Unikum november 2020

KULTUR
GAMES TO COMBAT
THE CRIPPLING
OF COVID-19 TIMES
Tobias Klausen
Skribent
We aren’t all inherently gamers. If I were to think of the
image of a gamer, I would imagine a basement-dwelling
goblin who consumes nothing but fast food and energy
drinks. How times have changed, as video games are
no longer an exclusive territory occupied by the schoolbook
definition of “nerds”. No, gaming has grown and so
has the genres and games which are on the market. You
don’t need to know the lingo, the history, the community,
all you need is time and engagement, and since Covid-19
hit us, time is something we all have way too much of. So,
I’m going to give you my personal recommendations for
video games that might pique an interest for you in these
times, whether you’re a complete newbie or a veteran.
And since gaming is no longer a solemn activity, I’ll be
giving both single and multiplayer recommendations.
Multiplayer:
AMONG US:
If you’ve been around the gaming community, this game
certainly has popped up, as it’s probably the game most
streamers love lollygagging about right now. Among Us
is a multiplayer game where up to 10 people can play,
either with friends or with random people. The core gameplay
is all about lies, deceit and detective work. Players
are put onboard a spaceship, where they can either
be a Crewmate or an Imposter. The Crewmates’ job is
trying to do tasks on the spaceship and figure out who
the Imposter is, and the Imposters’ job is trying to kill
the Crewmates without being found out. The gameplay is
split between Exploration and Discussion phases. In Exploration
you run around and do tasks or try to commit
murder, depending on which role you got. During this
phase players are prohibited from speaking to one another,
so you do not know what people are doing unless
you physically see them in game. When a body is discovered,
the players enter the Discussion phase, where you
may discuss who found the body, in what location, and
try to establish everyone’s alibies. This is the most thrilling
segment, as for Crewmates, you’re trying to find the
holes in everyone’s testimony or alibies, while the Imposters
are trying to lie their way to innocence. During
the Discussion phase, everyone can vote for who they
would like to kick off the ship, and the person with the
most votes is gone. If the Crewmates kick off all the Imposters,
they win, but if the Imposters can kill everyone,
they win.
I’ve recently started playing more and more of this game
with a group of nine friends so we’re always a full lobby,
and it is an absolute blast! We’re laughing, we’re howling
and we’re yelling at each other. It has been some of
the most fun I ever had accusing my friends of betrayal
and deceiving them myself (sometimes failing miserably
I might add). I haven’t tried online with random people,
but the option is there, and who knows, you might even
make some new friends. And it will definitely make you
forget all about the time, as matches don’t take too long,
and as soon as one is over, you can boot up another, either
hoping you’ll be an Imposter or a Crewmate.
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Foto: JulioRicco// Stock.Adobe.com