Ever since Among Us surged in popularity in the past couple of years, various game development studios have tried to capitalize on the trend of the social deduction gaming genre. Although there are a lot of such games that existed before ‘Among Us’, none of them broke through the mainstream media.
The reason why InnerSloth managed to do something that none other could is that they reimagined gameplay mechanics and objectives. It’s not only relatively simpler than alternatives like Town of Salem but also easy to understand yet hard to master, which makes it quite popular among content creators.
As the genre has only recently started gaining attention, most of the games that resemble Among Us in one way or two are mostly found on PC. You should be able to find the games in this list easily on Steam or any other social gaming platform.
It’s worth keeping in mind that while these games are quite like Among Us (based on the social deduction genre), each title is unique in its own way.
Also, they certainly aren’t clones or reproductions of the classic InnerSloth game, as some were developed even before Among Us existed.
That being said, let’s get started with the rundown:
Games Like Among Us For Outwitting Your Friends
Town of Salem
The Town of Salem is a game of lying, deception, mob hysteria, and murder. As a player, you are assessed on your ability to lie convincingly and identify when you’re being lied to. Each lobby can accommodate over seven to 15 players in one session.
There are five factions of roles in this game – Mafia, Serial Killers, Neutrals, Arsonists, and Townsmen. Each role has its unique responsibility in the game, such as town members need to track down the mafia and serial killer has to murder town members.
What’s even better – none of these factions know who’s who. It was developed by an Indie game development company known as Blank Media Games, and released on December 15, 2014. While it used to be free-to-play earlier, now you need to pay for it.
Throne of Lies
Throne of Lies is a 3D online multiplayer mischief and social deduction game that’s based on medieval polities and the popular game Mafia. The game features a unique day/night cycle that allows the players of various factions to perform their respective activities.
For instance, the Blue Dragon, a protagonist faction in the game can congregate around the table to accuse players and discuss findings during the day. The Cult or Unseen faction can occupy, conspire, or spy on their fellow players and even kill them at night.
The cults and Unseens, moreover, can also identify their allies, but the members of the Blue Dragon faction must be suspicious of every other person around them. You can even shift people towards your faction by convincing them to shift their allegiances anytime.
Project Winter
Project Winter is a game of betrayal where eight players come together to communicate and work as a team in order to survive. You need to gather essential resources, roam in the dense forests, and repair structures to ensure that you don’t starve.
However, amidst all this, you also need to beware of the traitors blended in within the group. These hideous factions work against the group to sabotage your chances of getting out of the place alive. Just like Among Us, there are only two factions in the entire game – the survivors and the traitors.
A survivor needs to accomplish certain objectives and call in for help from one of the many rescue vehicles. Once they successfully escape from the place, they’ll win the game. On the other hand, Traitors are required to prevent survivors from escaping without getting killed or identified in between.
Barotrauma
Barotrauma is based on a crisis setting where humanity ceases to find habitable places and relocates to Jupiter’s Moon. Known as Europa, the planet has a frozen surface and the environment is filled with hostile aliens. The only signs of life here are in the deep, dark oceans beneath the ice.
You can choose from one of the five roles available in the game – security officer, medic, mechanic, engineer, and submarine captain. You either help your teammates survive or make sure none of them goes out alive from there.
Each submarine can accommodate up to 16 players, and there’s even a single-player mode in case you want to hone your skills. The best thing about this game is that it can also integrate with mods and a steam workshop that allows you to unleash your creativity with mods.
Unfortunate Spacemen
Unfortunate Spacemen is a paranoia-inducing asymmetrical multiplayer game that’s all about trust and deception. You’re an employee of “The Company”, stuck in a failing outpost, waiting to be rescued by your teammates. However, you also need to facilitate the rescue by working with a fellow astronaut.
Together, you’ll have to complete specific objectives and get rescued successfully. But that’s not what this game is all about; there’s also a shape-shifting alien monster disguised as one of your fellow crewmates who seeks to skill everyone on the outpost.
If you play as the shape-shifting monster, you can disguise yourself as one of the humans and lay traps to confine and kill them. Sow discord, win their trust and then slay them when they suspect it the least, or just wreak havoc in your true monstrous form.
Wolford
Formerly known as Direwolf, the game Wolflord is currently under rebranding. In this game, each player is given a secret role that either allows them to eliminate other players through voting or kill the good players as a werewolf.
You never know who’s a bloodthirsty werewolf, a demon, or just a normal citizen. It all started with a terrible curse, where nights are long and evil creatures hoard the city. There are werewolves, skeletons, demons, ghouls, and whatnot – and all of them want to take out the flesh of the mortals.
The citizens need to band together in groups and find out the evil and put a stop to this cruelty. Lie, evaluation, deception, and careful speech, all are integral for survival, so make sure you watch your every step in this cursed city.
Deceit
Deceit is yet another game of trust and deception that takes place in an action-filled multiplayer FPS setting. When the game starts, the player wakes up in an unknown place, along with five other players. A mysterious voice notifies you that one-third of your group is infected with a deadly virus.
Laid out by the Game Master, the victim of the virus is programmed to take down other players. Therefore, you must stay alert as you trek through three unique zones and attempt to escape the menace through the safety hatch.
Currently, the game is celebrating its 5th Anniversary and is available completely free to play on Steam. It has great visuals and the situations in the game never fail to amaze. So, make sure you consider giving this game a try.
Mindnight
Mindnight is a conversation-based online multiplayer game that challenges your ability to lie and identify who else is lying. While the main idea is inspired by popular games like Mafia and Werewolf, it took a fresh take by introducing an interactive storyline and a plethora of features.
You can either play with your friends or start a quick round with random partners. The game features a turn-based approach that requires you to analyze your competitor’s moves and work on your strategies. Based on how you approach the game, you may even succeed in persuading others into your interest.
There are also a wide range of skins to choose from and the open chat system allows you to communicate with other players using gestures and emotions. You can start playing this game for absolutely free of cost on steam.
Space Station 13
Hop in on a space adventure where you’re a crew member of an international space station, owned by an organization for which you work. You’re responsible for certain humdrum tasks on the space station. However, it’s not as easy as it seems as there’s something hidden in the never-ending depths of space.
The game features a variety of roles including staff assistants, engineers, and captains. You can also play as one of the many antagonists in the game such as shape-shifting aliens, RPG-toting nuclear operatives, angry wizards, and a lot more.
There are numerous complex systems that you need to work your way through, such as researching mysterious alien artifacts, simulating medical practices, and a lot more. No two rounds can be ever the same in this game as the gameplay is 100% player-driven.
Trouble in Terrorist Town
Trouble in Terrorist Town is a multiplayer Gamemode set in a parody-based metaverse of Counter Strike, included with Garry’s Mod. It features a group of terrorists who have a traitor in the group looking forward to killing every other terrorist.
While the majority of the players are terrorists, only a handful of them is set as traitors. There are various special equipment and unique locations in the game that can be used by a traitor to accomplish his/her mission of killing every terrorist.
The terrorists just have to survive and find out who’s the traitor before being killed. However, things start to get really tense when everyone has lethal weaponry and you don’t know who you can trust. Make sure you own Counter Strike: Source and Garry’s Mod to be able to play this game.
Saboteur Online
Based on the classic board game, Saboteur Online is a browser-based version of the good old Saboteur board game. In this game, you are a dwarf whose heart keeps racing for shiny gold nuggets. Your quest is to collect as many of these as you can.
However, there are some traitors among you who keep putting obstacles in your path in order to prevent you from digging gold. Known as Saboteurs, these antagonists can use a variety of ways to hinder a gold digger’s work, and what’s even worse is that nobody knows who’s who.
As such, regardless of which faction you belong to, you have to work with the group to accomplish your objectives. If gold miners manage to get to the treasure successfully, they get rewarded with gold nuggets. However, if saboteurs succeed, they’re the ones to reap the rewards.
Krimi
Based on Tobey Ho’s Deception: Murder, Krimi is a web-based game of deduction and deception. As a player, you take the role of an investigator who is trying to solve a murder case along with other fellow investigators, and there’s something they know about the killer.
The killer exists among the investigators as a traitor. You, on either side of the faction, have to cut through the deception and accomplish your objectives. The best thing about this game is that it’s completely free to play.
The developer of this game mentions that he has always been a big fanatic of board games and is amazed by the influence of technology at the same time. With this game, he wanted people to make their devices on the board and play with anyone in the entire world.
Undercover
Undercover: The Forgetful Spy is a worldplay-based social deduction game that can accommodate over 20 players at once. The game is set on a tropical island where everyone has mysteriously forgotten about their identities overnight.
To recover their identity and identify who their enemies are, they must play a game of secret words where they give away a clue about their identity. Once the game begins, everyone is given a secret word and has to go through multiple rounds of giving and taking clues.
As eliminations take place, only one of the three factions – civilians, undercover, and Mr. White – can win. The role of civilians is to uncover their identity and identify undercovers and Mr. white, while undercover has to survive and uncover their identity, and Mr. White has to crack the secret word.
Hidden in Plain Sight
Hidden in Plain Sight is a marvelous local multiplayer stealth game that features five different game modes and two major roles to choose from. You can either play as a small figure disguised as one of the many NPCs in the room or be the guy who sniffs them out before the time or bullets run out.
The game resembles Spy Party in a lot of ways, and as a matter of fact, the developer of the game, Adam Spragg, himself admits that it is very much inspired by Spy Party in its early development stage. However, it has brought some major changes in the experience since then.
There are numerous game modes available, and one of our favorites is the Death Race. Its premises are quite simple – all the players as well as NPCs start from the left and have to make their way to the right. The first person who crosses the line wins, but is careful as being far from your pack makes your sus.
Secret Hitler
Secret Hitler is a social deduction game that can be played by over five to 10 people, who need to find and stop the evil ambitions of the notorious Secret Hitler. All the players are divided into two groups – the liberals and the fascists.
While the former are in majority, the latter is hidden from everyone else but each other. As liberals learn to trust each other, they can gather votes to influence the election and save the city from the secret Hitler. However, fascists keep devising new ways to get elected and advance their agenda to win.
The game is available absolutely free of cost under the Creative Commons License BY-NC-SA 4.0. There are certain rules that you need to follow while playing this game, and you can even print and play it as a board game through its official website.
Final Words
The reason why the social deduction genre of games has amassed such widespread popularity is that it works out your brain and allows you to devise strategies in order to win.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this list of games like Among Us, and will look forward to trying your favorites among them.
