Among Us - A Parent's Guide - The Cyber Safety Tech Mum

Updated: 2nd April 2021

Among Us - A Parent's Guide

Among Us is a game that came along in 2018 but has recently gained massive popularity with the kids all around the world.

The idea of the game is to play with 4-10 players and determine who is the “imposter.” These games normally go for around 10 minutes.

The imposter is chosen randomly (there may be more than one) and its job is to kill off each of the players in the game. Players report ‘killings’ and then remaining players may chat to work together to decide who the imposter is. If a number of players agree on who the imposter might be, then they can eject that player from the game.

The game is in cartoon style so the killings are not gruesome looking.

Among Us - Age Rating

Although Apple Play Store rates the game for children who are 9 and up, the ratings from other sites suggest that children should be older.

Apple Play Store: 9+
Google Play Store: No age but specifies Parental Guidance
Commonsense Media: 10+
eSafety Commisioner: 18+

Settings in Among Us

Advertisements – when the app is first open you can choose to Remove Ads but that will cost you. Personalise Ads is automatically turned on. The adverts can be sent to chats.
You can HOST a game, Find a PUBLIC game to join or make a PRIVATE game (where you invite players)
Games can have 4-10 players in them
Once in the game press the gearwheel (top right) and make sure to that Censor Chat is ON.
In-App purchases starting at $1.49 to $4.69 per item.

Accounts Update

From the 1st April 2021, updates were made to accounts. If your child’s device does not automatically update apps then pop into the App Store or Google Play Store and manually update Among Us.

An account will be required to change your display name and you’ll need an account to access free chat

If you don’t have an account, you can still play as a ‘guest’ but your name will be randomly assigned and you will only be able to use quick chat (select phrases from a list).

Anyone under the age of 13 will be required to have parental consent to create an an account and access free chat. I’ll be interested to see exactly how they implement this one.

There will be an update to the reporting tool allowing you to report inappriorate names and chat, cheating, hacking, harassment or general misconduct. Reports will be read by a human and may result in temporary or permanent bans.

Can Among Us be played Safely?

Children playing Among Us may be exposed to innapropriate words used in Player Names and during chat to determine who the imposter is. When playing public games, children will have the ability to chat with strangers.

My recommendation is that you download the game yourself and play it over a number of days. If your child is closer to age 9 then I would also suggest parental guidance at all times so that you can see in real time any innapropriate language or ads. Turn on the Censor Chat option. This is most likely not 100% but better than not being on at all.

Playing a Private game is a better option for younger players where you can assist them in creating a game with players that they know in real life.

Due to the nature of the game where players work together to find out who the imposter is, there can be some ganging up to remove players just because players want them removed, not because they believe they are the imposter.

If you decide that you will allow your child to play Among Us, be sure to discuss keeping their details private during chats and bringing the game to you if someone they don’t know attempts to contact them and ask questions.