![]() At its release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons offered an opportunity to build an eternally peaceful world that transcends the death and violence ravaging our own reality. Now with over 86 million downloads, the violent nature of the gameplay appeals to the cynicism and impatience of the frustrated and socially distanced in quarantine. The timing of Among Us’s popularity is no coincidence: developed by a three-person team at InnerSloth in 2018, the game caught the attention of zero gamers until Twitch streamer “sodapoppin" displayed it earlier this summer. It is best played with friends who believe your real, out-of-game life aspirations, thus allowing you to either exploit their trust or, at the very least, startle them with your brutal ability to cleave a body in half and deny the blood on your hands. You lie to your friends about your whereabouts, desperately coerce people into believing your task list, or descend into feigned madness as the impostors falsely accuse your innocent avatar of murder. In sum, Among Us is a game of manipulation, deceit, and paranoia. An emergency meeting can be called, should someone see a suspicious action from one avatar…or if the impostor wishes to throw suspicion elsewhere. Everyone aboard can access the security cameras to spy on other players. Panic ensues with the game’s additional mechanics: the impostor can sneak into the air vents to teleport between rooms and assassinate a player. The game ends when there is an equal number of impostors and crew members (resulting in the impostors’ victory), all the impostors are discovered, or all tasks are completed. After discussion, players vote out one player at a time (or skip, sparing all from death), and discover if they killed a fellow crew member or succeeded in finding the impostor. Often, they compare alibis: “I was scanning in Medbay” “I was taking forever to calibrate in the electrical room” “You think my ass can fit in the vent?” In other, more intense discussions, accusations come flying: “I saw fake tasks!” “Guys, if I’m wrong about them, vote me out next” “But I saw them kill.” Breaching anarchic destruction, the gameplay frequently dissolves into furiously-typed deductions and empty promises to partner up to ensure temporary survival. When a player discovers a dead body (a halved avatar with flesh and bone exposed), they report the death, calling a meeting in which all remaining players discuss who the impostors might be. The minigame tasks are unique to each of the game’s three maps: The Skeld, Polus, and Mira HQ. ![]() One to three impostors sabotage the crew by tinkering with the spacecraft’s mechanisms and, occasionally, murder an innocent crew member or two. ![]() Straight out of a science fiction movie, Among Us’s gameplay is violent, yet simple: five to ten crew members are trapped on a spacecraft, fighting to keep the vehicle up and running by completing minigame tasks with a very limited visual scope. ![]() Now, indie game Among Us has entered the chat, bringing gamers from around the world together in chaotic gameplay as impostors kill innocent crew members while denying their murderous intent. One of 2020’s most anticipated releases, The Last of Us Part II, infuriated some lifelong fans with its vengeance-denying resolution and inspired others with a lesson about the futility of violence. The Honeybee Inn dance in Final Fantasy VII: Remake went viral as we re-fell in love with Cloud Strife’s narrative. When Animal Crossing: New Horizons dropped earlier this year, Nintendo Switch consoles sold out everywhere in America. 2020, despite its travesties, won in the gaming world. ![]()
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