Mix up your ‘Among Us’ play style: How to try new game modes

Among Us is over two years old, but it received a surge of downloads this month. Although the popular whodunit game from InnerSloth has been on the market for a while, its popularity surged amid lockdown, receiving 70% of its total downloads in September 2020! 

Clearly, Among Us is the most popular game during the pandemic, and fans have taken to the internet to show their love for the social deduction game. There are plenty of memes, pop-culture crossovers, and gameplay videos out there, but some fans created new game modes to play with friends. 

Game modes are great ways to switch it up, so Among Us doesn’t go stale. These game modes are unofficial, so hosts will have to officiate their games to ensure everyone is playing right. 

Classic

We’ll refer to the standard gameplay in Among Us as classic. Some of the game modes rely on these classic rules, so it’s good to have a foundational knowledge of the game before reading the article. 

In case you haven’t played Among Us, here are the rules for the standard game. There are two teams: crewmates & impostors. Crewmates run around completing tasks, and the impostor tries to kill all of them. The crewmates also have to discover who the impostor is and vote them out.

If the impostor is voted out or the crewmates complete all their tasks, the crewmates win the Among Us round. If the impostor kills all the crewmates or sabotages the map through certain time-specific repairs, the impostor wins. 

Hide and seek

Hide and seek is a great mode, but it has the most changes from the classic rules. Here, the impostor must sabotage comms and announce themselves as soon as the round starts. Then the impostor must give the crewmates at least five seconds to run away. Players are allowed to talk to each other during the game. 

There are a few restrictions. Crewmates can’t report dead bodies, fix comms, or call emergency meetings. Impostors can’t perform any other sabotages after they sabotage comms. The host will have to make sure these are the settings for the game: one impostor, .25x crewmate & impostor vision, ten-second kill cooldown, short kill distance, and zero tasks. 

Small talk mode

Small talk mode is the most interesting game mode. In small talk, Among Us players are only allowed to say three words the whole game. The rules are set to classic, so there are no unique settings. 

Colorblind mode

The colorblind mode is the most difficult game mode on the list and presents a challenge for Among Us players. In colorblind mode, players aren’t allowed to use any descriptors to describe other players. Players can’t use names, colors, words like light & dark, etc. during the game. 

The gameplay is classic, so there are no other rules or unique settings. The colorblind mode also requires players to remove their costume items & pets and use different names & colors than the ones they usually use. 

No talking

If you’ve ever wanted peace & quiet during Among Us, then the no talking mode is for you. Everything is set to the classic, but you can’t talk or text during or after the game. Players can only let their votes speak for them. The no talking game mode will be a challenge for chattier groups and will test everyone’s detective skills in the process. 

Murder, She Wrote

The Murder, She Wrote game mode will bring some sanity & order to your Among Us game. In Murder, She Wrote only the person who reported the dead body can answer questions. Players can ask as many questions as they like, but, again, only the person who reported the dead body can respond. If purple reported the dead body, but you want to know where green was, only purple can answer. 

In terms of actual gameplay, it’s pretty much the same, but there are some specific settings for Murder, She Wrote. The host will need to change the settings to one impostor, 1x crewmate & impostor vision, thirty-second kill cooldown, short kill distance, two common tasks, three long tasks, and five short tasks. 

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Innersloth was working on a sequel to Among Us just before the original game took off last month. They’re working on several different items from the sequel game and moving them into the original game. Maybe one of these game modes will make it into Among Us. Which game mode is your favorite? Let us know!