MDA: Among Us

Mechanics

describes the particular components of the game, at the level of data representation and algorithms.

Some mechanics of Among Us involve:

• Ability to move with a simple toggle (the emphasis is not on the moving action therefore it’s simple and effective).
• Ability to vote on a particular crew member.
• Ability to play mini games (these are the tasks). They are very simple and short, just require interacting with the screen and simple shapes.
• Ability to kill another crew member (only imposter gets this ability). It’s just a button the player clicks when they are close to another player.

Dynamics

describes the run-time behavior of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each others’ outputs over time.

The mechanics above creates the dynamics below:

• The use of emergency meetings or reporting dead bodies allows for the crew members to pause the game and discuss who they think the imposter is.
• The crew members walk around the spaceship completing their tasks keeping an eye out for suspicious activities.
• The imposter is allowed to maneuver the spaceship through vents to be undetected. They are also not given any tasks to work on, so they better have a cover up story.

Aesthetics

describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when she interacts with the game system.

Finally, we get to the aesthetics of the game. The strongest aesthetic that has been hinted through the dynamics is fellowship, but with a hit of discovery and narrative. What makes this game fun is the conversations, the dishonestly, and sometimes the honestly of the players. The social networks are a huge part of what brings me back to this game over and over again. The emergency meetings and voting sessions are what directly add to this type of fun. That’s were most of the emphasis of the game it at.

The hint of discovery comes from the crew members as they try to piece together the truths and the lies to uncover the imposter. After playing hours in discord, I’ve picked up the many techniques that crew members have to weed out the imposter such as knowing when they self-reported a dead body, having cover stories, or knowing which tasks were or weren’t given.

Lastly, the hint of narrative comes from the creative stories that the imposter must make up in order to win. Also, from the many games I’ve played, in order for the imposter to actually win they NEED a good story, they NEED to convince the others they aren’t the imposter, they NEED to be a damn good liar.