AMONG US

Just as we thought Covid gaming was coming to an end, Among Us hit the tween world with a force that makes Fortnite look like a sleepy kitten!

Among Us brings simplicity, relative safety and laughter. A great change in tone from what other platforms are offering! Screenagers, in search of excitement, change, and new horizons, have ventured onto Among Us to find they could fill the hungry void of lockdown with outer space realms, old-style graphics and fun. Light and easy is the call of the day with Among Us, albeit that it often requires your kid to outsmart and outthink (rather than just kill) the others in the game.

How is Among Us played?

Each game involves crewmates and imposters. Using seriously basic movements compared to more sophisticated online gaming, the imposter and crewmates move from room to room to accomplish their respective goals without giving any other players cause to vote them out. Each Emergency Meeting discusses who is suspicious and who is not, and the player that has the most votes against them is effectively gets the boot. Players who are booted out then become “ghosts” to see how the rest of the match plays out.

The imposter must pretend (READ: very exciting to a tween) to do the assigned daily tasks in the game while stealthily killing off each crewmate one by one. If a body is discovered, a crewmate can call an emergency meeting to have a group chat trying to figure out who the imposter truly is.

The Good

This is where the game becomes really funny and shrieks of laughter will emerge from your child’s playroom as crewmates begin suspecting each other. Calling each other by the colour of their space suit, through all the excitement, you will hear “Red is Sus”(suspicious)- the biggest insult you can get in a game. But this is very different to the insults hurled in more aggressive games like Call of Duty, Forntite – all the other games our kids have been playing online. The game is also fabulously strategic. If you hanker after other guys on the game, pretending to be a newbie, they might offer to teach you the lay of the land instead of suspect you of being the intruder with a carefully thought out plan. suspect me. Little do they know it’s the last thing they will ever do – at least until this match is over.

Another upside is that unlike some games, this one can be quick –stealing less time from your child’s real life. With Among Us, you can play as much or as little as you want and still have a good time. We at KLIKD also love the basic premise of this game is sneaking around others for fun – so the real online dangerous trolls in the online gaming community somehow lose their power when the good guys are doing it for fun instead of acting in bad faith. There are also no player levels, so kids don’t get to act superior or feel inferior to others. And the live chats are usually fun too – no huge swearing sessions, just who is “sus” and who has their best strategic game hat on.

The Not So Good

Given that the game doesn’t have a voice chat, kids are not being exposed to the usual hate and horror, but as always be aware that players have found plenty of ways around that. Using a third-party app like Discord is quite common, but players may also just call their friends on the phone or even party chat using their Xbox or PlayStation so that they can speak to each other.

So let your kids know you know the tricks of the trade, and if you want your kids to play with their friends only, the upside is the game automatically defaults the lobby to private. Take note that while it’s private, players can only join you if you share your lobby code with them. Give your kids the low down on what is acceptable to you and stick to it!

THE KLIKD VERDICT: IT’S A THUMBS US FROM KLIKD: AMONG US IS GIVING KIDS AND ADULTS ALIKE A BIT OF BREAK FROM REALITY, OFFERING A SIMPLE BUT FUN WHODUNNIT TYPE GAME, AND ALTHOUGH NOT FULL-PROOF (NOTHING IS) IT COMES WITHOUT THE USUAL DARK SIDE THAT COMES WITH ONLINE GAMING.