My kids are now obsessed with Among Us – I learned to play and now I’m teaching you everything you will want to know about this viral game.

For years, it’s been Minecraft or Roblox, but for the last few months, our house has been filled with non-stop game play of Among Us.

Chances are if you have a kid, you’ve heard about this. So what is this game? Let’s break it down and get you in the know about this family-friendly and friend-friendly game that everyone is raving about. (Don’t miss our Among Us memes post – it’s filled with funny!)

How To – The Imposters Guide to Among Us

Here is the beginner’s guide to Among Us! Let’s go thru the 101. We are talking what the game is, what the characters are, how you interact with others and more.

among us review
The Imposters Guide to Among Us

Alright, imposters – let’s start with the Among Us basics, shall we?

What is Among Us?

First, let’s answer the question – what is Among Us? Among Us is a multi-player hidden role survival game. The game takes place by dropping you and 5-9 other players onto a spaceship.

Each player is designated a private role. You are either a crewmate or an Impostor.

how to play Among Us
among us basics

The game is often compared to being a blend of the traitor style games: Werewolf and Deceit.

When was Among Us Created?

Among Us was released on June 15, 2018 by InnerSloth game studio. But wait, why are you just now hearing about this game?

In September 2020, this game has blown up to epic proportions. There are 2 main reasons that this game went viral.

First, several big name YouTube and Twitch streamers started playing.

Second, once people realized how you can easily connect and play with family and friends – especially in the 2020 crazy – it’s a no brainer. Remember when playing Words with Friends was everything? 2020’s version is definitely this game.

What Platforms Can You Play On?

Here are the available platforms to play. If you are playing on a PC/Mac, you can download from STEAM. There are also mobile apps on each platform. Here are the links to download Among Us.

How Do I Play With My Friends?

Playing Among Us with friends is easy. Among Us is cross-compatible, meaning you can play with anyone on any platform! To play, simply create a game and share your game code.

Among Us Game Review
Among Us for Dummies

If your friends can’t play, but you have an itch – you can hop onto a random game and play with strangers.

How Much Does Among Us Cost?

Among Us is $5.00 on Steam or free to download via mobile. Do note, you can buy your way out of the ads. There are also in-game purchases. My kid had to have an Among Us pet.

How Do You Play?

Here is a quick basic overview on how to play Among Us.

You will either be an impostor or a crewmate. Each game has 1-3 impostors, the rest of the players are crewmates.

The goal of the game is simple. Here is the goals of each Among Us role.

Crewmates

If you are a crewmate – you want to complete repairs and your tasks. You want to avoid being killed and find out who the impostor is.

About Being a Crewmate in Among Us game

As a crew member, you will want to find people that you can trust, while completing tasks as soon as possible.

Among Us Tip: Try not to wander too far away from fellow crewmates or you will find yourself being killed far away and no one will find your body.

Impostor

If you are an impostor, your job is to kill the crew members without being known that you are the impostor. You can do this thru a variety of ways that we’ll discuss.

What Impostors in Among Us do

How Many Impostors are in Each Game?

1-3 of the players will be impostors and the rest of you will be crewmates.

Impostor Overview

In short, here is an overview of who does what and what to do:

Impostors kill crewmates. Crewmates do tasks. When they find a body, they start a meeting. Anyone can start a meeting when they find a body. Easy peasy?

Impostors cannot complete tasks. Complete tasks in front of another crewmate to show that you are not an imposter.

The job of an impostor is to find people isolated from other people on the ship, kill them and then return to the rest of the crew before they even realize that you left.

Impostors have tools that can help you do this.

Vent System

The vent system acts as a super highway for Impostors that can take you far away from any corpse that you created. Crew members cannot use the vent system!

Sabotage or Crises

Sabotage or crises are caused by the impostors. These prevent meetings being called and can lead to defeats for the crew. This will allow the imposter to easily sneak away to get away into the vents.

There are various different sabotages including: Reactor Meltdown, 02 Shutdown, Communications sabotage, Lights sabotage, or sabotage teh door.

Among Us Tip – Learn this Among Us trick! The double kill is where you and another impostor kill 2 people in quick succession. To do this, both impostors must push kill in just a few seconds of each other. Since neither of you have hands, this can be difficult.

Let’s dive into more info on what meetings, crises, finding a body and more.

Meetings

The purpose of the meeting is to determine who is the impostor. In the meeting everyone votes. The person with the most votes in a meeting is ejected.

among us emergency meeting

To call a meeting, someone pushes the button in the center or when a body is found.

Finding a Body

You found a body, now what? Report that a dead body is found. Both Crewmates AND Impostors can report dead bodies. This makes the game tricky and helps Impostors keep their identity hidden.

dead body reported

After a dead body is reported, everyone is taken to an emergency meeting for voting.

Next, a vote is taken. Everyone votes (yes, everyone) who they think the impostor (killer) is when a body is found. The person who receives the most votes is killed off.

Among Us Getting Voted Out

Fret not, just because you are voted off does not mean your game is over. The fun continues, because now you become a ghost! Let’s talk about Among Us Ghost Mode.

Helping Beyond the Grave – Ghost Mode

Once you are killed, either by an impostor or by being voted off – good news! The game isn’t over yet for you. You can help your fellow crewmates in ghost mode.

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Here is what you need to know about being an Among Us Ghost (or also known as being in Ghost Mode:) Don’t miss our ghost memes!

Once you are killed off or voted off, you become a ghost and enter Ghost Mode!

Here is what you need to know about being a ghost in Among Us:

  • Ghosts can freely travel through walls and don’t run into things.
  • Crewmates and Impostors that are still alive can’t see ghosts. 
  • While ghosts can see and use chat all the time – messages will not be shown to alive players! Other fellow ghosts will see the messages, allowing ghosts to talk to each other throughout the games. 
  • While being a ghost, you have unlimited vision meaning you are not restricted by walls or sabotages. 
  • Ghosts cannot vote or kick other players during emergency meetings. 

As a ghost, you can still complete your tasks. Something to note: in ghost mode, some visual tasks like the scanning in MedBay will not give a visual cue. This is done to prevent impostors from cheating and from the live crew members from getting confused.

What You Do As a Ghost

The cool part of the game is even when you are killed or voted off – the game isn’t over. You go into ghost mode. So what’s an Among Us ghost to do? Here’s the downlow:

Ghost Crewmates

As a Ghost Crewmate you are still able to complete your tasks which is required for the taskbar to completely fill. You can interact with doors, make them open and communicate with other ghosts. 

Ghost Impostors

When you are found out that you are the Impostor, and there are other Impostors in the game – you become a Ghost Impostor. As a ghost, you are not able to kill or or interact with alive players, but you can still sabotage them.

Talking to Other Players

Talking to other players is another critical piece of the game. Players talk, discuss evidence and exchange alibis. This helps show that you aren’t the impostor – or if you are, this is where your lying skills can come in handy.

Does Among Us Have Voice Chat?

No, unfortunately voice chat is not built in. I suggest using Discord for voice chat while playing Among Us.

Number of Players

4-10 people can play at a time. You can start a game with less but to have a good game – I’d recommend needing 5-10 people. While there is an online mode where you can play with strangers – this game is much more fun when you actually know the people you are playing with!

How Many Players per Among Us Game

This makes Among Us a family game that you can play from seperate rooms, or even locations. Also of course, is fun with friends. With the lockdown of 2020, this is probably one of the reasons this game is so popular – the fun social component!

How Long Does Each Game Take?

Each Among Us game takes between 5-15 minutes to play. The great things about this game it’s quick and easy. You will need to be fully engaged when playing.

How Do You Win?

Winning in Among Us is different for everyone because there are 2 different roles.

The crewmates win when all tasks are created, you stay alive and discover who the impostor is.

Crewmate Victory

Once both the alive and dead Crewmates finish all tasks, the game results in a Crewmate victory.

how to win at Among Us
victory screen among us

The impostor does not want to be discovered. The impostor role “wins” by killing enough Crewmates to have an equal amount of Impostors and Crew members before all tasks are completed and to have their true identity remain hidden.

That is How to Play Among Us

Well, that was longer than expected but hopefully will give you a good beginners guide on how to play Among Us. This really is a fun game that is fun for the whole family. The killing aspect thru me off at first, but really its as innocent as “killing” can be.

among us family game
among us impostors guide

There is no blood or gore. This game kind of reminds me of an online version of an escape room and clue. You are trying to figure out clues to find the killer, all while navigating various tasks.

I hope that you enjoyed this Among Us review. More to come as there’s a lot more to say about this game!

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