One of the strangest surprises to come out of 2020 has been the sudden boom in popularity experienced by Among Us. Originally released in the summer of 2018, the game remained relatively unknown up until last year when it saw one of the highest rises in proportion of new players any game ever experienced.
The game became one of the most-watched on Twitch, attracting a wealth of players and streamers alike to its Impostor-game-type scene. Notably, Among Us is not a AAA game made by a famous studio. Its premise is quite simple, so what could have possibly made this game so successful?
10 Quarantine Fun For All
Imagine a scenario where everyone in the world is forced to remain inside at all times. Oh wait, you don’t have to, you can just remember what life was like at the beginning of last year. The sanity bar of virtually everyone who went through quarantine was put through a hard test.
Among Us gave gamers some relief, by restoring some form of social interaction within the community. You finally had something to do on those lonely nights, someone to talk to, a way to forget about the problems of the world and pass the time.
9 Free To Play
Another important reason why Among Us gained so much momentum is its price tag. Free to play on mobile. Usually, free mobile games tend to be based on solid concepts but are riddled with microtransaction paywalls that hinder progress, making gameplay feel like an unrewarding task.
Among Us is not like that. It lets you play, for free, one of the best multiplayer games where you interact with more than just an AI. This amounts to the equivalent of a godsend.
8 Streamers Loved It
If something is going to become popular, it needs the attention of the gaming community’s Twitch Streamers and YouTubers. These people play an important role in popularizing games and often function as magnets that draw their subscribers into a new title.
For a good long while, Among Us was all over different social media platforms. It was hard to scroll through YouTube without finding thumbnails full of tiny colorful astronauts. Since most streamers had a knack for playing this game, it’s no wonder it became so notorious.
7 Quick Games
Some games have you come back every week to complete a set of challenges in order to obtain more experience points, needed to level up or unlock cosmetic items. These tasks can prove extremely grindy in some scenarios, especially in games that have some form of seasonal battle pass.
In Among Us, you just play one of the best Co-Op games out there. That’s it. No nonsense is preventing you from having the most fun. A match will generally take 15 minutes at most to complete, so you can squeeze in a quick gaming session even if you have the shortest lunch break.
6 Easily Portable
Among Us lives in your phone and occupies a tiny amount of space. You can jump in a match within a couple of minutes, in the worst possible case scenario. All you need to do is pull up your phone, anywhere you are, and play the game, assuming you have an internet connection.
While most people probably played this game from home in 2020, it’s still nice to be able to carry the game with you anywhere. Thus nothing prevented people from populating lobbies on end.
5 Cross-Platform Genius
A great way to make sure people will play a game is to have cross-platform compatibility. This is an age where gamers are on different systems, and not everyone is always able to join their friends. Games are increasingly becoming cross-platform to bridge the gap that separates folks who want to play together but have different systems.
Among Us took advantage of this phenomenon, and made it so virtually anyone could play the game. It runs on either mobile or PC, and both are objects that most people already own.
4 Intuitive Controls
Control schemes and user interfaces are among the hardest elements to master in a new game, especially for inexperienced gamers. Remember when you played your first FPS and had to get used to the first-person perspective? Among Us is intuitive enough that people who never played any video games could pick it up and minimally struggle with it.
That’s all thanks to the simple user interface and virtual joystick placement (on mobile). We are used to performing tasks with our fingers on our phones, so doing the same in a game feels familiar enough. This makes Among Us even more accessible to all.
3 You Play As A Detective
Mainstream media romanticized the concept of detectives enough that being put in the shoes of one accounts for an incredibly captivating experience. Among Us lets you do just that when you play as the Crewmate.
While navigating locations around the ship, you also have to pay attention to what’s happening around you. Your brain goes in full Sherlock-mode, making conjectures and hypotheses about who could be doing something to cover their tracks. Games that stimulate and engage your thoughts often result in positive experiences that attract plenty of players.
2 You Play As An Incognito Killer
Being the Impostor is, arguably, when the game is at its best. You have to outsmart the entire crew, so your wits are put through a real challenge that is ever so entertaining. Gameplay isn’t based on getting the most amount of killstreaks but on the Impostor being discreet and cunning enough to get away with murder.
Impostors can do some pretty clever things, including sabotaging the lights to leave everyone in the dark and venting in and out of rooms to move quickly through the ship. The possibilities are multifold.
1 The Discussions Are Hilarious
A steady source of memes stems from the discussions that ensue between players. That’s where the real action of the game takes place. Crewmates have the best chance at winning a game if they quickly identify the Impostors and eject them from the ship.
This often calls for some questioning, which can lead to exhilarating interactions, especially when someone innocent is accused. However, discussions are also where players get to interact with each other, and every multiplayer game aiming to become popular needs to have a clever form of interaction.
NEXT: Among Us: 10 Cosplays That Will Make You Want To Play The Game
