Game:

Among Us (2018)

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Among Us is an online multiplayer social deduction game developed and published by Americangame studio InnerSloth and released on June 15, 2018. The game takes place in a space-themed setting in which players each take on one of two roles, most being Crewmates, and a predetermined number being Impostors.

The goal of the Crewmates is to identify the Impostors, eliminate them, and complete tasks around the map; the Impostors' goal is to covertly sabotage and kill the Crewmates before they complete all their tasks. Through a plurality vote, players believed to be Impostors may be removed from the game. If all Impostors are eliminated or all tasks are completed, the Crewmates win; if there is an equal number of Impostors and Crewmates, or if a critical sabotage goes unresolved, the Impostors win.

While initially released in 2018 to little mainstream attention, it received an influx of popularity in 2020 due to many well-known Twitch streamers and YouTubers playing it. In response to the game's popularity, a sequel, Among Us 2, was announced in August 2020. However, a month later in September, the planned sequel was canceled, as the team instead shifted focus to improving the original game. Among Us has inspired internet memes and achieved a large following online.Among Us is a multiplayer game, supporting four to ten players. One to three of these players are randomly selected each game to be Impostors, while the rest are Crewmates. The game can take place on one of three maps: a spaceship (The Skeld), a headquarters building (Mira HQ), or a planet base (Polus). Crewmates are given "tasks" to complete around the map in the form of minigames, consisting of maintenance work on vital systems, such as electrical rewiring and fueling engines. Impostors are given a fake list of tasks to blend in with Crewmates, although they are unable to complete any task. They can sabotage the map's systems, traverse vents to get around the playing space quickly, work with and identify any other Impostors, and kill Crewmates. If a player dies, they become a ghost; ghosts can pass through walls, but can only interact with the world in limited ways and are invisible to everyone except other ghosts. However, they must still complete their tasks. All players, aside from ghosts, have a limited cone of vision, only allowing them to see other players within a certain unblocked distance around them, despite the game's top-down perspective.

The Crewmates win by completing all tasks or by finding and eliminating all the Impostors. For the Impostors to win, they must either have a sabotage countdown run out or kill enough Crewmates such that the number of Impostors is equal to the number of Crewmates. Ghosts help their living teammates by completing tasks (as a Crewmate) or performing sabotages (as an Impostor). When an Impostor performs a sabotage, either there is an immediate consequence (such as all the lights being turned off or doors being closed) or a countdown begins. In the latter case, if the sabotage is not resolved before the countdown finishes, the Impostors win. Sabotages can be resolved by living players in varying ways depending on which sabotage is performed. Games can also end by players quitting the match if doing so fulfills any win condition; a player quitting is equivalent to them being eliminated, and a Crewmate quitting leads to their tasks being considered completed for the total.

Any living player who finds a dead body can report it, which halts all other gameplay and calls a group meeting. In the meeting, players discuss who they believe is an Impostor based on the evidence surrounding the killing. To help determine the identity of Impostors, there are various tracking systems in each map, such as a security camera system in the Skeld, a doorlog in Mira HQ, and a vitals indicator in Polus. If a plurality vote is reached, the chosen person is ejected from the map and dies. Living players may also call an "emergency meeting" by pressing a button in the map at any time, except when a sabotage is in progress.] Players can communicate in a text chat, but can only speak during meetings, and only if they are alive, although ghosts can speak with one another at any time. While the game does not have a built-in voice chat system, it is common for players to use external programs such as Discord while playing.In each game's lobby, various options can be adjusted to customize aspects of gameplay, such as the vision range of the Crewmates and the Impostors, and the number of emergency meetings. There are also many cosmetic options, including spacesuit colors, skins, hats, and pets, some of which are paid downloadable content.

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