An emergency meeting is called; somebody has found a corpse. In a small spaceship, nothing is what it seems. Nine crewmates use clues to deduce the identities of the imposters among them, whose sole mission is to kill each crewmate one by one. Nobody can be trusted, as players vote each other out in desperation. Will the crewmates find and eject the imposters? Or will the imposters outsmart the crewmates and kill them all?

This scenario is the premise for one of the most popular and played games right now. Among Us is a multiplayer, social deduction game, developed and published by InnerSloth. This video game, which is available on Steam and the App Store, was released on June 15, 2018, yet gained massive popularity two years later during the pandemic. The game takes place in a space-themed map, in which players take on either the role of the imposter or crewmate. Many teenagers and young adults have turned to the game amidst the pandemic, enjoying the social interaction the game provides. 

This video game has had a profound effect on socializing amidst a global pandemic, especially for many isolated teenagers and young adults. 

“Among Us has helped me be more social during this pandemic,” said sophomore Christopher Zhang, an avid Among Us player at The Village High School. “With Covid-19 and everything else going on in the world, online games such as Among Us is such a good way to connect with others without risking our health.”

Regular players and streamers alike have praised the game’s premise and mechanics of the game. Despite being made by a small indie videogame company, the game is top quality. 

“Among Us is a good game,” said Zhang. “There are several reasons that the game is good, one reason is that anyone can play this game as it is free on mobile and you also purchase it for windows. Secondly, it’s a simple game that everyone can learn within a game or two of playing. Finally, since it is a social deduction game, the more experienced players you play with, the more challenging and the more fun it is.”

The game has also attracted popular twitch and youtube streamers. Streamers are people who broadcast themselves online through a live stream, typically playing video games. Many young teenagers watch streamers in order to get a feel of what a videogame is like as well as just generally liking the personality of the streamers. 

“I do watch a couple of streamers and YouTubers that play among us”, said casual player Kyle Marks, an enthusiastic online gamer. “Such as Pokimane and CORPSE.”

Among Us reached peak popularity during October, when congresswoman Alexandria Occasio Cortez streamed the game on twitch and broke records. There were 400,000 viewers at the peak of the stream. She played with famous streamers and twitchers alike, who were the ones that initially helped gain the game massive popularity. Cortez streamed on twitch in order to raise awareness and promote voting in the 2020 presidential election. 

“It’s nice to see AOC and other younger politicians playing these types of games and doing things like this where they can engage the younger audience,” said Zhang.“I feel like things such as town hall meetings aren’t appealing to the younger generation. So with AOC and other politicians entering this type of informal setting of streaming and playing video games, I feel like they are reaching into our world and giving a more comfortable and engaging place for the young generation.”

In the midst of a global pandemic, an unlikely indie game managed to bring teenagers and politicians together in a world that requires social distancing. This unique situation has even caused politicians to adapt to how they socialize with voters. Among Us has connected lives.