Juana Garcia/The Cougar
With activities and events limiting themselves to an online platform to meet social distancing requirements, students find themselves putting their screen time to use.
Organizations, clubs and even friend groups who only communicate virtually are finding ways to connect through virtual games.
Growing in popularity is interactive internet game Among Us.
The multi-player game is available to play as an application on your phone or as a downloadable game through platforms like Steam.
As more people have begun to tweet about the game and their experience playing it, word has spread around that this is a game to help those getting through quarantine or trying to interact more safely as they socially distance.
Business freshman Trevor Woeste started playing Among Us after seeing people play it on platforms like YouTube. Afterwards, he got the free app and played with his friends, he said.
“It’s perfect because of how accessible it is,” Woeste said. “The game, of course, can be played while respecting social distancing by having everyone join a Zoom or Discord call to talk to one another and discuss the round.”
The buzz surrounding Among Us does not end with just UH students, even United States representatives such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have played . AOC and Illhan Omar, another Congress member, held a Twitch stream playing the game to increase voter outreach.
In previous semesters, organizations were able to hold in-person events to build relationships with members.
However, as these efforts move online, we see more virtual games held and Among Us tends to be a popular program choice among groups such as Residence Hall Association and various floor programs in residence halls.
As the game is played more and more by students, inside jokes within the Among Us community have arose such as puns around the word “imposter” or calling other players “sus” to say they are suspicious.
The whole aspect of the game is very similar to games such as Werewolf or Mafia. There is someone who is lying and the other players must figure it out to win.
“My favorite aspect of the game is the meetings and working out with everyone (to see) who the real imposter is,” Woeste said. “Every round is different, which makes the game easy to play for hours. I always love playing the game with my friends and it brings me so much joy.”
