Real-life Among Us Teamwork Game Rules

Published: 10/22/2020

The kids on the Lego team love to play “Among Us”, the multiplayer mobile game in which you perform tasks and determine who is your crewmate and who is an imposter. Chances are, your kids already play it!

So we developed a real-life game to play as a teamwork activity. Here are the rules.

Setup

• Just like the mobile game, you’ll have about 4-10 players. 1 to 3 of them will be imposters, and the rest are crewmates. We prefer 2 imposters when playing with 10 players.
• The players should be familiar with the space you’re playing in. If not, make maps. It can’t be one big room, because imposters need to be discreet. We are playing in our home (upstairs, downstairs, porch, etc.)
• Pick a graveyard for the ghosts to congregate, as well as a meeting spot for the emergency meetings and for crewmates to gather when they’ve completed their tasks.
• Prepare around 15 task sheets. See the “Creating Tasks Lists” section below.

Starting a Round

• Gather all players, and the coach hands them each a task sheet.
• Everyone puts their head down, and the coach taps the shoulders of the randomly selected imposters. Ask the imposters to raise their heads (so they can see who the other imposters are), then heads back down.
• Everyone gets up and starts their tasks.

Rules

• There is no talking or communication whatsoever, except during meetings. And even then, only people who are alive can talk.
• If you’re a crewmate:
  • Perform your tasks.
  • Don’t actually do the tasks. Just stand there for the required time, unless it says “VISIBLE.” Think about how the video game works. The other players can’t know whether you’re actually doing the task or just pretending.
  • If you find a body, report it. You can either yell or use technology (ping on Discord, use smart home devices, or FRS radios). You can also call an Emergency Meeting if you think you know who the imposter is before finding a body, but you must wait 30 seconds into gameplay to do so.
  • If you’re tapped on the shoulder, you’re “dead.” Lay down quietly and immediately. When the meeting is called, you’re a ghost from now on. Go sit in the graveyard and remain silent.
  • If you complete your tasks, head back to the meeting area and hold your hand up.
• If you’re an imposter:
  • Try it fit in. Pretend to do tasks, but you can’t fake “VISIBLE” tasks.
  • To “kill” crewmates, tap them on the shoulder. Then you must wait 30 seconds before “killing” again. Don’t let anyone see you do it!

Meetings

When an emergency meeting is called or a body is reported, everyone who is alive joins. Ghosts go to the graveyard. Players have 60 seconds to debate who is the imposter. When everyone is ready, or 60 seconds have elapsed, count “1, 2, 3” then point at who you’re voting for, or raise your hand if you’re “skipping.” If the majority point to one person, than person is ejected. In the case of a tie, or if the same or more people vote “skip”, then no one is ejected. The ejected person becomes a ghost, everyone resumes being silent, and play resumes.

Game Ending

The crew wins when all imposters are ejected or all crewmates have completed their tasks. Imposters win if they are no longer outnumbered. In other words, if there are two imposters, and you’re down to two crewmates, the imposters win.

Variations

• Adjust the number of tasks and the durations to balance based on your playing area. We found 10 tasks of 20 seconds each worked for us.
• Add “common tasks” – a task that each of the crewmates has to perform, but the imposters can’t know what it is. Add five common tasks to each list, then when you tap the imposters on the shoulder during heads down, tap the crewmates 1 through 5 times on the back to tell them which one. Alternately, you can whisper to each player their role and common task assignment.
• Allow the ghosts to wander during gameplay, but put their hands behind their head to indicate that they’re just observing.
• Allow imposters to shut doors, and disallow crewmates from opening them for a set time period.

Creating Tasks Lists

Think of about 20 tasks for your playing area. We used things like “wash your hands in the upstairs bathroom (20s)” and “Grill a steak on the deck (20s).” Randomize these tasks and put 10 on each sheet. Make 10-15 sheets.

You can try my Google Spreadsheet. Please make a copy of it (don’t request to edit my copy), modify the tasks, then print the “Player Card” sheet. Refresh (to randomize) and print again.

FLL Teamwork Activity

After playing the game, ask the team what strategies they developed, what worked, what didn’t work, etc. This game requires a lot of observation skills, and there are many opportunities for developing game strategies.