Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Prepare yourself, things are about to get spooky. Today’s soundtrack comes from the recently exploded-in-popularity murder-mystery party game Among Us.
There’s really only one extended piece of music in Among Us, and it’s the main HQ theme that plays when you first load it up. It’s both eerie and irresistible. Sometimes I can’t even bring myself to start a new match immediately, instead just staring off into outer space wandering about all the imposters and innocents alike that have been flushed out the airlock since the game came out two years ago.
Take a listen:
It begins with a pulsating bass that beats like a heart made out of dark matter, fluctuating back and forth between the same two ominous notes for the entire track. On top of that you have the whirring space fans breathing in and out, punctuated by high-pitched chimes that sound like they’re threatening to murder you in your sleep. It’s extremely good, simple and effective, like the striking-but-basic themes of classics like Jaws and Halloween. You can practically feel the dread oozing out the seams.
It’s a track that’s doing a lot of work to bring some real menace to a game that can otherwise descend into predictable goofiness as random strangers treat the game like an LSAT prep course. No I’m not playing Among Us to deduce as efficiently as possible who has the likeliest probability of being the imposter, I’m playing to fuck with people, whether I’m on their team or not. This introductory music that gives Among Us a vibe like playing hide-and-seek in a coffin goes a long way toward giving the game’s make-believe fantasy some existential stakes.
And like the best matches of Among Us, today’s Morning Music is already over. But don’t worry, you can listen to the game’s theme song looped for an hour if this little tribute has helped you fall under its spell. Otherwise how is your week going? Anyone betrayed you yet? After a long and uneventful summer, I’m moving fast and trying to hold on as long as possible by filling up my front stoop with pumpkins. (As far as I know none are imposters.)