Name: Among Us
Creator: InnerSloth LLC
Platform: Android iOS Microsoft Windows Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Xbox One Xbox Series X/S
Overview: Among Us is an online game developed by American game studio Innersloth. I have never played it before that’s why it was interesting to explore the Formal Elements of this game. It reminded me of a super popular game called mafia but with some fun features such as “completing tasks”.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience of Among Us is people who are good at manipulating others (joke). I think this game is good for players between the ages of 14-30; however, I am 26 and this game seems quite boring for me because of the tasks that each player should complete. However, statistics show that players from 20-30 are at the top of the poll.
NOTABLE ELEMENTS OF THE GAME
Among Us refers to the category of Unilateral Competition Games for 4-15 players. It is a game of teamwork and betrayal where players are either Crewmates or Imposter. The game has an interesting model that combines cooperative and competitive elements that drive players. Among us is a zero-sum game where the group can win only by causing another group to lose it. The goal for crewmates is to complete all tasks by filling up a shared progress bar and discovering the imposter before he kills all other players. The objective of the imposter is to kill all crewmates. The game is based on outwitting each other and fooling real people. It is an interesting detective game where players need to try keeping track of where everyone is, and who they were with. The main outcome and goal of the game are to lead either the imposter or the crew team to victory. Designer of this game offered time as a resource for players during the voting and discussion processes. It seems that Among Us contains all three classic sources of conflict: obstacles, opponents, and dilemmas. A player needs to complete all tasks to win an imposter; however, he/she should avoid being killed. A player needs to vote and choose who should be out of the game. All events are happening on the map which represents boundaries in this game. The information that each player has is also referred as boundaries. These are all notable elements of the game.
COMPARISON TO OTHER GAMES
I love playing the social deduction game “mafia” and it was interesting to experience the digital and advanced version of it. Among us gives you an opportunity to play a game anytime and anywhere – it was one of the main distinctions of the game. Also, it has other small mini-tasks that should be accomplished while surviving among imposters or killing crewmates. But in general, the game has the same rules and objectives as mafia. However, I still prefer playing the mafia because you have more interaction and discussion with people and you can prove that you’re not a mafia before being eliminated from the game.
WAS THE GAME FUN? WHY OR WHY NOT?
The fun part of Among Us was the opportunity of playing with the whole world, I think it is the most important benefit of online games. When you feel lonely or bored you can just open the game and have some kind of social interaction. However, I was not that confident in the mechanics of the game so I was the first who was out of it. Among Us provides various options to play: local, online, freeplay. Freeplay was the most advantageous for me when I just started my journey because I could research the game space without any threat and get familiar with the mechanics of the game. Later on, when I dived into the “real world” space I felt very competitive and scared of being killed so it got me engaged and motivated during the whole game. It was fun!
MOMENTS OF PARTICULAR SUCCESS OR EPIC FAIL
When I opened a game I was just immersed in it because of the spatial sound. I think this background music was very engaging and relaxing. I liked all the visual elements of the game and the customizable gaming environment. However, there were some failures. At the beginning of my journey, I could not join any game because it showed nothing, so for a while, I was playing in a freeplay mode. After joining a public game I was overwhelmed with game elements and its speed of it. The most frustrating part was when I was trying to vote and I was not able to figure out the voting system. Also, in one of the games, people started sending intimidating messages and I was worried what if a child plays this game and gets such kinds of messages. This part just killed all my desire to play more.
CHANGES
I would suggest creating more clear instructions or tutorials for the game because it is difficult for a beginner to understand all mechanics, rules, and elements. Also, I want to have an option to block a user who sends offensive and intimidating messages.
