After playing for countless hours during the pandemic, it was a nostalgic experience to load up Among Us. It took a couple rounds to get the hang of things again, but my strategies strengthened as I continued to play.
My experience with Among Us highlights aspects of my communication style as, in groups, I often prefer short, effective conversations and meetings after a period of independent work. Although the “work” in this game includes mini-game-like tasks, I find myself enjoying the periods of independence in the game, free to move, explore, and complete whatever I want. Because of this, I found myself deciding to explore and attempt to locate the killer much more than I was completing my designated tasks. This approach allowed me to better understand the map layouts and player behaviors, helping me refine my instincts in identifying suspicious movement and behavior.
The game’s mechanics restrict communication between players until an “emergency meeting” is called. Meetings are timed and follow a text-based group chat where players are able to send custom messages. During the earlier rounds of my session, I found myself not contributing to the conversation unless I was being directly called out for being “sus” (to defend myself, of course). This proved to be somewhat effective, but when I really was the imposter and the other players were calling me out, it was difficult to defend my position as I had been quiet and isolated prior to the confrontation. Because of this, I began to take a more active role in the group during future rounds, being the first to call emergency meetings, report deaths, and point out my suspicions. This shift in approach allowed me to better control the narrative and build trust among other players, which proved invaluable when I actually was the imposter.
Among Us, despite being a (relatively) family-friendly game, incorporates elements of deceit and dishonesty. Lying is an essential part of the game if you’re the imposter trying to win— it would be almost impossible to win otherwise. Although we tend to view lying as morally wrong, I believe that lying as a part of a game, like Among Us, does not constitute a wrong action. Conversation topics within the game are 99% of the time directly related to the gameplay and the current game environment. Thus, with the rules and mechanics of the game understood by players prior to engaging in potentially deceitful conversations, the content of the conversations and lies being made hold little to no significance outside of the game environment. One may argue that games that incorporate behaviors like lying as a core mechanic reinforce negative behaviors that can persist outside of the game environment. However, the same can be said for other negative behaviors (violence, drugs, etc.) that are present in other games at higher degrees.
