Among Us has been the surprise hit online game of the pandemic.
Launched in 2018, the game that can be played on mobile or PC, has seen a sudden spike in interest over the past few months owing to the fact that you can play with friends or family while maintaining social distancing – all you need is a Wi-Fi or data connection.
The premise is simple. Games usually have 10 players, but it can be less, with each player a crew mate on the spaceship. However, two of the crew are imposters whose goal is to eliminate everyone else before they are discovered.
The crew win the game by finishing their tasks or figuring out who the imposters are and kicking them off the ship. While the imposters win if they kill everyone on board or get the crew to vote one another off the ship.
Since the game doesn't require much skill and can be played relatively fast – about 10-15 minutes, although it can vary – it can be addictive. And by September, Among Us had been downloaded over 100 million times, boasting 60 million active daily users.
Cheating in 'Among Us'
However, as word-of-mouth spreads and more players join, there's a big issue the game developers, InnerSloth, need to address: the cheating. As shown by Twitter user @Poco_BrawlStars, imposters are able to access a cheat hack to gain advantages such as being able to avoid a kill cooldown – a 10 to 60 second time slot when crew mates are safe from being eliminated.
However, it isn’t just a code that has damaged the gaming experience. Players have also been joining crews with friends and revealing to one another who the imposter is after they’re killed, making it a real buzzkill for anyone playing fair. As of now, there’s no way to report these actions within the game.
Last week, programmer, Forest Willard told Kotaku they were working on an account system, as well as both server and client-side hack prevention. Currently, you do not need an account to sign in and play.
“[We're] also getting help with making the servers better at detecting and blocking hacks, and investigating client-side hack prevention as well," wrote Willard. "I’m sort of scrambling to get all the right people in place, but I’m attacking it from multiple angles so it can get better in many ways hopefully all at once.”
What can be done to stop cheating in 'Among Us'?
Right now, not much. There's no way to directly report players who are cheating. But there are two options available: if you are the room host, you can ban the player from your game (but they’ll be free to play elsewhere), or if you suspect someone is cheating, you can choose to vote them out of the game. Unfortunately, there aren't any real consequences to either of those actions as they can just hop into another game. The moral victory, however, will be yours.
So while Among Us continues to enjoy its meteoric rise in the gaming world, hopefully it won't come at a cost to the integrity of the game. What was once a fun game to play among strangers has at times felt frustrating and upsetting because of how much cheating goes on.
If you're an imposter who is discovered in the first or second round because a player you killed told their friend, where's the fun in that? Or if you're an imposter who can kill crewmates by cheating, what's the point?
The only thing gamers can ask is that while InnerSloth works on ways to prevent cheating, players should simply not ruin everyone else's fun. Among Us is a game that felt needed during a time when staying socially distant became the new norm, and has brought many people a great deal of joy. So, how about just doing the right thing and playing by the rules?
The biog
DOB: 25/12/92
Marital status: Single
Education: Post-graduate diploma in UAE Diplomacy and External Affairs at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi
Hobbies: I love fencing, I used to fence at the MK Fencing Academy but I want to start again. I also love reading and writing
Lifelong goal: My dream is to be a state minister
Ferrari
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MATCH INFO
Day 1 at Mount Maunganui
England 241-4
Denly 74, Stokes 67 not out, De Grandhomme 2-28
New Zealand
Yet to bat
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
SPIDER-MAN%3A%20ACROSS%20THE%20SPIDER-VERSE
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The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.
Where to stay
The modern-art-filled Ambassador hotel (myconianambassador.gr) is 15 minutes outside Mykonos Town on a hillside 500 metres from the Platis Gialos Beach, with a bus into town every 30 minutes (a taxi costs €15 [Dh66]). The Nammos and Scorpios beach clubs are a 10- to 20-minute walk (or water-taxi ride) away. All 70 rooms have a large balcony, many with a Jacuzzi, and of the 15 suites, five have a plunge pool. There’s also a private eight-bedroom villa. Double rooms cost from €240 (Dh1,063) including breakfast, out of season, and from €595 (Dh2,636) in July/August.
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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The specs: 2018 Ford Mustang GT
Price, base / as tested: Dh204,750 / Dh241,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque: 569Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.3L / 100km
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Results
International 4, United States 1
Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods (US) beat Marc Leishman and Joaquin Niemann (International) 4 and 3.
Adam Hadwin and Sungjae Im (International) beat Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay (US) 2 up.
Adam Scott and Byeong Hun An (International) beat Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau (US) 2 and 1.
Hideki Matsuyama and C.T. Pan (International) beat Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed (US) 1 up.
Abraham Ancer and Louis Oosthuizen (International) beat Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland (US) 4 and 3.
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
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Arrogate's winning run
1. Maiden Special Weight, Santa Anita Park, June 5, 2016
2. Allowance Optional Claiming, Santa Anita Park, June 24, 2016
3. Allowance Optional Claiming, Del Mar, August 4, 2016
4. Travers Stakes, Saratoga, August 27, 2016
5. Breeders' Cup Classic, Santa Anita Park, November 5, 2016
6. Pegasus World Cup, Gulfstream Park, January 28, 2017
7. Dubai World Cup, Meydan Racecourse, March 25, 2017
MATCH INFO
Bangla Tigers 108-5 (10 ovs)
Ingram 37, Rossouw 26, Pretorius 2-10
Deccan Gladiators 109-4 (9.5 ovs)
Watson 41, Devcich 27, Wiese 2-15
Gladiators win by six wickets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
