Imagine this: a spaceship holding you and nine other passengers is en route to your new destination. The ship needs some maintenance, so you all split off to do separate tasks. Suddenly, a passenger cries murder, and you realize someone doesn’t want your crew to arrive at the destination alive. The game, “Among Us,” forces players to differentiate the crewmates from the imposters.

The main maps include The Skeld, Mira HQ, and Polus. The Skeld is a spaceship en route to an unknown destination. Mira HQ guides players through a base that has taken to the safety of the skies. Finally, Polus is a frigid base located near an open pool of magma. Each location has a variety of tasks. Some follow similar objectives and others are location specific. Different maps also have different ways to deal with accused crewmates. The Skeld launches them into space while Mira HQ drops them to the Earth below. Polus disposes the accused in a Terminator-like fashion by throwing them into the lava.

The crewmates’ job is simple: complete all your tasks or eliminate all of the imposters. Crewmates can see when a task is completed using the progress bar at the top of the screen. I try to get them done as quickly as possible to watch for bodies, however, some tasks are much longer or require a lot of back and forth. To aid them, they have a variety of tools depending on the location. Players utilize cameras to look for possible imposters. In Mira HQ, sensors in the main hall show who walks past. Polus is a special location where you can check the vital signs of each crewmate.

The imposters’ job is to kill all of the crewmates. I prefer playing as the imposter because I do a really good job of covering my tracks and pinning the blame—although, it’s not a particularly good skill to have outside of this game. They can hunt alone or work with others to help them out. Imposters also have tricks up their sleeves. They can jump into vents and travel throughout the compounds, which is my preferred method of travel after killing someone. On The Skeld and Polus, players can close doors to lock people in or temporarily hide a body. Imposters can also sabotage different parts of their location by shutting off oxygen, turning off the lights, jamming communications, and starting reactor meltdown. However, they do have a cooldown period after killing someone. Other players are able to report a dead crew member immediately which takes them to the emergency meeting.

The emergency meeting can also be activated by a red button located somewhere on the map. Once activated, all crewmates gather to discuss and deduce who the imposter is. Players can use the in-game text system, but most communicate with Discord. Here, they get the chance to relay information like what tasks they were doing, who they were with, and even ask each other why they did or didn’t do specific things. Imposters try to blend in, which I seem to do naturally well.  At the end, players get to vote for who they believe is the imposter, or they can choose to skip voting someone out and wait for more evidence.

In the pre-game lobby, players can customize how they look. They can choose from one of 12 colors and a variety of hats, clothes, and pets. The lobby’s host can also change game settings like player speed, crewmate and imposter vision, the amount of  tasks, and time limits for discussion and voting. They can also enable or disable “Confirm Ejects” which shows if the player they voted out was an imposter or not and how many imposters remain. They can also choose to disable or enable “Visual Tasks” which show players tasks that prove the innocence of a crewmate. In my opinion, I prefer keeping these on as it makes the game easier and more fun. If you are up for a challenge though, I would recommend turning them off.

The game came out in 2018, but it’s experienced a resurgence in popularity due to Youtubers and streamers rediscovering it. “Among Us” is a lot of fun to play, especially if you are on a call with a bunch of your friends. This game also has very few instances of being hacked. If you are looking for a fun “Whodunnit?” game to play, then I highly recommend “Among Us.”