Bungie". innersloth.com. February 28, 2023. Retrieved .
- ↑ "Horse Mode is Coming Back - v2023.3.28". innersloth.com. March 28, 2023. Retrieved .
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 "Beginner's Guide: How to Play Among Us". Bluestacks. February 7, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ↑ "New Map + Henry Update!". itch.io, Innersloth. August 3, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
- ↑ "MIRA HQ Launched!". itch.io, Innersloth. August 8, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
- ↑ "Among Us for Nintendo Switch". Nintendo. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ↑ "they also had an external team handle the switch port and have an external team handling accounts". Innersloth Discord server, Buttery Stancakes. January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ↑ "Among Us". PlayEveryWare. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ↑ "Update: Among Us Available Now with Xbox Game Pass for PC, Coming 2021 to Xbox Game Pass for Console". Xbox, Will Turtle. December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- ↑ "🌟 AMONG US - COMING TO PLAYSTATION 🌟
get ready to welcome a whole new crew on board!!
✨ on PS4 and PS5 consoles later this year
✨ exclusive Ratchet & Clank skin, hat, and pet
✨ crossplay and online multiplayer
tell your friends but more importantly.. tell your enemies heh". Twitter, @AmongUsGame. April 29, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021. - ↑ "How Among Us became so wildly popular". PC Gamer, Wes Fenlon. September 24, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
- ↑ "Original Among Us Was a Much Different and More Stressful Game". Comicbook, Tyler Fischer. January 9, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 "Among Us dev recounts how the game took flight, including early game ideas". Nintendo. January 12, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
- ↑ "Among Us PS4, Xbox One Console Ports Are More Complicated Than You Think". GameSpot, Jeremy Winslow. September 24, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpV5Qx5cGhQ&list=PLidY-f1FTkAQ9c1ifhkuEflZtzrOr_5wU&index=2
- ↑ Among Us and Unity | Unity Gaming Services - YouTube
- ↑ The Making of Among Us - Documentary - YouTube
- ↑ "Among Us - Apps on Google Play". Play Store. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ↑ "By the way, this is literally the only concept art of coming up with the crewmate design. We settled pretty fast.". Twitter, PuffballsUnited. October 6, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ↑ "We won a Golden Joystick Award". Twitter, InnerslothDevs. November 24, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ↑ 46.0 46.1 "Keep an eye out for #TheGameAwards tonight! Vote for @AmongUsGame to win Best Mobile and Best Multiplayer". Twitter, InnerslothDevs. December 10, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ↑ "@AmongUsGame wins for Best Multiplayer Game at #TheGameAwards!!!". Twitter, TheGameAwards. December 10, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ↑ "@AmongUsGame wins their second award of the night for Best Mobile Game presented by #LGWing & @Qualcomm Snapdragon!". Twitter, TheGameAwards. December 10, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
- ↑ "Enjoy Among Us? Help nominate it for "Labor of Love" in The @Steam Awards!". Twitter, AmongUsGame. November 27, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ↑ "Red Dead Redemption 2 is Steam's game of the year 2020". PC Gamer, Jody Macgregor. January 3, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
- ↑ "The 2020 Easy Allies Awards - Game of the Year". YouTube, Easy Allies. January 26, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
- ↑ "we won the Kid's Choice Awards for Favorite Video Game!". Twitter, @InnerslothDevs. March 14, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
- ↑ "Concluding this #GDCShowcase week, we are proud to announce our Unity Showcase Award winners 🥁 🎉
Best Multiplayer - @AmongUsGame". Twitter, @unitygames. March 19, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021. - ↑ "@hasanthehun presents the Webby Breakout of the Year Award to @AmongUsGame and @InnerslothDevs for providing the Internet's "it" game that has kept players around the world connected, while at a distance.". Twitter, @TheWebbyAwards. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ "The Finalists for 2021". Mobile Game Awards. July 20, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ↑ "Moving on to the Support category, the first award we have is for Community Management. And the award goes to… Among Us! Congrats to the team at @InnerslothDevs on this win! #GIGA21 #ddc2021". Twitter, @IGDA. August 27, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
- ↑ "We're so honored that Among Us is an @AppStore Trend of the Year winner for Connection!
It's so cool the Crewmates have helped people stay connected (... and destroyed a few friendships) after all these years 🚀 ❤️ #AppStoreAwards". Twitter, @InnerslothDevs. December 2, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2021.