Suspense, thrill, and excitement rushed through my mind as I opened the mobile game “Among Us” for the first time. I was hooked instantly.

As soon as I opened the app, I was welcomed by eerie and dramatic music as I watched graphics of colorful crewmates floating in space from different directions on my device.

“Among Us” is a trending action game where you are placed onto a spaceship and randomly selected as either a crewmate or an impostor. Each player has access to a personal map, which helps them navigate the ship. 

It’s a game of teamwork and betrayal. As a crewmate, you must collaborate with others to catch the imposter, while the imposter sneaks around to kill crewmates.

To me, it’s exciting when you get selected as the impostor because you ultimately run the game and can control how fast the game moves. 

A major difference between “Among Us” and some other games is that you can have live interactions with other people. You can either join online games and participate with players from around the world, or you can enter a local game code to play with your friends.

Although I love entering a game code to play with my friends, playing online is entertaining because I get to meet other people from all over the world and each game pans out differently.

“Among Us” offers the ability to customize your character by color, add accessories, and give it a name. This makes the game fun and creative, because I can either stand out or match with other players to blend in. 

If you are a crewmate, the object of the game is to complete tasks as quickly as possible or to correctly guess who the impostor is when emergency meetings are called. Crewmates must work with other players throughout the game to discover who the impostors are, while ensuring that the spaceship doesn’t get sabotaged by the impostors. 

Another responsibility of a crewmate is completing tasks, which have to be completed in order to keep everything running smoothly and win the game. But, make sure to keep an eye out for the impostors, as their mission is to kill off everyone on the ship before the crewmates can complete their tasks. 

As the impostor, you have to be as sly and secretive as possible to avoid being spotted by a crewmate. You must blend in. That could look like sabotaging ship systems then pretending to fix them, or reporting the bodies of your victims to throw crewmates off your trail. 

Once someone encounters the dead body of a crewmate, they can report it and it immediately alerts everyone, which leads to a discussion. 

When you think someone might be suspicious, you are also able to use the emergency meeting button at any time, which is located in the cafeteria. Then, the players might name an alibi in the chat and discuss who they think is the impostor.

If wrongfully accused, you’re voted out and ejected from the ship into space. However, you can still continue as a ghost and complete tasks to work towards a possible win. 

It’s definitely disappointing and can be frustrating to get voted out, especially if you are not the impostor, but I think since you are still able to work towards winning the game, it’s fair. 

If crewmates successfully identify and vote out the impostor, they win. The impostor wins if they kill all the crewmates before tasks are completed, and if nobody successfully identifies them.

When playing the game in the presence of others, the app developer encourages players not to talk to one another until the game ends to ensure the game is fair between both the crewmates and the impostors. 

You can play this game with four to 10 players, and you can either control your character by joystick or touch screen, which is a versatile option for players, as it allows them to adjust the game to their liking. 

When you’re hosting a game, you have the ability to change the settings, whether that’s by controlling the speed, deciding who to play with, or determining how many impostors are allowed in the game. 

“Among Us” reminds me of a collaborative mystery because I can discover who the impostor or impostors are while solving tasks to keep the ship functioning properly.  

Overall, I give this game about a 4.5 out of 5 stars because it’s addicting, entertaining, and has me on the edge of my seat.

The graphics, the suspense, the collaborative effort, and the urgency to figure out who the impostor is make the game so intriguing and unique compared to anything I have ever played before.