Among Us is a 2018 online multiplayer social deduction game developed and published by American game studio Innersloth. The game allows for cross-platform play; it was released on iOS and Android devices in June 2018 and on Windows later that year in November. It was ported to the Nintendo Switch in December 2020 and on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in December 2021. A virtual reality adaptation, Among Us VR, was released on November 10, 2022.
Among Us takes place in space-themed settings where players are colorful, armless cartoon astronauts. Each player takes on one of two roles: most are Crewmates, but a small number are Impostors. Crewmates work to complete assigned tasks in the game while identifying and voting out suspected Impostors (who appear identical to Crewmates) using social deduction, while Impostors have the objective of killing the Crewmates. The game was inspired by the party game Mafia and the science fiction horror film The Thing.
While the game was initially released in 2018 to little mainstream attention, it received a massive rise in popularity in 2020 due to many Twitch streamers and YouTubers playing it during the COVID-19 pandemic. It received favorable reviews from critics for fun and entertaining gameplay. The game and its stylized characters have been the subject of various internet memes.
Among Us is a multiplayer game for four to fifteen players. Up to three players, based on the number of players and the game host’s choice, are randomly and secretly chosen to be the Impostors each round. As of 2023, five playable maps are available: a spaceship called “The Skeld”, an office building called “MIRA HQ”, a planet base called “Polus”, “The Airship”, a setting from Innersloth’s Henry Stickmin series, and the Fungle, a mushroom jungle map. The Crewmates can win the game one of two ways: either by completing all assigned tasks or by ejecting all Impostors. Impostors can likewise win in two ways: either by killing or ejecting enough Crewmates, so that the number of Crewmates matches the number of Imposters, or by sabotaging a critical system on the map (provided the Crewmates do not resolve it in time). At the start of the game, Crewmates are assigned “tasks” to complete around the map in the form of minigames, minipuzzles, and simple toggles, mostly consisting of maintenance work on vital systems such as fixing wires and downloading data. Impostors cannot complete tasks but may pretend to perform them to feign appearance as legitimate Crewmates. Impostors, however, can perform sabotages, ranging from minor (such as disabling lights, limiting the Crewmates’ vision) to critical (such as disabling oxygen generators), requiring immediate counteraction by Crewmates to prevent their deaths. Impostors may enter and traverse ventilation ducts (commonly known as “venting”), and kill nearby Crewmates. To help Crewmates identify Impostors, there are various surveillance systems on each map, such as security cameras on The Skeld, a door log system with sensors in MIRA HQ, and a vitals indicator in Polus that shows the living status of all players. In addition, certain “visual tasks” provide animated cues, such as scanning oneself in the Skeld’s medbay. As Impostors cannot perform tasks, Crewmates can use visual tasks to confirm their identity to nearby Crewmates.
Any living player may call a group meeting by reporting a dead body, or by pressing an Emergency Meeting button. During meetings, players discuss—via the in-game text chat or an external voice chat application such as Discord who they believe to be Impostors based on available witness testimonies, with Impostors lying to hide their identity or falsely accusing other players. Impostors can be identified beyond reasonable doubt if they are seen venting or killing a Crewmate, but ultimately players must weigh the veracity or value of each other’s statements. Players then vote for who they believe is an Impostor; if a plurality vote is obtained, the player who received the most votes is “ejected” from the game. Players who are killed or ejected become ghosts, which can still perform tasks (Crewmates) or sabotages (Impostors) but are otherwise unable to be seen by or interact with living players. Effectively, spectators and ghosts may see and pass through walls, follow players or other ghosts, and chat with other ghosts.
A November 2021 update added additional specialized roles to the game: Crewmates can also be Engineers, Scientists, as well as regular Crewmates. The first Crewmate that dies can also become a Guardian Angel, the role of which is not given at the beginning of a round. Engineers can traverse vents like Impostors, albeit to a limited capacity. On the other hand, Impostors can stay in the vent as long as they want. Scientists can check vitals from anywhere on the map to see if any player has been killed this round. The ghost of the first Crewmate that dies can become Guardian Angels, which can temporarily protect living players from being killed. Impostors likewise can be Shapeshifters, allowing them to temporarily morph into other players and assume their color and appearance. However, they might leave evidence behind depending on the game settings. An additional update in June 2024 added three more roles, including Noisemakers and Trackers to the roles of Crewmates, and Phantoms to those of Impostors. Noisemakers trigger an alert when they are killed that can visually indicate their death’s location to other Crewmates. Trackers can track the location of another player for a limited amount of time. Phantoms are able to briefly turn invisible to avoid detection.
An alternative “Hide and Seek” game mode was added in December 2022. There are no meetings or ejections, and a single Impostor, known as the seeker, (whose identity is known to the Crewmates) attempts to kill all Crewmates within a fixed countdown timer. Crewmates must hide or flee from the Impostor and can complete tasks to roll down the timer, as well as enter vents for a brief time to hide from the Impostor. Impostors cannot perform sabotages or enter vents in this mode. Crewmates are also given a display showing their proximity to the Impostor as well as the number of remaining Crewmates. Near the end of the round, the Impostor obtains a “seek” button allowing them to see where Crewmates are.
Before each game, various options can be adjusted to customize aspects of gameplay, such as player movement speed, the allowed number of emergency meetings, number of tasks and visual tasks, or whether or not an Impostor is revealed after being voted off, allowing participants to manually balance the game’s settings to their desires. Players may modify their own appearances with cosmetics, including skins, hats, visors, and pets, some of which are purchasable as microtransactions.