Among Us, developed and published by InnerSloth, has received multiple skin cosmetics, updates including new maps, and collaborations with other game developers as public figures and celebrities have brought attention to the game. Among Us has also become a hub for fans to come together and share artwork, animations, and mods with the game's sizable community.
Among Us may not be a game players inherently consider to be frightening from a visual standpoint. That being said, Among Us lends itself to traditional horror tropes due to the nature of its gameplay hook. Particularly, the game's structure is comparable to John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), where within a group's unassuming ranks coexists a threat that takes surviving members out one-by-one.
Recently, the game has been adapted into many fan designs with alternative perspectives, such as an eerie, polygonal take on Among Us as an original PlayStation game. One fan in particular named Zawrid on Reddit has taken it upon themselves to depict the Impostor with a combination of sci-fi body horror and portrait realism, and the result posted to r/AmongUs is a menacing figure.
The fan's Impostor reimagining transforms Among Us' simplistic, cartoonish art into an unnerving portrait of a disfigured, humanoid creature. The creation dials into the sub-textual survival horror elements apparent in Among Us, where individuals masked in identical spacesuits are tasked to trust one another and solve puzzles as one of the Crewmates is secretly tasked with discreetly murdering the other player-characters under intense scrutiny.
Players are now able to succinctly envision the tension that would arise within the game if such a gruesome figure was inconspicuously inhabiting the spacesuit. Bursting from the Imposter's chest and sleeve in the fan's illustration are what appear to be tendril appendages, while the lack of a helmet on the Imposter exposes a mouth with a series of razor-sharp teeth and skin that looks stretched across its face in a way that is reminiscent of Nemesis from the Resident Evil franchise. The Imposter is also illustrated without eyes to complete the unnerving design.
Having fans illustrate and produce content based upon Among Us demonstrates the enjoyment that enthusiastic fans get from the game, whether that appears in fan art or through prolific mods such as Among Us appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Among Us is available now on Mobile, PC, and Switch. PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S versions are in development.
