Among Us has become a game to connect with friends and others online during the COVID-19 pandemic — and especially during remote learning.

Nonnewaug spent two months in fully remote learning and only started full in-person learning for the majority of students in mid-January. Because of COVID-19, many students hadn’t been able to hang out with their friends until Among Us jumped into Connecticut.

Among Us is a multiplayer social deduction game that was released by Intersloth in the summer of 2018. The game can be played anywhere with four to 10 players. Players run around inside virtual maps and complete spaceship maintenance tasks while trying to figure out who the impostor(s) are before they eliminate everyone. Players are also known as crewmates. The object of the game is to win on whichever side the game puts the player on, whether a crewmate or an impostor.

This game has become very popular ever since the school year started, and it has gained the attention of many more people on all different kinds of platforms. Adam Budrewicz, a freshman, jumped on the trend.

“I feel that Among Us keeps us connected because it’s a fun party game,” Budrewicz said. “You are able to interact digitally with any of your friends that also play the game. Because you are able to interact and do things in the game, it’s more entertaining than just sitting in a video or voice call with someone for hours.”

He sees the game as being beneficial during lockdowns.

“Because of COVID, we aren’t able to do things and have fun in person, but with Among Us, we were given the opportunity to meet up online, because right now, it’s the closest we can get to interacting with others,” Budrewicz added.

Because Among Us does not have the option to voice chat, other websites and apps are becoming new options, besides just a phone call, to communicate while playing the game. 

Discord and Lobby are the two main apps that are useful for this game. Users on Discord are able to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, private chats or as part of communities called servers. But Lobby gives players the option to join a voice chat quicker with anyone that has the app by pasting the link in the game chat. 

Now that most students have returned to in-person learning at Nonnewaug, let’s hope that everyone can safely enjoy each other and friends’ company.