Initially, the game was streamed by players in South Korea, Brazil, and other countries before it caught on this Spring in the English-speaking world. Since then, Among Us has had a rocket ship-like trajectory toward popularity, even earning its own Nintendo Switch port this month.

The rules of the game are pretty simple. There are two teams, the alien imposter(s) and the humans. The humans are tasked with making sure their space shuttle launches successfully by completing all of the objectives and finding imposters. The imposter on the other hand, must ensure that the ship doesn't take off by means of sabotage or killing all of the real crew members without being discovered.

Largely, the game centers on good, old-fashioned discourse, which at most other points in modern human history would seem pretty banal, but in 2020, the simple act of playing a social game together feels more like a beacon of hope than a simple choice in mechanics.

Don't get us wrong: Among Us is also just plain fun – if it were just about having conversations online, we'd be nominating Zoom for Game of the Year.