There is an impostor among us

Among Us was made by InnerSloth, a tiny independent studio of just a few people in Washington State, and released in 2018 to almost no attention. Then, in the summer of 2020, streamers started playing it, and within weeks it was one of the most played games in the world. The idea is simple: a crew of little astronauts completes tasks on a spaceship, while one or two impostors among them sabotage the ship and pick them off one by one. Then everyone gathers to argue about who did it.

It became a phenomenon among children and adults alike, a game about friendship, suspicion and very bad lying. An Among Us rug brings those little astronauts into the room. Ours are printed into short velvet, so the crewmates' bright colors and simple shapes come out crisp and cheerful, and they go in the washing machine, which is useful in the kind of room where Among Us fans tend to live.

How a small game went global

Among Us's sudden success in 2020 came at a time when many friends and families were apart, and a game that could be played together on a phone, with a group call running alongside, filled a real need. Streamers and YouTubers made it famous, schoolchildren turned "sus" into everyday slang, and the little crewmates appeared on everything from cakes to Halloween costumes. Years later, the crewmate is still one of the most recognized shapes in gaming.

The crewmate

The Among Us crewmate is one of the most recognizable characters in modern gaming: a rounded, bean-shaped astronaut with a wide visor, a little backpack and stubby legs. It's so simple that children draw it everywhere. That simplicity makes it perfect for a rug. A single crewmate on a round rug, or a crewmate cut to its own outline through our shaped rugs, is cute, graphic and instantly understood by any fan.

Pick your color

Every player chooses a color, and kids are fiercely loyal to theirs. The original crew includes red, blue, green, pink, orange, yellow, black, white, purple, brown, cyan and lime, and later updates added maroon, rose, banana, gray, tan and coral. A rug in a child's favorite crewmate color is a personal touch, and a rainbow line-up of crewmates suits a shared bedroom where every sibling has a different favorite. Red, thanks to years of memes, is always a little suspicious.

The emergency button

When someone suspects an impostor, they slam the big red emergency button in the cafeteria and call a meeting. The button, a bright red dome on a grey pedestal, is one of the most iconic images in the game. On a round rug, it's simple, bold and funny, and it's a brilliant design for a playroom or game room. Children will want to stand on it and call a meeting, which is more or less the point.

The ejection

When a vote is cast, the chosen crewmate is ejected into space, drifting past the stars while the screen reveals whether they were the impostor. That scene, a tiny figure floating in a starry void, has become a meme of its own. An ejection design is a funny, beautiful space rug, mostly deep blue and black with a single small crewmate, and it suits a bedroom with a space theme. See our space rugs for more starry designs.

The maps

Among Us is played on a handful of maps, each with its own rooms, tasks and vents:

Map	Setting	Known for
The Skeld	A spaceship	The cafeteria, electrical, the reactor and the classic layout
MIRA HQ	A headquarters in the sky	The decontamination rooms and the greenhouse
Polus	A snowy planet base	Outdoor paths, labs and lava
The Airship	A huge airship	Ladders, platforms and a ballroom
The Fungle	A jungle island	Mushrooms, ziplines and a campfire

A top-down map of the Skeld makes a clever playroom rug, with rooms, corridors and vents children can walk their toys through, or play a real-life game of hide and seek around.

Vents, tasks and sabotage

The game's small details have become shorthand for its fans: the vents impostors use to escape, the task bar that fills as the crew works, the wires that need connecting, the asteroids to shoot, the card that has to be swiped at exactly the right speed. A design built from those icons, a vent, a task list, a swipe card, is a playful, inside-joke rug for older kids and adults who have played hundreds of rounds.

Being the impostor

Every round begins with a reveal: a blue screen that says you're a crewmate, or a red one that says you're the impostor. That red reveal, with its silhouette and a hint of menace, is a dramatic design for older fans, especially those who are suspiciously good at playing the villain. A split design, one half crewmate blue, one half impostor red, suits siblings who always end up on opposite sides.

Ghosts and the afterlife

In Among Us, being eliminated isn't the end. Ghost crewmates float through walls and keep finishing tasks to help their team win, while ghost impostors can still cause trouble. A design of translucent ghost crewmates drifting through the ship is a funny, gentle take on the game, and a nice choice around Halloween.

Thinking out loud

Social deduction games like Among Us ask players to remember who was where, explain their reasoning and listen to one another before they vote. Many families enjoy that part as much as the game itself. A rug that becomes the meeting spot for those debates, emergency button and all, is a fun way to bring the game's best moments off the screen.

Hats and pets

Crewmates can wear hats, everything from a top hat and a flower pot to a tiny egg, and bring along pets like a mini crewmate or a little robot. Fans love dressing up their crewmates. A crewmate with a favorite hat, or a crowd of crewmates in silly hats, is a fun, personal design that suits a child's room perfectly.

Kids' rooms

Among Us is especially popular with children, and a crewmate rug is one of the easiest ways to theme a bedroom or playroom. Pair it with space-themed bedding, glow-in-the-dark stars and a few crewmate plushies. On slippery floors, choose Standard, 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, so the rug stays put while kids run around. And because every rug goes in the washing machine, spilled juice and muddy socks are no problem.

Family game nights

Among Us is a social game, often played by whole families on phones, tablets and consoles in the same room, and it has inspired real-life versions played with cards and paper tasks. A rug in the family room, maybe the emergency button in the middle of the floor, makes a perfect gathering point for game night, and a funny conversation piece the rest of the time.

Party themes

Among Us birthday parties are a favorite for kids: crewmate cakes, colored visors, task-themed games and a big red button to call a meeting. A rug can carry the theme long after the party ends, becoming the centerpiece of the birthday child's room. Through our custom rugs, you can even add a name to a crewmate design.

Colors and rooms

Among Us designs are bright and simple, with lots of space black behind them. That makes them easy to balance: a bold crewmate rug looks best with plain walls and furniture, so the color pops. In a space-themed room, deep blue and black backgrounds with a single bright crewmate feel calm rather than busy.

Sizes and levels

A single crewmate or emergency button suits a 3.3 to 3.9 ft (100 to 120 cm) round rug or a shaped rug. A map or a line-up suits a rectangle, 3.3×5 or 4×6 ft. For a larger playroom, 5×7 ft gives room for a whole crew. Choose Standard for playrooms and hard floors, and Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back, for a softer bedroom rug where children sit and lie down. Our kids play rugs have more ideas for active rooms.

Gifts

An Among Us rug is a great gift for a child who plays with their friends every afternoon, or a teenager who still remembers the summer of 2020. If you don't know their color, a rainbow line-up of crewmates is the safest choice. Every rug is printed to order in 1–3 business days and ships from Turkey; US delivery usually takes 2–5 business days after that.

Care

Machine wash on a gentle, cold cycle and let it air dry flat. Vacuum on a low setting between washes and blot spills with cold water straight away. The design is printed into the fibers, so every crewmate keeps its color.

A note on the game

Tasks as patterns

The jobs crewmates rush through make surprisingly good graphic designs. The wiring task, with its red, blue, yellow and pink wires crossing a dark panel, turns into a bold striped rug. A field of gray asteroids suits a round rug, and the green bar of the upload task or the medbay scanner ring are simple, clean designs for a desk corner where someone actually does their homework.

Padrift is an independent studio. Among Us and its characters are named to describe what our designs are inspired by; we are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by InnerSloth.