Among Us took the gaming world by storm in 2020. With millions of downloads and tons of hype, it wasn't long before everyone and everything was seen as "sus." The game even drew in politicians, with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez playing Among Us on Twitch with her fellow members of Congress. Among Us has inspired mods and fan art, and now it has invaded the world of Pokemon with an interesting ROM hack.
Despite the fact that Among Us was released way back in 2018, the COVID-19 pandemic created a situation where people could no longer spend time together, and in their search for something to do online with friends, Among Us popped on to their radar. The game, styled after games like Mafia and Werewolf, proved to be such a hit, it broke the 'Most Popular Game' record with half a billion (with a 'B') users calling emergency meetings during the month of November. The amount of fan-made content has understandably exploded as a result.
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"Amogus" is the name of the ROM hack that combines Among Us and Pokemon in a fully playable game that features color variants of the Among Us characters based on a supposed Pokemon type. Creator susieQ explains that "every pokemon is amogus. every pokemon's name is amogus. every sprite is amogus." Amogus, for the uninformed, refers to the wildly popular memeified version of the Among Us character sprite. The more simplified version of the already basic sprite can't hold a candle to Among Us snow sculptures, but amogus are riding a pretty huge wave of meme activity right now.
Despite the game playing an 8-second loop of the popular meme track "Among Drip," a number of fans have posted that they have finished the ROM hack already. All of the unusual bits of the meme and fan culture that have emerged out of Among Us is a likely reason why the game was one of the most searched Google terms of 2020. Not only has it drawn in all kinds of people looking to play a game online with friends, but the way it has caught on with internet culture has given it even more reach.
Among Us developer InnerSloth even recognized the ROM hack, tweeting a response through the official Among Us account. The developer has big plans for Among Us in 2021, including new maps, expanding to more platforms, and the possibility of collaborations. Not only is the game a huge hit in terms of sales, but the reach online, and strong fan community is keeping it rolling along.
Among Us is available now on Mobile, PC and Switch, with an Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S release planned for sometime in 2021.