An unlikely thread is winding its way through the University of South Florida. In this socially-distanced semester, students, faculty and staff are connecting in virtual spaces thanks to a video game.
Among Us is a game that surged into popularity during August and September, advancing from an average player base of hundreds to surpassing 3 million concurrent players in a matter of months.
The highly accessible free app is available on mobile devices or for $4.99 on PC. Players have proved willing to pay.
“I realistically play about 50 games a day,” said Leah Griffin, an 18-year-old freshman studying mass communications at USF. Griffin first noticed viral content of the game on social media sites and downloaded it approximately three weeks ago. She got the hang of the simple premise quickly.
In the game, four to 10 players work as a crew, completing tasks and preventing crises. Unfortunately, one to four of them have been randomly assigned by the game as ‘imposters,’ whose goal is to murder the crewmates. Players assigned as crewmates have the ability to call meetings to attempt to identify and expel the imposters, however, if the number of crewmates dwindles to equal the number of imposters before the tasks are complete, the imposters prevail.
Between her daily classes, Griffin opens Among Us and joins public online matches. The game’s speedy rounds make it easy to binge, and its gameplay is easy to learn but hard to master, making repeated playthroughs rewarding.
Thanks to its popularity there is never a shortage of matches to join. However, for other students, it’s not the public games that draw them in.
“It makes it easy to talk with friends and kind of have a game night, even though we can’t really see each other or be in person all the time,” said Emari Craft, an 18-year-old freshman at USF. Craft learned about the game in an online chat for USF’s Black Leadership Network, and now she plays with her friends in private matches once a day.
That opportunity to connect with all your friends is what some speculate drove Among Us to its recent heights.
Andy Bethea is an esports intern at USF Recreation and Wellness, and he helps run the USF Esports Discord server. The server has almost 1000 members, and a designated Among Us chatroom.
“I think it’s become so popular because no one can do anything with their friends, and Among Us has 10 of your friends trying to kill each other,” said Bethea. “When you’re technically social distancing, it’s fun to be able to seem like you’re in the same room.”
J.C. Scott IV, a sport programs graduate assistant who also helps run USF’s Esports Discord, plays Among Us with his friend group on Friday nights.
“It’s a good way to interact with a large group of people, especially during a pandemic. It still makes you feel like you’re in a community,” said Scott.
The Esports server hosts a community game night every Thursday. Members vote for what game they want to play, and for the past two months, there has been an overwhelming vote for Among Us.
The increasing popularity with students is part of the reason USF included Among Us in its annual Homecoming week. Where there would have typically been a physical field day featuring in-person sporting events, by mid-August it was clear to the Center for Student Involvement that there would need to be a virtual replacement.
Emilie Morris is a graduate assistant for the Center for Student Involvement. She learned about the game from a Campus Traditions Board meeting where other members were discussing it. On Aug. 27, the team reached out to Campus Recreation for ideas about an online field day for Homecoming, leading to the Among Us tournament that took place on Oct. 6.
On top of that, Morris is currently taking a class called Group Processes as part of her graduate studies, where last week Among Us was used in class by students as a presentation on group roles.
“It has truly just infiltrated my social circles, my work circles and now my school circles. It’s like it’s actually everywhere. It’s been this slow progression of just taking over everything,” said Morris.
Dr. Michelle Bombaugh, the instructor for Morris’ class, found that Among Us tied extremely well into group dynamics.
“Anytime you are able to connect with members of a group on more of an informal level, that strengthens your group cohesion,” said Bombaugh.
“That ties into what’s called psychological safety,” she added.
Bombaugh said the game could be used to strengthen teams and probably allows students to connect with their friends on a more enriching level than just a Zoom call.
