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Big Kids in Tough Times
A generation of adult gamers trying to make the most of a struggling world
I recently played Among Us with my cousins. It’s one of two games this year — along with Biden HQ in Animal Crossing — that was popular and casual enough to be used as a political platform in the contentious US election. AOC did a livestream on Twitch and hit over 400,000 viewers. The game involves trying to complete tasks on a ship with your crewmates while trying to figure out who’s the alien imposter trying to kill everyone. This, oddly enough, also mirrors the 2020 US election.
It was fun to see my sweet, innocent cousins try to lie while getting away with sabotage and murder. I was definitely the worst player of the bunch. I had no idea what I was doing, so I tried to focus on doing my tasks but would always be the first to get killed. Whenever I was randomly assigned the Imposter, that was even worse. I’m a terrible liar and couldn’t get away with murder no matter how hard I tried.
My cousins are part of the younger generation of kids on my mom’s side. They’re anywhere from grade 8 teens, to university students, and early graduates. I’m 35 going on 36. I’m the middle child in my own family, and part of the older generation of cousins, but I still love to play games whenever I can. One of my cousins actually gave me her…
