Dead but not gone? ‘Among Us’ may turn dead crewmates into angels
Indie game developers InnerSloth released Among Us in 2018 to decent returns. Based on the games returns the company began working on a sequel. A sequel is a good sign that they liked what they saw from Among Us, but they never could have imagined what the pandemic had in store for them.
In September, Among Us took off thanks to some prominent streamers on Twitch. The game was front in center for the first time since its launch in 2018 and earned 70% of its total downloads to date in September.
Among Us is a whodunit mystery game where players run around a map completing tasks before an impostor kills everyone. If the impostor kills everyone, then he or she wins, but the crew members have a chance to beat them by uncovering their secret identity or completing all their tasks.
Once players die or are accidentally voted off, they return as ghosts to finish tasks. It’s important for players not to leave after they die because it becomes harder for those still in the game. The ghosts have been a less than iconic part of Among Us, but InnerSloth has announced they will change in a future update.
InnerSloth is hoping to prevent players from leaving after they die by changing ghosts into guardian angels. It’s a move the company is considering, but InnerSloth programmer Forest Willard confirmed the idea on Twitch’s gaming show.
The worst spot to be in is the first dead player. You can’t help uncover the impostor or discuss with other players until they die or at the end of the game. While players can still complete their tasks, the majority of players leave.
InnerSloth hopes the change to guardian angels will prevent players from leaving after they die. Right now, completing tasks after dying can sometimes feel like busywork or dreadful if you completed them all before dying. Players will still need to complete tasks, but the new role could include resurrecting dead players who haven’t been discovered by another crewmate.
Among Us’s development team is working to balance the gameplay with the introduction of guardian angels. Willard explained, “We’ve thought of a lot about [making ghosts into] Guardian Angels and stuff like that, but it’s a difficult thing to pull off, but we’re definitely thinking about those sort of things.”
InnerSloth wants to make sure they aren’t giving an advantage to the crew members and make it more difficult for the impostor to win. There aren’t more details on what the guardian angels will do. Other than the new task, there isn’t anything about how game mechanics will work for guardian angels or how they will affect current gameplay.
Guardian angels are on the long wish list InnerSloth created for Among Us. They are also working on including a friend account. The new accounts will allow players to connect with friends. InnerSloth is also working on a new map and boosting the servers for more reliable gameplay.
Players also want InnerSloth to create a console version of Among Us. Willard has confirmed they’ve discussed a console version, but it’s proven to be a difficult task. There would need to be a voice chat included in the game for a console version to work.
InnerSloth suggested a system of quick comms for the console version. Quick comms don’t work in a game like Among Us. Games that utilize quick comms rely on nonessential communication like different ”hellos” or game-specific phrases like “all clear” in Call of Duty.
The list of pre-program phrases for Among Us would need to include all the different colors, map locations, and tasks. Then InnerSloth would add commonly used phrases like “where,” “what up,” and “sus.” The game’s chat is very reactionary, an untranslatable trait of the game. The list would be so long it would be an ineffective tool for players.
