Although originally released back in 2018, Among Us had a slow burn to its explosion in popularity, with the game really grabbing attention a whole two years later in 2020. Since then, it has become a go-to social game for friends to enjoy together, which is easy to understand considering its humorous tone and addicting gameplay loop.
The 'guess who' setup of the game pits players against each other in a constant cat and mouse chase, resulting in a simple but effective mechanic. Among Us has found itself being ported across multiple platforms due to its popularity, and hopefully its influence spreads into other genres that would benefit from its ideas of investigation and mystery, namely that of horror based video games.
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Even though its cutesy visual style and lighthearted sense of joy may exhibit anything but, make no mistake, Among Us has all the ingredients to be a horror game in the making. With just a few little changes here and there to the design and graphics, this breakout indie title could be just as spooky as many of the contemporaries in the horror genre. Among Us heavily leans into the elements of uncertainty and the unknown, both of which are fundamental to how to scare anyone's socks off.
Essentially, it's not necessarily the spooky element itself that causes audiences to jump, be it a monster, ghost, or other freakish creature, but rather the anticipation that builds to the scare itself. That tension of not knowing what will happen (and more importantly when) escalates within the viewer, building anxiety up to a boiling point that is released from a sudden jolt of surprise. One of the most prominent examples is how the Alien franchise creates terror specifically by what is not shown, over what is visible on the screen.
There is naturally more to a scare than just that aforementioned build up, but it is one of the most crucial elements to success for this particular genre. Fans could look no further than the mistakes both the video game and film industry have made in past years for misunderstanding how horror works, thinking that just a relentless barrage of shock value moments can be as effective as creating a sense of unsettling atmosphere. The Resident Evil franchise was suffering an identity crisis prior to Resident Evil 7, opting for more relentless action over sheer dread and suspense.
The key is without a doubt in those calm, silent moments in between the bigger, more bombastic scares. A false sense of security or encouraged hope that success is near must always be given to the player, therefore making it that much easier to pull the rug out from under the player's feet. Look at the simple, yet extremely effective approach that Five Night's at Freddy's brings to horror. All the player really does in that series is observe a number of monitors...just waiting for something to go wrong. As small differences are noticed on the screens and more of the fiendish animatronics try to attack, the suspense builds and leaves the player completely on edge because it's unclear what will happen next.
The Among Us format would be a great blueprint to adopt for upcoming horror titles, primarily those with multiplayer in mind. The concept of finding the imposter player in a video game would work wonders in a Resident Evil multiplayer mode, as opposed to the more expected team death match/combat based scenarios. Or even better yet, a future video game adaptation of The Thing could make great use of the formula, with everyone trying to figure out who is infected while one player among them simply laughs, waits to strike, and tries very hard not to be 'sus'.
Among Us is available now on Mobile, PC, and Switch.