At one point during covid, this game soared beyond the charts. I remember playing it in discord with my friends, and even more with random people late in the night. “Among Us” is a popular online multiplayer game that shares the detective or mystery theme we are all familiar with. A game where you’re either an imposter or crew member. The game’s main objective is trying to identify the “Imposter(s)” among the crew members you are playing with. Depending on how you set up the game, there can be more than one imposter. This aligns with the mystery that drives detective stories. Its aim is for the protagonist or “crew members” to uncover who is the culprit responsible for the murder(s) of the crew mates. In order to do so one must be very cautious of surroundings and look for even the most subtle clues.
What I find most intriguing about this game is the use of deception and social dynamics in order to pull off a win as an imposter. When trying to deceive the others, it varies how well your approach is depending on if you’re playing alone with random people or with friends. As in class, not knowing many people that closely, it was difficult figuring out when someone was telling the truth. Your friends may see you as someone who is clearly lying or trying to deceive, whereas someone you’re not too familiar with may see you as a threat. I would say another varying factor could be where everyone is located. An interesting clue can be seeing someone’s facial expressions or the tone of their voice when being interrogated. While on the other hand, when you’re playing with random people, sometimes it’s difficult because you can’t go off of the tone of voice, rather can only see the text in the chat which doesn’t help someone’s case as much.
The next thing I’d like to talk about is the use of the sabotage tactic. The sabotage tactic is different depending on the map you decide to play. For this example, let’s talk about the first one. This map allows the imposter to use a light switch, which lowers the crew members line of sight, allowing the imposter to kill easier without someone else seeing. The next is setting off the reactor alarm, which forces at least two crew members to weasel their way to the left side of the map and deactivate the reactor. This tactic allows the imposter to diverge attention one way while possibly making a kill on the other side. The next is in communications, where all tasks crew members are trying to take care of are turned off until the communications task is finished. This draws all the attention to the bottom of the ship. So reactors and comms force members to a specific part of the ship, while electrical fields block vision. Another sabotage technique that is commonly used is closing doors to specific parts of the map. This can be used to trap a singular or multiple members and can cause friction. It can also be used to block off where a body could be found. The largest tactic and one of my favorites is the use of venting. It allows the imposter to move around the map quickly, especially after executing another member of the crew.
We now know the ultimate goal of the game is to unveil the identity of the imposter before they sabotage the mission or eliminate all of the crew members. However, there is another way for the crew mates to secure a win. This being to complete all given tasks/missions before being eliminated. Even if you do get eliminated, it is important to continue completing the tasks as you are still a ghost floating on the map. That way of winning isn’t as much detective work, but still an option. The other way is through gathering clues and evidence against other members of the crew. Gathering clues could be observing other members complete tasks, and developing trust. Now that doesn’t always work as some crew members can deceive you into thinking they aren’t the imposter. By carefully analyzing other players movements and actions, you may be able to tell who it is, but at the same time have to be conscious of keeping yourself safe and not looking too out of place or suspicious. This allows a player to see discrepancies in alibis, suspicious movement or just actions that don’t align to what another player can claim to be doing. These all deduce reasoning to who the imposter could be and fall under reasonable suspicion.
All in all, I believe that this game follows the directions of what we as a class decided a detective/mystery game can be. It allows for players to gather evidence and clues. It carries the burden of suspicion and deception. It also allows for players to use logical reasoning and problem solving. The imposter themselves can often use a detective-like strategy to avoid suspicion and frame other players.
This picture shown is of the map just to clarify any misinterpretations. The sabotages can occur in the reactor room, Electrical, and Communications. Players start in the cafeteria and can choose three different directions to surf through.
Intermittent Mechanism 