What is Among Us, and how do you play?

 Among Us is an online multiplayer social deduction game from developer InnerSloth, similar to Mafia or Werewolf. You can play with four to 10 people -- either people you know, or online with strangers.

In the game, you play as a crew member aboard a spaceship, sky headquarters or planet base, attempting to keep your ship together and return back to Earth. But one crew member has been replaced by a parasitic shape-shifting alien who wants to eliminate the rest of the crew before the ship reaches home. Problem is, the imposter looks just like everyone else, and will sabotage the ship, sneak through vents, deceive fellow players and try to frame others, all in an attempt to remain undetected and kill off the rest of the crew. (If you have more players, you can choose to have more than one imposter, too. Here's a guide to be the best imposter you can be.)

Meanwhile, the non-alien crew members must perform tasks to fix up the ship, and can't talk unless a death is reported. Then, the surviving crew can openly debate through chat who they think the imposter is, and make their best guess for who to vote off the ship. If the imposter is voted off, the crew wins. But if the group accidentally votes off a crew member, everyone goes back to maintaining the ship until another body is found, and they vote again. 

How many people can play Among Us together? 

You can play Among Us with a party of four to 10 people. 

Where is the Among Us sequel? 

While the developer InnerSloth had planned Among Us 2, in September, the studio decided to cancel it and instead focus on expanding the content offered in Among Us. The developers said the decision was made due to the recent spike in popularity for the game, according to a blog post. 

"All of the content we had planned for Among Us 2 will instead go into Among Us 1," the post said. "This is probably the more difficult choice because it means going deep into the core code of the game and reworking several parts of it. We have lots of things planned and we're excited to bring new content to everyone as you continue to enjoy playing."

New content planned includes new servers, colorblind support, a friends/account system and a new stage, but there is no ETA for when these changes may arrive. 

For more gaming, check out all the best online games to play with your friends from home this fall, the 30 best iPad games, and every Apple Arcade game now available to pay on your Apple devices.