Here come the Among Us rip-offs

By Tyler Wilde
last updated

Killer Among Us 3D is one of a few games hoping to ride the success of Innersloth's hit.

A screenshot of Killer Among Us 3D.
(Image credit: DreamTeamGames)
Audio player loading…

This was inevitable. The concept of Among Us is simple, its color-coded space people are distinctive, and its crude artwork is easy to elaborate on. It's also massively popular. Of course it's being cloned.

A Chinese version called Werewolf Among Us is one of the country's top iOS downloads. A VRChat world maker created a 3D version of Among Us (opens in new tab)a few weeks ago. And tucked into Steam's upcoming releases is the game pictured above: Killer Among Us 3D (opens in new tab).

I really enjoy the flagrancy of Killer Among Us. Its title is adorably unsubtle: Not only does it directly include the phrase "Among Us," it fills in the original's implied word with "Killer," as if there were confusion as to who was "among us" in the original game. Endearing stuff.

Similarly, the Killer Among Us game description reads like someone copied the Wikipedia entry for Among Us and then did their best to swap key words with synonyms, as if trying to cheat on an essay assignment.

"You are on a spaceship and your ship modules are damaged," it reads. "You need to fix all faults. But there is ONE BUT, an alien creature 'Virus' got on the ship, which infuses people and controls their minds."

Killer Among Us 3D isn't the only rip-off on the way. Also coming soon to Steam is the more creatively-named Impostor Inside Us (opens in new tab), in which you either play as "Peopel" or "Murder." The death of a peopel (computer detected) is pictured below.

(Image credit: Genene Game)

Over in the more collaborative-minded space of itch.io (opens in new tab), where they aren't just trying to make a buck, Among Us is being complemented by mods and companion apps and weird little tributes such as Among Us: Shooter Game (opens in new tab), which promises "lots of bugs." 

One person also made a free "fan game" called Among Us But It's Single Player (opens in new tab), in which you play as an imposter killing AI crewmates—if you're seen, you're toast.

Surprisingly, I haven't seen anyone do a version called "Amongst Us" yet, but presumably someone, somewhere has a GameMaker project named that, and we'll see it soon enough.

Tyler Wilde
Tyler Wilde
Executive Editor

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the rise of personal computers, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on the early PCs his parents brought home. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, Bushido Blade (yeah, he had Bleem!), and all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now. In 2006, Tyler wrote his first professional review of a videogame: Super Dragon Ball Z for the PS2. He thought it was OK. In 2011, he joined PC Gamer, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.

See comments