Near the end of the first six weeks of the school year, Northwood English teacher Rachel Donnald decided to give her students an extra credit opportunity in which they would participate in a game of “Among Us” via a Zoom meeting to practice their listening and speaking skills. Since then, the small gathering of English students has evolved into a gaming club.
“Among Us” is an online multiplayer game that was originally released in 2018 by game developer Innersloth. Its popularity has increased in recent weeks due to Twitch and YouTube creators who have started streaming their gameplay. Players are grouped together in a crew of 4-10 people. Up to three of the crewmembers are chosen to be Imposters intent on killing off the other crew members. The goal as a crew member is to identify the Imposter and vote them out of the crew, while the goal of the Imposter is to kill as many crew members as possible.
“My concern was honestly that not enough students would show up to play one game[…]” said Donnald, “But there ended up being so many students I had to put them into breakout rooms!” “Several students were really excited about it and asked if we could make it a regular thing.”
Students meet twice a week to join a Zoom call and play games with each other. So far, the group has only played Among Us, but are looking at the possibility of playing other online games such as Minecraft, Mario Kart, and Uno.
To join Zoom Gaming Club, fill out this Google form. The club meets on Tuesdays and Fridays from 11:30-12:30.
-Gianna Cacciato
Photograph by Gianna Cacciato
