The indie game Among Us from developer Innersloth is experiencing a second spring. Thousands of viewers on Twitch and millions of downloads speak for themselves. But what kind of game is this anyway?
This is Among Us: In Among Us, you play as an astronaut who needs to prepare a spaceship for launch. Together in a group, you embark on the mission and repair the spaceship. However, there are also impostors in the group who want to prevent just that. They must be found and excluded.
The principle is similar to the popular game “Werewolves (of Düsterwald)”. There is a group of players and a secret killer.
The game was released in 2018 on Android, iOS, and PC. Only now, two years later, is it experiencing a real hype. One reason is also numerous streamers who share their gaming experiences on Twitch and thereby create plenty of advertisement for the indie game. In just the last 7 days, Among Us averaged about 69,000 viewers on Twitch (via Sullygnome).
Among Us is simple and incredibly entertaining
This is how Among Us works: In a group of up to 10 players, you start the round. Randomly, one player becomes a saboteur who must prevent the spaceship from launching. All other players must repair the spaceship or even install new parts.
As a saboteur, you have to act cleverly. After all, the other players should not know who the impostor is. If a player is killed, a vote is held to determine who is responsible. If most votes are cast for the actual killer, they are thrown into the lava and lose.
This creates an entertaining cat-and-mouse game, where no one except the cat knows who to watch out for.
This is what makes the game so special: Among Us may look fairly simple at first glance, but there are indeed tactical components that one must consider.
It becomes especially entertaining when playing with friends because you can give each other instructions and debate sharply whether a fellow player is an impostor or not.
You put yourself and your friends to the test: Can you lie well and conceal your schemes? Do you see through your fellow players?
Where is the criticism? If you start Among Us alone, you may encounter some problems. While there is a chat where you can communicate, it can be arduous and, moreover, toxic.
Among Us is especially fun with friends, as you can assess them better.
The numbers show: Just a glance at the Steam charts shows that Among Us is currently booming:
- Since its Steam release in November 2018 until May 2020, Among Us averaged never more than 490 players
- In the last 30 days, Among Us had an average of 18,385 players. At times, there were even over 73,000 concurrent players
- In August, Among Us grew by an incredible 774%
The indie game is also available for mobile and is incredibly successful there too. While it costs €3.99 on Steam, you pay nothing on your smartphone. Alone in the Play Store for Android, Among Us has over 10 million downloads. It also ranks in the top charts for games there.
What do players say about Among Us? The reviews for Among Us are largely positive. These numbers also indicate this:
- On Steam, Among Us has nearly 24,000 reviews, of which about 22,500 are positive (as of August 31 at 4:00 PM)
- In the PlayStore, there are almost 900,000 reviews, and it received a total of 4.2 out of 5 stars
- In the Apple App Store, there were 7,500 reviews and even 4.4 out of 5 stars
It is positively noted that the game is incredibly addictive. You can get really immersed in it and cheer along. On Steam, Princess ironically writes: “This is a brilliant game to ruin friendships. I experienced it. It was totally worth it.”
Especially the point that you get into conflict and discuss with your friends is appreciated. There are comments saying that they have hardly suffered so much in any other game.
Criticism comes from German players. They wish for German servers. If you don’t play with friends, you have to communicate in English in the chat, which can be quite complicated.
Do you want more good mobile games? In our list of the best mobile games that don’t rely on pay-to-win, we show you particularly fair games that you can play without any real money hassle.
