A massive amount of people have started playing Among Us, the social deduction game from indie studio InnerSloth, one where multiple players run for their life from murderers who can hide in vents. Players work together to complete tasks and figure out who the Imposters are among them, while designated Imposters slowly kill any suspecting people they come across. It's a sinister concept made lighter by the game's zany art design and emphasis on fun. One of the ways Imposters move around in the game is by using vents, but they're slightly limited.
In Among Us, Imposters have many abilities, including one called Vent. As the name suggests, it allows these Imposters to sneak inside a vent to hide from other players. Kill cooldowns are paused during this time, but Imposters can move around the map through various connected systems of vents. However, not all of the vents on a map connect. It may seem strange, but there's actually a very good reason for this.
Vents are a way for Imposters to move around more quickly on the map, but there's a catch. Since only Imposters can use the Vent ability, and the animation can be clearly seen by anyone, it's a dead giveaway that someone is an Imposter. This can result in Imposters being caught quickly. Like most of the other psychological manipulation aspects in Among Us, some strategy is required. Still, it's good that all the vents don't connect on a single map.
Why Having All Vents Connect In Among Us Would Be Bad
When inside a vent, Imposters can view the map as well as seeing which vents connect. Most vents only connect two, possibly three, rooms. It may seem odd that all the vents on a single map don't connect, but there's a good reason for it. Connecting all the vents in Among Us would make the game much too easy for Imposters (and much harder for everyone else). That would upset the balance of the entire game, which could definitely hurt Among Us's booming popularity.
If all the vents connected, Imposters could quickly and easily move between any room on the map. This would make it far too easy for them to sneak up on other players and take them out and then disappear without being seen. It would also mean Imposters could stay inside of vents throughout most of the match, which would make it harder for other players to catch them.
Overall, connecting all the vents in Among Us is just a bad idea. It would negatively affect the balance of the entire game, which is probably why developers InnerSloth didn't connect all the vents in the first place. For anyone who wants to try using the vents for themselves, Among Us is currently available on PC and mobile.