Multiplayer Games | ESRB Ratings

What Parents Need to Know About Among Us

Max Jay, Assistant Director, Communications — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 13:10:55 +0000

Updated August 14, 2024 – What do you get when you cross Loony Tunes, Clue, and John Carpenter’s The Thing? Answer: Among Us. With more than 500 million lifetime downloads across all platforms, there’s a good chance your kids have already been hiding in plain site in Among Us. But is it appropriate for your kids? Read on to find out!

Is Among Us Appropriate for Your Kids?

Among Us is rated E10+ for Everyone 10+, with Content Descriptors that include Fantasy Violence and Mild Blood. It also has Interactive Elements that include “Users Interact,” meaning players are able to chat with one another, and “In-Game Purchases,” which lets parents know the game offers the ability to make additional purchases using real-world currency.

ESRB’s Rating Summary provides more detail, stating that “players can attack other characters by using various weapons (e.g., knives, pistols, spikes); brief animations depict characters eliminating each other (e.g., getting impaled, stabbed, shot), leaving behind a cartoony corpse for others to discover.”

While the action is very cartoony and lighthearted, some parents may want to look up gameplay videos to make sure it’s appropriate for their kids.

Where Can I Play Among Us and How Much Does it Cost?

Among Us is available to download on just about every platform you can think of with varying prices, including:

Windows PC – $4.99
PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 – $4.99
Nintendo Switch – $5.00
Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S – $4.99
Android – Free-to-play
iOS – Free-to-play

There are also several physical (e.g., boxed) versions of Among Us available to purchase at your retailer of choice, such as Among Us – Crewmate Edition or Among Us – Ejected Edition. These versions typically include in-game and (sometimes) physical extras in addition to the game disk. As such, price varies, starting at $29.99 for the Crewmate Edition, $49.99 for the Imposter Edition, and $89.99 for the Ejected Edition.

As mentioned, all versions include the ability to purchase in-game currency using real-world money, which can in turn be used to exchange for bundles of in-game cosmetics. The in-game currency, known as Stars, can be purchased for:

20 Stars – $1.99
30 Stars – $2.99
40 Stars – $4.99
110 Stars – $9.99
300 Stars – $24.99

As mentioned, these can be used to exchange for bundles of cosmetic items, which are strictly visual, and only customize the appearance of your Crewmate. These include accessories like hats, clothing (called “skins”), pets, visors, and more.

Alternatively, Crewmates can earn the Beans – the free in-game currency – through regular gameplay. Beans can be exchanged for individual cosmetic items as you play, meaning all purchases are strictly optional and do not impact the gameplay in any way. Note that you have to complete a match to earn Beans.

Both Beans and stars can also be used to exchange for “Cosmicubes.” According to Among Us developer, InnerSloth, Cosmicubes are “special items that have themed cosmetics you unlock via a branching path.” By activating a Cosmicube your player can earn a third kind of currency called pods, which can be used to unlock specific, themed cosmetics within that branching Cosmicube.

Make sure you visit ParentalTools.org for our step-by-step parental controls guides that can help you restrict (or block!) spending on your kids’ game devices.

How Does Among Us Play?

Among Us is an online, multiplayer whodunnit game that casts the players in one of two roles: The Crewmates (good guys!), or the Imposters (bad guys!). Crewmates are given specific jobs or tasks to complete, which change depending on the map. Meanwhile, Imposters are aliens that pose as Crewmates while sabotaging the environment and killing the real Crewmates.

For example, the original Among Us map took place on a spaceship in need of maintenance. Some Crewmates may be tasked with fixing wires, cleaning vents, clearing asteroids, and more, all with the goal of keeping the ship running smoothly. Imposters can sabotage these jobs and/or kill Crewmates to slow down the process.

Should the body of a Crewmate be found (which it will!), players can report it to start an emergency meeting. This meeting brings all players together to go over evidence, discuss who may be the culprit, and vote to eject someone.

The game ends when either all of the Imposters are ejected or there are as many Imposters as there are real Crewmates.

There’s a surprising amount of depth to Among Us, especially when you take into account the ever-growing number of maps, tasks, and roles (which dictate the tasks your Crewmate is best suited to tackle).

Managing Online Gameplay

A big part of Among Us is the social component of discussing a murder and scrutinizing evidence with your fellow Crewmates. Fortunately, between platform level controls, and in-game filters, there’s a lot you can do to keep things appropriate for your kids.

From the jump, make sure you set up a child account for your kids – especially if they’re under the age of 13. In fact, with all online services, it’s essential that your kids know to enter their correct birthday when creating an account. Children under the age of 13 are afforded numerous protections under the law regarding information that can be collected from them. During the signup process the game will prompt your kids to enter your email address, which will give you the opportunity to provide permission to set up a child account.

Once your kids’ account is set up, they will automatically be set to “Quick-Chat Mode”, which enables a set of canned phrases to communicate with other Crewmates. Furthermore, they cannot communicate directly with other users at all. As the parent, you are free to provide permission to allow your children to communicate directly through the game’s parent portal.

Beyond this, virtually every device offers additional parental controls to help manage or block online communication between players.

Being an Involved Crewmate

Most parents want to be the Crewmate that creates appropriate video game experiences for their kids, and the best way to do that is to stay as involved as you can. This can be as simple as encouraging an ongoing, judgement-free conversation with your kids about what they’re playing, why they like it, and more.

Depending upon the device, parental controls can help parents manage what their kids play, for how long, with whom, and whether (and how much) they can spend money on in-game purchases. ESRB offers free, step-by-step parental controls guides for many platforms as well as a Family Gaming Guide at ParentalTools.org.

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