Tapping into technology, high school students have taken advantage of platforms such as Discord and Among Us to achieve social interaction from the comfort of their own home during COVID-19.
Despite being separated due to COVID-19, some students found ways to stay connected with their friends in a safe manner. One popular way of doing this was by playing the game Among Us.
According to gaming club advisor Daniel Deitsch, the game’s popularity is partially due to the approachableness.
“I’ve played lots of video games and I really think Among Us is a fantastic game,” Deitsch said, “It’s a surprisingly in depth yet simple game.”
The game, which can be downloaded onto mobile devices for free, follows four to ten crewmates, the players, on a spaceship. The crewmates each have different sets of tasks that they can complete to win.
Another way to win is by voting out the impostor(s). Within the group of players, there can be one to three impostors. The impostor’s job is to eliminate all the other players, which can be done by sabotaging different parts of the ship or killing the crewmates.
Any player can then report a dead body, which leads to a voting forum. Players discuss who is “sus”, a popular term used in the game meaning suspicious, and then each player can choose someone to vote out.
Whoever the majority voted for is eliminated. When a player is eliminated from the game, they appear as a ghost and can haunt the other players. Once all impostors are voted out, the crewmates win. If the crewmates fail to detect who the impostor is before everyone is eliminated, the impostor then wins.
According to junior Danny Mays, being an impostor is what made him continue to play the game.
“My first game I was an impostor, and I was hooked,” Mays said.
In addition to the killing feature, the impostor can also vent. Throughout the spaceship, there are rectangular vents that connect to other rooms. Impostors are the only players that can access these.
“I like sneaking around,” Mays said.
Other players also enjoy being the impostor, but in a different sense. Sophomore Nora Richardson prefers being a ghost impostor.
“I love being the ghost impostor and just sabotaging things for no reason,” Richardson said.
Players can choose a variety of different modes for the game, such as different playing maps, number of impostors or privacy settings. This allows them to interact with strangers by joining random games or to set up their own private game with a passcode to access it.
Another popular platform used during quarantine is Discord. Discord is an app where users can create group chats with others and communicate in voice channels.
According to Mays, playing games with strangers has its drawbacks.
“I’ve met so many fun people over games,” Mays said, “but the only difficult thing is that sometimes you lose contact because of different time zones or a lack of a buddy system.”
Discord allows people to stay in contact with others without revealing personal information such as phone numbers or emails.
This platform is currently being used by the gaming club to conduct virtual meetings.
“We are meeting via an officially approved discord,” Deitsch said, “which is carefully monitored and regulated with several rules.”
The club conducts these meetings on Wednesday afternoons.
According to Deitsch, staying connected is extremely important, and gaming offers a community that does so.
“Gaming has a lot of bonds it can form,” Deitsch said, “It can benefit people, especially in this time of isolation to league up, hang out, and get that social interaction that most people need in some way, shape, or form.”
Other ways people have stayed in contact was through streaming services, such as Twitch, or gaming devices, like the Xbox. Sophomore Braden Sigafoos utilized the latter to communicate with his friends.
“Me and my close friends all have Xboxes, so [Among Us] wasn’t the only way we stayed connected,” Sigafoos said.
And entertainment only continues to grow. In November, both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X will be released to retailers.
Video game entertainment has reached many different people. According to Richardson, students can be seen playing Among Us throughout the day. “I have seen a couple different people playing it at lunch,” Richardson said, “or in class, when there is extra time, some kids all start a game.”
In addition, many celebrities have joined the bandwagon. Some examples of popular figures who have played the game include New York’s 14th congressional district Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and YouTuber James Charles.