Before there were Imposters and Crewmates, there were Traitors, Innocents, Murderers and other catchy labels for the general roles in this realm of social gaming. “Among Us,” however, refined and refreshed the formula in a simplistic, widely playable mobile, console and PC game.
Though it stands on the shoulders of early “Garry’s Mod” gamemodes and classic party games, “Among Us” certainly sees farther than its predecessors, evident in its ability to hammer home the final nail in the coffin of “Fortnite” with today’s youth.
The game’s task system with a wide array of catchy names — like “tree task” or “keys” — beautifully incorporates two crucial elements that can be tricky to organically provide to players. The first is establishing some driving force to stir up action other than the Imposter’s actions. Cranking out tasks is an ever-present goal that can equally progress Crewmates’ efforts to win the game or provide a window for an Imposter to isolate and kill one. It also lays out the means of having an alibi; others will naturally stumble upon you doing tasks in their ship walkabout and verify your activity come voting time.
Garry’s Mod: Trouble in Terrorist Town
In addition to the Traitor and Innocent, one or two players may be the Detective and have access to a kit of relevant tools, including DNA analysis and truth detecting equipment. This explicitly designated innocent role creates a dynamic unseen in “Among Us,” fostering team play and creating a unique kill target for the Traitor with a host of risks. This original Gmod variant drew huge YouTuber attention and took up space on every major gaming channel on the platform throughout the 2010s.
Project Winter
By far the newest on this list, “Project Winter” most closely resembles “Among Us” with a similar task system, though is more focused on resource acquisition and survival from the elements and wildlife as much as from a traitor. A group of survivors co-inhabits a log cabin, among them traitors that do not share their goals of escape. Its unique graphic style and highly explorable terrain alone make it worth the try with a clever group of friends.
Hidden in Plain Sight
“Hidden in Plain Sight” is better as a local party game since it requires observing players’ physical inputs for clues. This is one of few games where all players begin with an equal lack of knowledge about their own or other players’ positions on the screen. From an overview of a room full of various wacky characters of all shapes and sizes, players must find themselves and their friends for different purposes while staying disguised as AIs mindlessly wandering around.
The Ship
Spawned from the early 2000s fondness for Clue, “The Ship” flickered brightly and lost attention upon release without much revsed interest from its 2016 remastered edition. In this fleeting window of attention to the genre, the game actually has plenty to offer. It’s a lot more hands-on with its nefarious activity though, seeing every player arm themselves with assorted sporting gear and tools to defend themselves or attack others as “targets” that change every so often.