SU students connect through popular video game Among Us
Courtesy of Sarah Goldman
(From left) Eliot Fish, Mackenzie Sammeth, Sarah Goldberg, Jeanette Orlando and Thomas Kitchell are all members of Live from Studio B, a late night comedy show on Orange Television Network. The organization has a Slack group chat titled “Game Night,” where members coordinate frequent gaming sessions, which includes Among Us.
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Syracuse University sophomore Joe Hackett sees the hit video game Among Us as a social hobby. He started playing the game about a month and a half ago after watching players’ Twitch and YouTube streams.
Since then, Hackett has attended Among Us events hosted by the Office of Student Living and the Residence Hall Association. He finds event information through emails to South Campus residents.
The multiplatform game has become a popular social activity this semester. Among Us was initially released in 2018, but it gained more recognition in the past few months as streamers made it popular during COVID-19 lockdowns.
The online multiplayer video game has allowed SU students to meet up online and play against each other. The game revolves around crewmates, who complete tasks and vote out the “impostor,” who goes around killing other people in the game. Players have to lie, trick others and strategize.
The Barnes Center at The Arch also hosts events for the game such as “Residence Hall Rumble: Among Us” events, including one on Nov. 10 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Office of Multicultural Affairs also hosted a virtual “Game Night: Halloween Havoc Among Us” event last week.
“It’s fun to accuse people in a very low-stakes environment. I mean in a regular environment you obviously don’t go around accusing your friends of heinous deeds,” Hackett said. “The ability to do that in a safe virtual environment is entertaining to some people.”
The Barnes Center at The Arch hosts events for Among Us such as “Residence Hall Rumble: Among Us” events, including one on Nov. 10 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Lucy Messineo-Witt | Staff Photographer
It’s difficult to meet up as a group while living on South Campus. But Hackett plays the game with about eight to 10 people, at times playing for hours without even realizing it.
SU senior Erin Kennedy, who isn’t into video games, found Among Us to be fun because of the social aspect of the game.
“I just really like how it brings my friends together,” Kennedy said. “It’s really fun to sit in a room with your friends and try to see who is reacting to what. It’s the whole mystery aspect of it.”
SU sophomore Russell Tom Sun and senior Sarah Goldberg play Among Us in regular competitions hosted by their organization Live from Studio B, a late-night comedy show on Orange Television Network. The club introduced Among Us to its members in late August and now consistently holds game nights.
Tom Sun and Goldberg gather with other Studio B members several nights a week to play over Zoom. The group has a “Game Night” Slack channel where members coordinate frequent gaming sessions. Studio B members play randomly throughout the week starting from 11 p.m. and going to as late as 4 a.m.
“We play whenever we’re in the mood,” Goldberg said. “There’s always people in the mood.”
Studio B makes the game a competition and plays a unique style of the game, which Goldberg called “like hide-and-seek mode.” Despite the club members normally yelling at each other over Among Us, “everything stays in the game,” Goldberg said.
The biggest appeal for Among Us is that it is a “colorful, lighthearted game” to play with friends virtually, Tom Sun said. He plays the game up to 12 hours a week and believes that being the impostor is the most fun part of the game since “you get to murder your friends on a game,” plus it adds creative levels.
It’s really fun to sit in a room with your friends and try to see who is reacting to what. It’s the whole mystery aspect of it.Erin Kennedy, Syracuse University senior.
Among Us helps Tom Sun stay in contact with his friends from school while he is studying remotely in California. It gives him comfort and something to look forward to, as he formed stronger relationships with the other members of the organization by playing the game with them.
“It’s always nice gathering a ton of your friends and having a night where you can just play games and chill, accuse each other, yell at each other, but also laugh at the end of the day,” Tom Sun said. “Even though it’s just a game, it’s hilarious and a fun time.”
Published on November 4, 2020 at 11:53 pm
