Among Us IRL!!

*post includes affiliate links to help support this blog

Hey there, beautiful programming people!! This is a program that I have been wanting to do for a long time and FINALLY got around to doing it not once, but TWICE! I've fine tuned it enough to be comfortable sharing it with you all. This is a long post, but bear with me. I've tried to cram ALLLL of the details in so your program goes well, too!

*image from https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/among-us

Program Description

Among Us is a multiplayer online game where players work together on a spaceship to complete tasks while trying to identify imposters among the crew. The game is set in a sci-fi environment, and each player is randomly assigned the role of either a "crewmate" or an "imposter." Crewmates aim to complete tasks and keep the ship running, while imposters secretly sabotage the mission and eliminate crewmates without being caught. Crewmates must use communication and deduction to vote out suspected imposters, while impostors try to deceive the group and avoid detection.

To play in real life, the kids act as the Crewmate or Imposter and complete tasks throughout the library, while still avoiding their demise by getting caught by the Imposter.

Set-Up

Weeks in advance, you will determine what your tasks will be, how many players you will have (or limit it to), and order your necessary supplies (see Supply List). You will map out where each task will be so it can be referenced for set-up and when players are looking for their tasks to complete. You will also need to create your deck of Crewmate & imposter cards, task assignment cards, and task number cards (see Resources). At this time, you may also want to see how you can broadcast music from YouTube through your intercom system and program your sound button.

Prior to the arrival of the participants, you will need to set up various tasks throughout the library and display the corresponding task number cards nearby, set up your intercom to play the Among Us music, and program your sound button (see Resources). All of this can take quite a bit of work to set up, so having volunteers or additional staff is going to be a huge help if you can round them up.

As players arrive, you will have them gather in a room that you are designating as the “Meeting Room”. This is where the participants will come to vote on the imposter and the “Safe Space” where they can review the map, ask questions, and get assigned their tasks.

Once everyone has arrived, have them seated so you can go over the rules (see Resources). Once you have gone through them and answered any questions, you can distribute the disguises, name tags, and headlamps. Finally, holding the shuffled task and crewmate assignment decks upside down, have the participants draw one of each. It is IMPERATIVE that they keep these two cards secret! Game play is quiet.

Play

Each player will hold on to these two cards. Before heading out into the library, they can refer to the map you created earlier to help them locate their first task. They will line up, you will begin the Among Us soundtrack, and they can leave to locate and complete their task. When a task is completed the participant will come to the “Meeting Room” to turn in their task card and get a new one (they are constantly recycled to keep the game going).

*Staff must be available throughout play to re-set tasks as soon as they are complete so they can be recycled. We had 24 tasks and 7 staff/volunteers. One staff member must remain in the “Meeting Room,” and another should be available to handle the intercom system.

Task completion continues until someone calls a “Meeting” by pressing the button and sounding the alarm. Calling a meeting usually occurs when a ‘dead body’ is discovered, or someone suspects they know who the imposter is. Everyone drops what they are doing and runs to the “Meeting Room” immediately!

*Make sure your button is near the intercom so the person can also sound the alarm over the system so everyone can hear it!

In the “Meeting Room” players hash out and vote who they think the imposter is. This is also a good time to distribute drinks or snacks if you want to have those available. We provided each kid with a mini dry-erase board and marker. They will write who they think the imposter is and a staff member will tally up the votes. If the person with the most votes IS the imposter, the game is over and the Crewmates have WON! If the person with the highest vote is NOT the imposter, the person is out of the game, but the game continues.If there is a tie, it is a wash and no one is kicked out of the game. Players can pass on voting, meaning they do not have to vote, though this is considered a SUS (suspicious) move!

Play continues for 30 minutes (the background music will help you with timing), with meetings being called whenever needed. If at the end of 30 minutes the imposter has not been caught, the imposter wins the game!

Rules of Play

1. No talking or communicating. You want to blend in so you don’t get caught!

2. Complete your tasks without getting killed. Once your tasks is done, flip the task number card to show that is completed.

3. If you are the Imposter, you will kill someone by touching them in the back with two fingers. You can pretend to work on tasks so you blend in!

4. If you are killed, you will do so silently and fall to the ground to wait to be discovered. You will push the button on your headlamp to a flashing light.

5. If you discover a dead body, find and hit the Meeting button to let everyone know you’re calling a meeting.

6. Listen to the intercom so you know when to come for a meeting. Everyone must meet in the Meeting room.

7. Once everyone is in the meeting room, you will have a minute to think of who you think the imposter is. You will write their name on your dry erase board and turn it over. When one minute is up, you will turn your board around so we can tally the votes. If you are dead, you can not vote!

8. If the person voted out is not the imposter, they are kicked out and sit in the meeting room until the game is over. Anyone who was killed can return to the game as a ghost with a flashing headlamp. If the imposter is voted out, the game is over and we start over.

9. The game lasts 30 minutes long.

Tips

Tasks: Try them out! They shouldn’t be too difficult. The player has to be able to complete it without being held up in any given spot for more than a couple of minutes, and it will need to be easily and quickly reset when completed (See Resources for a list of ideas). Assign a staff member or volunteer to a set number of tasks, have them work in that area to be available to help when needed, and quickly reset the tasks as necessary.

Timing of program: We held our program after hours due to the amount of set-up involved. This allowed us to use the entire library to spread the tasks out. Our program was two hours long, and we played three rounds. An after-hours participation waiver example is available in the Resources at the end of the document.

Map: Having a map of the library readily available to pin the task locations, blow up, and use in the “Meeting Room” will be very helpful! If a map is not available or it is too difficult to recreate the layout, be sure to at least have a key that gives an idea of where to find each task. Kids may not be familiar with the library, and you don’t want them just wandering around looking for tasks (that’s not fun).

Communication: The first time we played this, we realized quickly how much the staff and volunteers needed a way to communicate since we were spread all over the library. The second time, we used walkie-talkies, which was very helpful (see Resources)!

Headlamps: We played the game in the dark to make it interesting, but it is optional. The library does have emergency lights that do not turn off, so there was some light, but the kids loved hunting through the library with headlamps. The headlamps shared in the Resources section do have a “flashing” mode, which we used to indicate if a player had been “killed,” which was very helpful!

Age ranges: We tested this program with our Teen Advisory Board (7th-12th grade), and they had a blast. It was a smaller group of 12, and they helped us to tweak a few things and suggested some changes; then, we ran it with 3rd-6th graders a second time. Both age groups loved it and begged for us to host it again. I wouldn’t recommend lower grades than that due to the dark library and possible frustration with tasks. They will BEG you to let them play, though.

Number of players: We capped our registration to the number of tasks we had, which was 24. It was a good number of kids to handle for a program of this nature. If you have more than that, I recommend another session on a different day or right after.

Have fun! This is definitely one of my top 5 programs that we hold after hours. If you have any questions about hosting this at your library, please do not hesitate to contact me! I’m happy to help; adeluna@whiting.lib.in.us

Supplies

Fun disguises - In the actual game, players can choose funny hats to stand out.

• Headlamps - Optional, but fun to play in the dark! We also utilized the flashing mode to help indicate if a player had been killed by the imposter.

• Name tags - Helpful if the players do not know each other. They will need to know names for voting.

• Dry-erase boards/markers - Optional. Paper and pencils work, too. We already had these on hand.

• Various items to create tasks - This can be anything you have on hand. See our list of tasks in the Resources.

• Hook-up to intercom - We connected a laptop to our intercom system with an auxiliary audio cable.

• Programmable button - To indicate that a meeting is being called. Optional but fun. A bell or something else can be used in its place.

• Task cards - You will make a card for each task. They should be numbered. See Resources for examples.

• Crewmate assignment cards - You will use the same number of cards as you have participants. We made two imposter cards and shuffled them into the deck as needed. See Resources for examples.

  
  

• Map - A layout of the library, indicating where the tasks are located, by number.

• Fun staff to help run the event and play - If you have a TAB group, this is a great project for them!

Resources

Editable Canva File: Consists of editable player assignments (Crewmate or Imposter), Task cards, and task tent cards. https://www.canva.com/design/DAGICPW1Rmc/GK-DDr22TZZApUKQejvS8g/view?utm_content=DAGICPW1Rmc&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink&mode=preview

Once printed, I recommend laminating them and cutting them out on the outline. The template shows all of our tasks, and the cards can be edited to suit your unique tasks! For the Task Number cards, these will be cut so that they can be folded in half. One side of the tent card will show the task number and the other will show Completed. Set these tent cards near the tasks so they can be identified by the players. When a player completes the task, they will turn the card to display Complete, which will signal to your staff that they can reset it for the next player.

Recommended Shopping List: Items we purchased and used from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/shop/whitingpubliclibrary/list/K1NMUT2UFIYP?linkCode=spc&tag=delunadesign-20&domainId=influencer&asc_contentid=amzn1.ideas.K1NMUT2UFIYP

Background music and timer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT7sN118NHo

Call a Meeting Soundbite: https://soundbuttonsworld.com/sound-button/among-us-emergency-meeting-1642465321284

PHEW I know that is a lot of information. Please leave comments if there is something you have questions about. I am happy to help!!

Be notified of my next blog post! Follow me on Facebook, and comment on the post to let me know what you think! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558999238748