Software:Among Us Story: On Guard
| Among Us Story: On Guard | |
|---|---|
| A cartoon astronaut in purple spacesuit wearing a coat and a cap, standing alone on a floating platform, holding a flashlight. A fried egg and other miscellaneous items lie beside them on the platform. A portal and many stars are visible behind the astronaut. Above the astronaut are the words "Among Us Story On Guard", with the "A"'s replaced by stylized astronauts. | |
| Developer(s) | Innersloth |
| Publisher(s) | Innersloth |
| Director(s) | Forest Willard[lower-alpha 1] |
| Designer(s) | Carol Mertz[1] |
| Programmer(s) | Forest Willard |
| Artist(s) |
|
| Writer(s) | Trick Weekes |
| Composer(s) |
|
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Among Us Story: On Guard is an upcoming adventure game developed by the American independent game studio Innersloth.[2] The game follows the player as a security guard who must prove their innocence by solving a murder mystery.[3][4] A demo of the game was available as part of Steam Next Fest from June 15 to June 22, 2026.[5] It will be released at an unannounced date for personal computers via Steam,[6] as well as for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.[7]
Plot
The story follows the Operator, who is working with MIRA's research and development department. They are strapped into a simulator designed to train the Operator to identify Impostors, which are the biggest threat to MIRA's ships. In the simulation, the Operator takes the role of a security guard, referred to simply as "the Guard", on a MIRA ship. The ship's cook has been murdered and the Guard is immediately blamed for his death. Before they are kicked out through the airlock, the lights go out and the Guard is able to escape.
The Guard starts investigating the murder, first by taking a closer look at the cook's body, which has been moved to the ship's Medbay area. The Guard then has to complete certain tasks to force other crewmates into revealing information, as well as to uncover clues, to find out who is responsible for the cook's death.[8][9]
Development
Following the success of Among Us, Innersloth rapidly scaled up to a team of roughly 30 full-time developers, which had to be reassigned once Among Us' popularity began to plateau. Twelve developers were assigned to Among Us Story: On Guard. Adriel Wallick, who previously worked on the 2012 game Rock Band Blitz[10] and organizes the annual Train Jam,[11] is the lead Unity developer of the game studio, who was tasked with creating new teams following the success of Among Us, including the team currently working on On Guard. Carol Mertz and Trick Weekes joined the company to work on the game as the lead designer and the writer, respectively. The game is directed by Forest Willard, better known as "ForteBass".[1] Among Us Story: On Guard was announced at Summer Game Fest 2026.[12]
Reception
Reviews of the demo version are generally mixed to positive. Giovanni Colantonio from Polygon compared the game to The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog—which he noted was "dropped as an April Fools' joke"—expecting the game to be "the kind of spinoff [that] can only [be] pull[ed] off once", describing the writing as "light and hokey." However, he praised the tasks and the references to the original game, calling the spinoff "a lot more charming than the series' attempt at animated TV."[9]
David Carcasole described the demo for Among Us Story: On Guard for Wccftech as "a very straight showcase of what [the player will] get", praising the word-play humour and mechanics, but criticising the lack of depth in the demo, and doubting that there will be "anything more from Among Us Story: On Guard than it ultimately being a fun, easy-going, entertaining outing for fans of the Among Us franchise to have a small side-quest when their friends can't jump on for a regular game of Among Us."[8]
SIFTER's Naomi Jackson praised the vibrant colors, the art and animation, and the "new bits and pieces in each room." They noted that "each [character] has a bunch of personality that shows through instantly", finding the game "super enjoyable", though ultimately expecting that "the full experience will be quite short, even with three different endings."[13]
See also
- The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a 2023 visual novel about a murder mystery
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lee, Alexander (26 June 2026). "Among Us Story: On Guard kept Innersloth’s scaled-up team busy after Among Us hype subsided". https://gamesbeat.com/among-us-story-on-guard-kept-innersloths-scaled-up-team-busy-after-among-us-hype-subsided/.
- ↑ Makuch, Eddie (5 June 2026). "Among Us Dev Reveals A Brand-New Game" (in en-US). https://www.gamespot.com/articles/among-us-dev-reveals-a-brand-new-game/.
- ↑ Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (6 June 2026). "It's not an Imposter, it's a spin-off: multiplayer backstabbing game Among Us has spawned a single player detective story" (in en). Rock, Paper, Shotgun. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/its-not-an-imposter-its-a-spin-off-multiplayer-backstabbing-game-among-us-is-becoming-a-single-player-detective-story.
- ↑ Lynn, Lottie (5 June 2026). "Everything announced in Summer Game Fest 2026" (in en). https://www.eurogamer.net/everything-announced-in-summer-game-fest-2026.
- ↑ Fiorini, Chase (15 June 2026). "Among Us Story: On Guard Demo Now on Steam, Solo Murder Mystery Joins Next Fest". https://www.techtimes.com/articles/318378/20260615/among-us-story-guard-demo-now-steam-solo-murder-mystery-joins-next-fest.htm.
- ↑ Romano, Sal (5 June 2026). "Among Us Story: On Guard announced for PC" (in en-US). https://www.gematsu.com/2026/06/among-us-story-on-guard-announced-for-pc.
- ↑ Morris, Daniel (6 June 2026). "New Among Us Game Officially Revealed". https://gamerant.com/among-us-new-story-game/.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Carcasole, David (16 June 2026). "Among Us Story: On Guard Preview – A Killer Time with the Potential for Much More". http://wccftech.com/among-us-story-on-guard-preview-a-killer-time-with-the-potential-for-much-more/.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Colantonio, Giovanni (10 June 2026). "Among Us' surprising move to single-player actually works pretty well". https://www.polygon.com/among-us-story-on-guard-demo-preview-summer-game-fest/.
- ↑ Cross, Katherine (22 June 2018). "Good and bad at all times: Adriel Wallick on jamming for a year". https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/good-and-bad-at-all-times-adriel-wallick-on-jamming-for-a-year.
- ↑ "Indiekings met Adriel Wallick over Train Jam". 8 February 2015. https://www.gamekings.tv/videos/indiekings-met-adriel-wallick-over-train-jam/.
- ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (8 June 2026). "Everything Announced at Summer Game Fest 2026". https://www.ign.com/articles/summer-game-fest-2026-everything-announced.
- ↑ Jackson, Naomi (14 June 2026). "AMONG US STORY: ON GUARD preview: a bean-sized taste of something great". https://www.sifter.com.au/post/among-us-story-on-guard-preview.
 |  |
