Among Us is a rising indie hit on Steam and iOS that gives tasks to crewmates to repair their ship while an Impostor in their midst hunts them down. The crewmates can discuss among each other who they believe the Impostor is and vote to throw someone off the ship. Of course, the Impostor isn’t going to want to be thrown out, so they will need to do whatever is necessary to ensure no suspicion is thrown their way. Here are some tips to ensure you kill the crew before they have a chance to eject you into space.
Lie, but do not be too fast to accuse others
This should go without saying, but during discussions, try to pin the blame on other players if you are the Impostor. However, do not seem eager to accuse others. It could cost you your life.
A discussion will happen whenever someone reports a dead body or calls an emergency meeting. During this time, people can express what they have seen, what they were doing, and all that. If you are quick to point the finger at other people without proper proof, others could quickly see through your façade, leading them to vote you off.
Instead, listen to what others have to say first. If they are beginning to suspect someone else, consider siding with them to get that person voted off the ship. If you are playing with multiple Impostors, do not be afraid to join in on voting the other Impostor(s) off the ship. While they are on your team, putting your vote towards an Impostor can make yourself look innocent, leading to a more comfortable next round.
Be mindful of cameras
When running around the map, be sure to be mindful of cameras in the area. Some people prefer to sit in the security room and watch cameras, so if they are looking at the monitor, they can see you kill someone, jump into a vent, or enter a room with someone else and leave alone without you knowing they are watching. At this point, it is their word against yours, and you will have to work a good lie to point the blame at them as opposed to you.
An excellent method to use is to follow someone into a room, kill them, and use a vent to exit if you are worried someone is on the cameras (or walking down the hallway, for that matter).
Observe your surroundings before jumping in and out of vents
Speaking of the vents, they are a valuable tool for the Impostor to navigate the map quickly. However, crew members cannot use vents themselves, so if someone sees you enter or exit a vent, you are immediately found out. Only use vents if you know that you are entirely alone and no one is watching.
Vents can also be used to stake out a room so you can wait for a crew member to walk into danger unknowingly. If you sabotage the lights, the reactor, or oxygen, you can stay in the room for someone to enter to fix them and kill that person. However, there are likely to be more people on the way following them, so pick your battles carefully. The lobby is likely to have a significant cooldown on killing crew members, so if you kill one with another in the room, you can be stuck with no means of clearing out witnesses.
Use your Sabotages
Sabotages can be a valuable means to pick off crew members carefully and efficiently around the ship. Anytime you are not in a vent, you can click the Sabotage icon and see what is available for you. If an icon is grayed out, you cannot interact with that Sabotage at the moment. Clicking white icons can set the O2 or reactor to malfunction, which will end the game in 30 seconds if the crew members cannot fix it in time. You can also close doors to a room, trapping anyone inside, or you can shut off the lights so crew members cannot see anything in their direct vicinity.
We recommend using the Sabotages in different situations. Suppose you are on one side of the ship and want to get crew members to run to the other side away from a body, sabotage either the O2 or reactor. This will give them 30 seconds to fix the Sabotage, or you will win the game regardless. However, if the crew notices you are not running towards the malfunctioning hardware, they could begin to discuss voting you out. The door Sabotages are useful for keeping people in certain areas while also keeping others out. If you are going to close yourself into a room with another person, be sure no one sees you leave alone, as it will undoubtedly leave you open for accusations. Finally, the light Sabotage is arguably the most useful tool for Impostors. Limiting the crew’s eyesight will make pulling off assassinations that much easier.
Be sure to experiment with each Sabotage to see which ones you like to use best. It should also be noted that if you are playing a game with multiple Impostors, dead Impostors can trigger Sabotages to help their teammates.
Pretend to do tasks
If you are selected as an Impostor, the last thing you want to do is make yourself look suspicious by only following people around the map. You want to give the impression that you are not a threat, so be sure to learn the locations of tasks. You will not be able to interact with these areas, but standing in front of them for the duration it would typically take for a crew member to do the task can help sell that you are not a threat.
Pursue people split from the group
If everyone is traveling as a group, you will essentially have no chance to kill any crew members. Be sure to follow people going off on their own or use your Sabotages to isolate people. Creating distrust during discussion sessions is also an excellent way to make people avoid others. If they think a killer is a particular color, they are more likely to avoid them, leaving more opportunities for easy pickings.
