Among Us is a popular, online multiplayer game by Innersloth, LLC that involves teamwork, betrayal, and mild violence and is available across various devices. 

In this guide you will learn: 1) what is Among Us and where students can play it, 2) why students want to play this popular online, party game, and 3) what are the major concerns and tips for parents to keep their kids safer while online.

Among Us Parent Video

What you'll learn in this video lesson

(Click on the three lines or a blue dot in video progress bar to skip to a chapter)

1. Among Us marketing
2. How do you play Among Us?
3. What should parents know?
4. Examples of strangers asking to connect on other platforms
5. What about violence?
6. Among Us in the news

What is Among Us?

• Among Us is a social deduction game, like Clue and Werewolf, where players attempt to uncover each other's hidden role or team allegiance and eject suspected Impostors off the game
• Among Us takes place on a spaceship and players are assigned a character role as either a  “Crewmate” or an "Imposter” 
• The main objective of the online multiplayer game is to discover which Crewmates are "Impostors bent on killing everyone!” (Source: Innersloth LLC)
• Crewmates are assigned tasks to complete in different rooms of the spaceship, sky headquarters, or planet base and must watch for suspicious behavior among players or for dead bodies. Emergency meetings can be called by the crew to discuss and vote via text chat on which characters might be the Impostor
• The goal of the Impostors is to kill Crewmates, frame innocent bystanders, and sabotage tasks while pretending to be part of the crew
• If playing as a Crewmate, the player must react quickly and win by completing all tasks on the spaceship or by discovering and voting off the Impostors
• Originally created as a party game, Among Us is played online (or through local wifi) with 4-15 friends or random players and the game designates 1-3 players as “Imposters” and the rest as "Crewmates"
• Anyone can join a public game with strangers, create/join a passcode-protected local game with friends, or play with others on local wifi
• Players can invite friends to play by sharing their unique friend code

Where is Among Us available?

• Apple App Store: 9+
• Google Play: E (Everyone 10+)
• Available on:  iOS and Android devices, PC Version on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, Playstation, Windows, and Mac
• Among Us VR will be released in late 2022 for multiple virtual reality devices
• Developer’s Website: innersloth.com (Based in USA, Owned by InnerSloth)
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• ESRB Rating: E (Everyone 10+) for fantasy violence, mild blood, and interaction with other users

Among Us in the news

[One player] says his hacks have allowed him to kill players at will, impersonate other players, teleport around the game, walk through walls, supercharge his character's speed, control the movements of other players, obtain paid in-game items for free, ban players without being the host, or remove a ban on himself. - Wired

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“The game revolves around murder, so obviously it can be violent at times... There's an unsupervised chat component.... There's an option to pay for upgrades.” - Popsugar

Why do students want to play Among Us?

• Among Us has become a piece of pop culture for kids with the online game, merchandise, and references to the game in everyday conversation
• Students connect with their friends online and play the game together in groups
• Kids enjoy cross-platform play across gaming consoles (Nintendo Switch, Xbox, Playstation), PCs, and other smart devices
• Among Us is often a topic of discussion among students, even when they are not playing
• Students enjoy watching others play Among Us on third-party apps such as Discord and Twitch and viewing Among Us videos on YouTube
• It’s free!

What should parents know?

• Chats in Among Us are unmoderated, but can be censored for profanity (in the game’s settings)
• Players create their own usernames which could include racist, sexist, or homophobic language
• Some players may ask to connect with other users on another platform, like Discord, where they can voice or video chat
• Imposters kill other players on the spaceship during the game. The graphics are very cartoonish, but parents should be aware that weapons and blood are depicted on screen
• In-app upgrades are available.  The app collects data to use for advertisements and video ads play after games unless you pay to remove them
• Among Us has a “Friends List” feature that allows players to send and receive friend requests
• Voice chat doesn't currently exist in Among Us but students playing on a PC can download a mod that allows them to voice chat with others in the game (Source: Alphr)

One player’s warning about bullying on Among Us:

What can parents do? 

• Download Among Us and play it before deciding if you want your kids to use it
• Play the game together as a family for at least 15 minutes a week to understand how it works, what your kids like about it, what they do when they are playing, and why it’s such a popular game to play
• Set up parental controls through the Innersloth Parent Portal
• ~Turn off the “Free-Text Chat” option so that the student can only use computer generated chat terms
• There is no way to disable public gameplay, but you can set rules and teach your kids tips to avoid chatting with strangers on Among Us:
• ~Play only local games with people who share the same local Wi-Fi network
• ~Create or join a private online game and only share the code with people you know in real life
• ~Turn on “Censor Chat” by clicking the gear icon, which will show **** instead of profanity

• If playing the public option of Among Us, remind students to never share their contact information (including usernames for other apps) with other random players
• Agree as a family to never follow a stranger off Among Us to a different chat app or service like Discord or Twitch
• Discuss the differences between trying to trick or deceive someone while playing Among Us versus lying in real life
• Read more about the pros and cons of video games in the SmartSocial resource: Pros and Cons of Video Games for Families

Key terms/slang about Among Us

• Crewmate - The majority of the players in the game that are completing tasks and attempting to discover the identity of the Impostor
• Imposter - 1-3 players whose goal is to kill as many players without being detected
• Sus - Suspicious
• Emergency Meeting - Meetings are called when a player wants to discuss suspicious behavior with other Crewmates and vote on the Imposter‍
• Vent - Sections of the game where the Imposter can move undetected from one location to another undetected

What do other parents say about Among Us

Nice, but... beware of the chat!

Simple and nice game, the mechanics are easy to follow and it can be fun, but the chat is unavoidable for a full game experience. There's curse words and dirty talk, and also feels like a dating site. There's predators too, and is not a safe environment for kids who don't know how to deal with strangers. - Common Sense Media

Has problems

The game itself is great, but the people on there are horrible. We don't play on quickchat because you can't say anything, so we do free chat, where people are dating or swearing on servers. If your kids play this, you will be hearing the words "sus" and "sussybaka" a lot. - Common Sense Media

Conclusion

Among Us has been downloaded more than 530 million times worldwide by 2022 (Source: Business of Apps). That means a lot of kids, and adults, are now playing this online party game. Since there is no way to disable the public gameplay and chat option on Among Us, parents should dialogue with students about potential dangers and always supervise younger players.

More resources for parents, students, & educators

Pros and Cons of Video Games for Families

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Listen to the SmartSocial podcast about Among Us