Among Us is a game that not many people expected to become very popular. Yet it achieved just that in 2020, two years after it was launched in 2018. It was a perfect storm for InnerSloth’s game as several factors and situations aligned, which allowed its meteoric rise. It even won awards, prompting developers to continue providing updates and new content to keep the interest going.
A game rising this quickly and suddenly will surely gather a lot of attention. Not long after, many developers started replicating the game to follow the success of this action multiplayer. One game that has actually succeeded in coming up with an Among Us replica and then adding more layers to it is Suspects: Mystery Mansion. Published by Wildlife Studios in early 2021, it’s an action multiplayer social deduction game.
It offers similar gameplay to Among Us, but also added new elements that make it more fun to play. But is it a better game than the original? Are the new elements added enough to make people enjoy this type of genre more? Let’s discuss this in this blog post. We’ll compare Suspects: Mystery Mansion with Among Us and see who is the better social deduction game.
The Similarities of Suspects: Mystery Mansion & Among Us
If you’ve played Among Us before, you will immediately recognize the basic gameplay that Suspects: Mystery Mansion offers. There will be multiple players in a game and they’ll be given roles. Most of the players are Guests while 1-2 players will be the Killers. The Guests’ role is to complete tasks in the mansion, at the same time successfully vote out the Killer among the group. The Killer’s role on the other hand is to kill all the Guests without being detected.
Sounds familiar? Well, it’s the counterpart of the Crewmate and Impostors of Among Us. Crewmates are Guests while Impostors are Killers. Crewmates and Guests both perform various tasks and then try to identify and vote off/eject the Impostor/Killer. Killers and Impostors try to kill Guests/Crewmates and then sabotage their work. Even the process of elimination is similar. Players can call for a meeting or report a dead body and a discussion will be made. Then, there will be a vote–with the player with the most vote being ejected or thrown out.
The difference in the gameplay is that in Among Us you get to use astronauts and in the Suspects, it’s animals. The settings are also different–in that Among Us has a more sci-fi environment while Suspects is set in a mansion or hotel. Aside from that, the basic gameplay is pretty much the same. Now let’s look at what newer things Suspects: Mystery Mansion introduced.
Unique Features of Suspects: Mystery Mansion
When you play Suspects: Mystery Mansion, one of the new things you will notice is the IQ Points after each game is completed. You get to earn points when you win, while you will lose them when you lose the game. The points will serve as your progress or ranking in this game. You can see your name on the leaderboards and it’s determined by how many IQ Points you have.
The IQ Points will also serve as your key to unlocking more game modes in Suspects: Mystery Mansion. When you reach certain IQ Points, a game mode is unlocked for you to play and enjoy. This brings us to another new element that Suspects has brought. That is, the different game modes you can unlock to play. You don’t just have to play the usual Guests vs Killers gameplay. There’s a game mode where certain players can be put in the role of Inspector.
They can also perform the usual tasks but this time, they will also have the ability to analyze and discern who the possible Killer is. There’s also the game mode where another role is added, the Detective role. The sole purpose of the Detective is to capture the Killer in the game. They have the ability to see the footprints of other players, so they can get more clues as to the possible Killer in the game. Both new roles are only available in Intermediate and Advanced mode, so you need to unlock them first.
Suspects also have event game modes, which further provide unique game modes to the action multiplayer. There’s the Vigilante mode, where 1 player is assigned as the Vigilante, with the sole purpose of killing the Killer. Then, there’s also the ‘everybody-can-kill-mode’, which adds another fun layer to the game. You can also acquire characters that you can equip costumes and accessories on instead of just changing their skins to make them unique.
Which is Better?
Both Among Us and Suspects: Mystery Mansion is still equally fun to play. And you definitely won’t regret downloading and playing either one. But at this point, you can clearly see that Suspects: Mystery Mansion is the better game. Not only does it provide the gameplay that Among Us offers, but it also adds new elements to it. The added layers, like the Inspector, Detective, and Vigilante role provides a different gameplay dynamic. This adds more excitement and amusement to the social deduction gameplay.
Though both games are great, Suspects: Mystery Mansion has had a clear advantage over Among Us. Of course, it is still up to you to decide what fits your gameplay well. Downloading both is sure fun, too!
