"Among Us:" What's the hype?

"Among Us," a video game by Innersloth game studio, has taken the internet by storm. Even political figures, most notably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have played the game online. But the main question is why is this indie game so popular among the YouTube, and the high school community?

Starting with the gameplay, a group of ten “Crewmembers” are tasked with maintaining a starship. Each Crewmate is assigned a series of tasks in order to maintain the ship and if all crewmates complete their tasks they  win the game. However, among the crew is a “Imposter” an alien fake crewmate whose objective is to sabotage the ship and kill the crew. But the Imposter does leave behind bodies that crewmates can find and the Crew can call emergency meetings to try and figure out which one among them is the Imposter.

 With many references to classic horror films like "Alien" for its sci-fi spaceship setting and "The Thing" for the unknown alien lifeform hiding among the crew, and for the suspenseful and engaging gameplay it's no wonder why this game is so popular. However the more important part of the question is why it's so popular among NHS students.

 According to sophomore Jack Igoe “I think the reason "Among Us" is so popular is for  the same reasons why a game like "Minecraft" is so popular. The simplicity of the game and the interaction with maybe your friends and other people. It feels a bit different than your average video game” 

Igoe cites the interaction and legitimate attempt at problem solving among the crew. He also cites the simplicity which for most people gamers or not  have an easy time playing. 

Sophomore, Aiden Bernardo states “ Well the game is about strategy, it's about skill and it's a mind game and so people love playing mind games in the game. It's also popular because of big streamers like Pokimane and CorpseHusband that play that game so everyone is hyped for it and gets on the hype train.” 

Bernardo gives us evidence around the games strategy and the skill required to be both an imposter and crewmate. He also cites the mind games one can play in trying to weed out who is the imposter or not. Bernardo also states the fact that popular streamers play the game and therefore attract their audiences to play the game and therefore making it more popular.

 Whether or not you play "Among Us" one can not deny the fact that this game is very popular. "Among Us" is a very popular game and while the reason might be because of A.O.C,  YouTube streamers, or maybe just because it's fun we may never know. But the answer is most definitely "among us."