I could hear the laughing and screaming mixed in on a late-night discord call. People tried to defend themselves as best as they could, explaining their trip through the map and where they were when a body was found.

I tried my best to lie through my teeth and say that I was doing a task that didn’t have any visuals, like fixing the electrical or getting gas for the reactors. I giggled behind my hand as I held my phone in my other. I listened as they accused each other and watched as each person voted for someone they didn’t believe. I didn’t understand how I had just won the game by only killing two crew members and just lying about where I was.

“Among Us” is definitely a game that can stress you out while also bringing a sense of calmness. You are assigned different jobs depending on your position. As an Imposter, you sabotage the Crewmates and try to kill them before their tasks are done. As a Crewmate, you have to finish all your tasks before the Imposters kill everyone with a sabotage such as depleting the oxygen, or before the Imposters kill enough people to equal their numbers.

The game was released back in June of 2018, but it didn’t start getting popular until roughly a month or so ago. Now, you see every big streamer, Youtuber or anyone with social media talk about it. I open Twitter and see at least three memes about the game, or browse TikTok and see clips of people playing together. By sending memes to my roommates and friends, I’ve gotten them hooked on the game, even going as far as to make my early-to-bed friend play until 3am.

It was no surprise to see “Among Us” get its time in the spotlight, especially during a pandemic where everyone is stuck inside and looking for ways to connect with friends through gaming. I’ve played with some of my siblings and friends on mobile because we can all play it together, and some of us don’t have access to computers.

“Among Us” has definitely taken off as a success because of how much traffic social media has given it. I believe that users will continue to play the game often for now, but it may die off if another game like it comes by where more people can play together. We can see that in the past we have had games that provide group play on mobile and PC, like PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Salem.

But why did “Among Us” become so popular during a pandemic even though it was made two years ago? It could be because of cross platforms, with the game allowing users to play together on mobile or PC, or maybe it’s because we are all stuck inside and want to aggravate our friends.