Among Us

Genre: Party Game

Players: 4-10 Team Competitive (8-10 Recommended) (Local Wireless, Online)

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Review:

Among Us is a Party Game with social engineering and stealth elements that first released on PC and mobile devices in 2018, but absolutely surged in popularity in 2020, with the Nintendo Switch getting a port of that game late in 2020. For those who aren’t aware, the premise of this game is similar to classic social games Werewolf and Mafia – there is an impostor among the players (or depending on the settings, two or three), and the other players must either manage to complete a series of tasks or deduce the identities of the impostors before those impostors murder the rest of the crew.

Given that this is one of the most popular games of 2020, I’ll cut straight to some of the questions you may have regarding this version of the game – firstly, yes, this game has full support for cross-platform play and it works mostly without a hitch (mostly… but I’ll get to that later). Secondly, no, there’s no voice chat, not even using the Nintendo Switch Online app – just as with the other versions of the game, if you want voice chat you’ll have to supplement this game with a secondary app like Discord. Thirdly, why should you spend $5 on this game if you can get it free on your smartphone? You know, this one I’ll take a few paragraphs to go into.

All I should have to say is that “free with ads” isn’t really free at all. Or I could say “being able to play it both on TV or in handheld seems like it’s worth a measly $5 to me”. But here’s the thing – I’ve played each version of Among Us (I’ve been loving this game on PC for months), and while I was initially skeptical of how the game would run on the Nintendo Switch, after spending some time with it, I actually think the Nintendo Switch version is my favorite. I swear, I did not think that was going to be the case, and as much as I love the Nintendo Switch, I will absolutely call out a game when it is an inferior version… but for the most part Among Us on Switch is an amazing port.

Players using Joy-Cons or a Pro Controller will find the various tasks to have new controls that are varied enough to require some adjustment – some make use of the control sticks, some make use of buttons, and a few even use the motion-sensing capabilities of your controller. Largely, these controls all make sense, and I would say that roughly half the tasks are actually easier to perform with a gamepad, while half are maybe slightly more difficult, but none especially so. I should mention that playing the game in handheld mode also gives players the option to use the touchscreen instead, where these tasks tend to perform much like their mobile counterparts – however, if you have the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode, you can swap back and forth as you please, and the only limitation is that you cannot use the touchscreen for movement like the mobile version requires.

Speaking of movement, the big difference here in both docked and handheld mode is simple movement and common commands. Having the precision movement of a gamepad is absolutely wonderful, and having every command tied to a gamepad button makes it a lot easier to juggle multiple things at once, like moving and bringing up the map to call for a sabotage elsewhere. While so much of playing Among Us well comes down to having proper strategy and being convincing in an argument, I found the overall mechanics of playing this game to be easier on Switch than on other platforms.

With the mechanics largely feeling natural on the Nintendo Switch, what you’re mostly left with is the excellent core gameplay, which plays out like a delightful game of cat and mouse where wits and logic are the most important tools for both sides to win. Suffice it to say, this game is hugely popular right now for a reason – this is a fantastic Party game that is an absolute must-play… under the right conditions.

Ah, yeah, that’s the downside, not just to this version, but every version of Among Us. Firstly, not only is this a game that can only be played in multiplayer, but it’s a game that requires at least four players to play at all (and ideally you’ll want to have 8-10 players). Because of how the game works, there is of course no couch multiplayer either, though this version does support local wireless multiplayer if you can get 4-10 people in a room who each have their own Nintendo Switch and a copy of the game. Also, while you can choose to play with random players online, this is a game that really only shines when it’s played by a group of gamers in a private lobby who already know one another. Finally, while you can always type out your arguments using the Nintendo Switch’s usual keyboard function (either with a controller, touchscreen, or using a USB keyboard hooked up to your Nintendo Switch dock), this is a game that absolutely benefits from voice chat, meaning that suggestion of using Discord above isn’t even a suggestion so much as a strong recommendation if you want to enjoy this game at its best.

I know that is a lot of caveats to make this game enjoyable, but for the most part this is true of all other versions of the game too. Let me say that it is absolutely worth it to go to the trouble of setting up everything to play this game as it’s really intended to be played, as the result is an absolutely amazing experience that makes for an outstanding online party game that will have you and your friends tossing accusations back and forth and laughing after the fact when you realize who was really the impostor… or laughing just as hard at how ingeniously or terribly that impostor went about their machinations.

In terms of the presentation here, much as with the other versions of the game, Among Us features mostly simple, colorful, whimsical 2D hand-drawn art depicting its characters and locations. While absolutely not impressive on a technical level, this artwork is nevertheless so expressive that it has been endlessly meme-ified across the internet this year. These visuals are paired with some simple but memorable sounds, and rather than music, most of the game features atmospheric noises to add to the feeling of paranoia the game is aiming for, with only the menu screens, acts of murder, and meetings receiving a simple fanfare. Again, nothing impressive, yet all work well for the game to create something truly iconic.

On the Nintendo Switch, these visuals seem a bit cleaner, and mostly have nicer framerates than I’ve experienced on other versions, though I’ve seen these framerates drop somewhat during busy moments. It’s nothing game-breaking, but it’s noticeable nonetheless. Really, there’s only two significant flaws that seem exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version of the game – currently, the Nintendo Switch version of the game is lacking some of the content (skins) of the other versions of the game – namely, as of this writing, there are no outfits or pets, only hats. Also, some of the skins exclusive to each version of the game do not display properly in cross-play games. However, these are overall pretty minor complaints, and ones that may very well be addressed in a patch.

All things considered, the Nintendo Switch version of Among Us is my favorite version of one of my favorite games of 2020 (yeah, it originally came out in 2018, but let’s not quibble over that detail). The controls translate surprisingly well to Nintendo Switch and are in my opinion even an improvement, and for the most part the only flaws this game has are the ones other versions of the game have too – namely that you really need a private lobby with 8-10 friends using Discord to play it at its best. However, if you can manage to get together a good group to play the game (using any platform that plays the game, thanks to cross-platform compatibility), this is an absolutely must-play Party game and the Nintendo Switch is a superb way to play it, and for a mere $5 I’d say this is a game you should absolutely consider getting on your Nintendo Switch.

tl;dr – Among Us is a Party game similar to classic social games like Werewolf and Mafia, where players try to figure out which of the others among them are murderous impostors before it’s too late. The port to Nintendo Switch is quite good, includes cross-play, and has controls I strongly prefer over other versions. The barrier for entry here is still a bit high thanks to the sort of conditions you need to get a proper game going, but the small $5 price tag and the massive amount of fun on offer here when this game really gets going make it more than worth the trouble to round up enough friends to play it properly. If you can manage to do that, this game is an absolute must-play.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Game of the Year, Best Strategy Game, Best Port/Remake, Best Multiplayer, Best Value, Funniest Game, The “Wow, this game was way better than I expected!” Award

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