Video games have exploded in popularity during the pandemic and one of the hottest titles right now is Among Us. It’s kind of like Clue, but on a space ship. Here’s what parents need to know about the game.
“Thankfully on Christmas, I got an iPad, [and the] first game I download is Among Us,” started Russell Friedman. Like many kids, he loves playing the game, which involves crewmates and impostors. “If you’re a crewmate, then you have to save the sabotage, and do tasks,” explained Friedman.
The game is popular with kids and adults alike.
“There are some pretty fun tasks, like weapons, you’re playing a video game inside a video game,” said Friedman.
Jeff Haynes, a video games editor at Common Sense Media, describes Among Us as a “social deduction game. It really is somewhat akin to a murder mystery,” said Haynes, who wrote a review of the game for the site. Common Sense focuses on aspects of media parents are interested in, like violence, drinking, sex, and consumerism.
Among Us was released in 2018, but was mostly discovered in the past year. The game involves 4 to 10 players who play online with each other.
“Between 1 and 3 people within that crew are impostors, and these people basically have the task of trying to eliminate the other crew members,” explained Haynes.
“I like being the impostor a lot,” explained my kid, Parker.
While imposters are determined to kill their crewmates, the action is pretty tame.
“There’s a bone sticking out when it happens, it’s not scary at all, there’s no blood on the screen when it comes up,” said Parker.
“It’s not gratuitous and it’s not realistic and in some cases it’s akin to a cartoonish kind of violence,” added Haynes.
As a parent, you might be most concerned about in-game chat. After all, kids can be playing with random online players.
“You can sometimes run into some inappropriate names or content, so that is one of the things you have to be aware of,” said Haynes.
There is an option in settings to censor chat, which can help, but your kids can easily turn it off.
Common Sense Media rates the game for ages 10 and up and recommends parents sit in on a session to get an idea of what it’s all about, because “it’s one of those titles that I don’t think is going to be going away anytime soon,” concluded Haynes.
Creators of the game have announced new features coming soon, including the ability to keep a friends list, so you can always play with people you know. The game recently launched on the Nintendo Switch and is coming soon to the PlayStation and Xbox.
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