What is Among Us?

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Among Us is a game where you play as a space station crew, fixing the ship and trying to survive. However, similar to the card game "Mafia" and others, one person on the crew is the "imposter." The imposter attempts to kill all the other crew members. Throughout the game, players cast votes on who they think the imposter is.

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If the imposter is successfully found or if the ship is repaired in time, the crew members win! Otherwise, the imposter wins.

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It's a game of communication, suspense, deciet, and betrayal! It's lots of fun, has minimal violence, and some serious risks.

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Among Us grew popularity in the summer of 2020 due to COVID and mainstream content creators making videos about it. In September 2020, it received 100 million downloads as well as gaining nearly 400 thousand concurrent players on Steam.

They are owned and operated by InnerSloth.

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How Does Among Us Work?

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Players join a game online with 4-15 other players. These can be friends, or strangers, or a mix of both. This game is multiplayer only.

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There are 3 different options for playing the game: (1) being the host device for other local network players, (2) playing online with others, or (3) using a private invite code from to join them.

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Once the game starts, someone will be chosen at random to be the imposter. Then the deception begins! The crew members take off to do tasks that help fix spaceship, while the imposter tries to sabotage and kill off all the crew members.

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Voting happens every few minutes, and players communicate with each other through in-game text and in-game voice chat.

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Once a majority vote is reached, then the chosen crew member is sent off into space! If that player was the imposter, the game ends. If they were a crew member, the game keeps going! 

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What Do Parents Need to Know About Among Us?

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The game is fun. We’ve had many parents delighted that the game isn’t totally inappropriate and their kids enjoy playing it with them. But, there are risks.

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Among Us collects data (driven by Google) in order to serve up ads when you’re on the free version. Here’s the disclaimer you see when setting up the app. Here is their Privacy Policy.

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The free version of the game has ads for 13+ games (remember, Among Us is rated 9+) that are inappropriate for young people. Below are some of the sexualized ads that appeared while Chris from PYE was playing the game with his 15-year-old daughter. Which means it’s almost always a good idea to pay the $1.99 ad-free version of the game:

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The paid version does not have any ads. So, the $2 upgrade is often worth it if you allow your child to play.

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How to Make Among Us Safer:

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Regardless of the app, three actions mitigate the risks we’ve shared. We teach these actions in our parent presentations:

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1. Require approval for all app downloads.
2. Follow the 7-Day Rule
3. Enable in-app controls and settings

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We explain each of them briefly below. If you’ve already set up approvals for downloads and have used the app, please skip to the In-App Controls & Settings.

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Require Approval for App Downloads

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You can control app stores by requiring permission for apps to be downloaded. This is ensures your child doesn’t have access to an app without your knowledge. Here are the steps (for Apple and Android users):

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For Apple Devices:

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To require permission to download an app, you’ll need to set up Screen Time and Family Sharing (Apple’s Parental Controls). We explain this process step-by-step in our Complete iOS Guide (click here).  

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Once Screen Time and Family Sharing are established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Apple device:

1. Go to your Settings app.
2. Select your Family.
3. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
4. Scroll down to “Ask to Buy” and enable.

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For Android Devices:

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You’ll have to use Family Link (Android’s parental controls) to ensure you retain control over what apps are downloaded. We explain this process step-by-step in our Android Guide (click here).

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Once Family Link is established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Android device:

1. Go to the Family Link App
2. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
3. Select “Google Play Store”
4. Select “Purchases & download approval” and set it to “All Content.”

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Follow the 7-Day Rule

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This is our tried-and-true method of determining whether a specific app is safe for your specific child.

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Before you let your child use it, download the app and use it for 7 days.

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Create an account with your child’s age and gender and use it for 7 days. Play through a few levels, review the ads, see if anyone can chat with you, and poke around like a curious child.

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After a week, ask yourself, “Do I want my child to experience what I did?”  Even if you decide to allow them to download the app, now you have a basis for curious conversations about the app when you check in.

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Enable In-App Controls & Settings

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There is a way to require email verification to enable the in-game chat features.

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Here's a step-by-step link explaining how this works: Verify My Child's Among Us Account

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Bottom Line: Is Among Us Safe for Kids?

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We aren't thrilled about the in-game chat. The chat feature is often used by predators and others to talk to kids and in many cases, get them to another app like, Snapchat, where things can get very risky.

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But if you follow the instructions above before letting your child play, and decide it's okay for them, it can be okay. Removing the chat feature with link provided above is a must for Among Us!

What if I have more questions? How can I stay up to date?

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Two actions you can take!

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1. Subscribe to our tech trends newsletter, the PYE Download. About every 3 weeks, we’ll share what’s new, what the PYE team is up to, and a message from Chris.
2. Ask your questions in our private parent community called The Table! It’s not another Facebook group. No ads, no algorithms, no asterisks. Just honest, critical conversations and deep learning! For parents who want to “go slow” together. Become a member today!

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