Among Us: a parent's guide to Quick Chat, lobbies and Stars

Among Us at a glance

Crewmates, impostors and one round of Among Us

Among Us is a social deduction game, a digital cousin of party games like Mafia or Werewolf. Between 4 and 15 players join a game together. Most are crewmates, doing small tasks around a spaceship or base. One or more are secretly impostors, whose job is to sabotage the crew and knock players out of the round without being caught.

When something suspicious happens, the game calls a meeting. Everyone discusses who they think the impostor is, then votes to throw someone out. That discussion, through text chat, is the heart of the game: accusing, defending, and working out who's bluffing.

A round is short, and then a new one starts with roles reshuffled. We couldn't confirm an exact round length from official sources, but sessions naturally break into bite-sized chunks.

• Where it's played: phones and tablets, PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.
• Who it's played with: usually other people online, in public lobbies or with groups of friends.
• What you'll hear: a lot of loud accusations from across the room.

Why a bluffing game gets PEGI 7 but 9+ on the App Store

PEGI rates Among Us 7 for mild, non-realistic violence involving cartoon characters in space suits. When an impostor knocks a crewmate out, it's quick and cartoonish rather than realistic. Google Play UK also shows PEGI 7, noting that users interact and that there are digital purchases.

Apple's UK App Store rates it 9+. Its listing mentions infrequent cartoon or fantasy violence, horror or fear themes and guns or other weapons, and flags that the app contains advertising, messaging and chat.

Why the two numbers differ

PEGI's database entry is for the boxed console edition, while digital versions get ratings through the store systems. The two systems use different criteria, and the App Store listing specifically mentions fear themes and chat. Neither says the game is unsuitable for primary-school children; they just draw the line in slightly different places.

PEGI changed its criteria in 2026, and ratings for live games can be updated. We found no paid random items in Among Us, but it's still worth checking the current rating on your device's store. Our age ratings explainer covers why PEGI and app store ratings sometimes disagree.

Quick Chat, Free Chat and the parent approval step

Among Us has text chat only; we found no built-in voice chat. That text chat comes in two forms, and the difference is the most important thing on this page.

• Quick Chat lets players pick from pre-set phrases. Nobody can type anything unkind or personal, because they can't type at all.
• Free Chat lets players type their own messages.

Innersloth, the developer, explains that Guest Mode (playing without an account) locks players to Quick Chat and gives them a randomly generated name. Free Chat needs an account. If a child is under the minimum age of digital consent in their country, which is 13 in the UK, they need a parent or guardian's permission to access Free Chat. Innersloth handles that permission through Kids Web Services, a parent approval service.

Checking the setting

1. Open Among Us and go to Settings.
2. Choose the Data tab.
3. Look at Chat Type: 'Quick Chat' or 'Free or Quick Chat'.

The catch: these protections rely on an honest birthday. A child who makes an account claiming to be older skips the approval step, which is why setting it up together matters.

Public lobbies: who else is on the spaceship

When your child taps to join an online game, they're often placed in a public lobby with people they don't know, anywhere from 4 to 15 players. Those players may be other children, teenagers or adults.

The design of the game has a quirk worth explaining to a younger child: lying is part of the game. An impostor is meant to mislead everyone. That's fine inside a round, but children sometimes need help separating "that was a good bluff" from "that person is being mean to me".

Reporting and moderation

Innersloth says players can report inappropriate names, inappropriate chat, cheating or hacking, and harassment. It says reports are reviewed by people rather than by an automated system, and consequences range from temporary to permanent bans.

Innersloth's accounts page also says a friend system wasn't yet available when it was written, with accounts focused on reporting and moderation. The page is undated, so check the current version of the game.

• Agree that your child never shares their real name, school or location in chat.
• Show them how to leave a game if something feels wrong.
• Remind them that telling you about something odd won't mean losing the game.

More on this in online chat and strangers.

Stars, hats and pets: what Among Us actually charges for

Among Us is one of the cheaper games children ask for. On phones and tablets it's free with adverts, and the UK App Store lists an option to remove ads for £1.99. On PC it's £3.99 on Steam UK. We couldn't confirm current console prices.

Inside the game, optional extras are cosmetic. PEGI mentions maps, outfits and pets that can be bought. On mobile, the UK App Store lists Stars, the game's purchasable currency, with a 30 Star Bundle at £2.99, alongside cosmetic bundles such as hats, pets and skins.

• No paid random items found: Google Play doesn't flag random items, and we found no loot boxes.
• No battle pass found: we couldn't confirm one exists.
• Adverts: the free mobile version contains ads, according to both UK app stores.

On iPhone and iPad, Ask to Buy means any in-app purchase needs your approval. On Android, Family Link can require approval for in-app purchases. Our in-game spending guide has more.

Short rounds and an easy 'last game' at bedtime

Some games are built to make stopping hard: daily rewards, seasons, limited-time shops. On the evidence we found, Among Us has relatively little of that. There's no battle pass we could confirm, rounds are short, and each one ends with a clear result.

That makes it one of the easier games to manage with a simple routine:

• Agree a number of rounds rather than a time, because cutting a round off mid-meeting feels unfair to a child (and their team).
• Give a "last round" warning when a new round starts.
• Use your device's own limits as a backstop: Time Allowances or Screen Time Schedule on iPhone and iPad, or Daily limit and Downtime in Family Link.

The social pull is the main hook. If a group of school friends play together, there'll be pressure to join when they're online. That's normal, and a regular agreed slot often works better than ad hoc requests. See screen time and routines for ideas.

Reasoning, persuasion and laughing at being caught

Among Us is popular with children for good reasons, and some of them are worth encouraging.

• Thinking out loud: working out who was where, and whose story doesn't add up, is real deductive reasoning.
• Arguing a case: meetings reward explaining clearly and listening to others.
• Losing gracefully: being caught as an impostor happens constantly, and most rounds end in laughter rather than tears.
• Cheap to try: free on mobile and inexpensive on PC.

Talking about the lying part

Younger children sometimes find it uncomfortable that a friend lied to them in a game. That's a useful conversation rather than a problem: games have rules that make bluffing fair, like poker or hide-and-seek, and outside the game the usual rules apply.

For other games children of this age enjoy, see our 7 to 9 age guide.

Setting Among Us up on phones, tablets and consoles

Most of the protection for Among Us comes from three layers: the game's own chat setting, the parent approval step, and your device's controls.

Phones and tablets

• iPhone and iPad: in Settings, Family, choose your child, then turn on Ask to Buy (Require Purchase Approval) and use Content & Privacy Restrictions to set an age limit that fits.
• Android: in Family Link, set Purchases and download approvals to require approval for in-app purchases, and set a Daily limit.

Consoles and PC

• Nintendo Switch: Restricted Features in the Parental Controls app covers communication with others.
• PlayStation: Communication and User-Generated Content set to Restrict blocks text messages; pre-written in-game messages still work.
• Xbox: use the Social tile in the Xbox Family Settings app.
• Steam: Steam Families lets you control store and chat features.

A good first online game, once the chat is sorted

Among Us sits at the gentle end of online games. The content is mild, spending is optional and cosmetic, rounds are short, and Innersloth has built in sensible defaults: Quick Chat for guests and for under-13s without parental approval.

The things to get right are simple. Check Chat Type, set up the account with an honest birthday so the approval step works, switch on purchase approval on the device, and have one conversation about strangers and about bluffing staying inside the game.

For a 7 or 8-year-old, playing nearby for the first few sessions is a nice way to see the meeting chat for yourself. By 10 or 11, many children are ready to decide with you whether Free Chat is worth it.