Among Us originally launched in 2018, but it didn't take over the world in a craze until 2020, when people stuck inside all over the world were able to connect with each other through the game's signature brand of hilarity and co-op play. Six years later, we have something entirely new from developer Innersloth, taking the series into a single-player story for the first time with Among Us Story: On Guard.
Announced during Summer Game Fest 2026, Among Us Story: On Guard puts players in control of the Guard. A bean that narrates to themselves in metaphors like they're a hard-nosed noir-era detective contrasted by the set dressings of everything you'd expect to see while playing Among Us, including, of course, the brutal murder of one of your crewmates.
As the first one to find the body, you're framed for the murder, and to avoid your own death by getting shoved out the airlock, you'll have to prove your innocence and figure out who the actual murderer/imposter is.
It's got all the charm you'd expect Among Us to have, but the big question is whether it'll have the gameplay and narrative depth required to keep you engaged for an extended story-driven experience. That's not a question I'll be able to answer today, after only playing the short demo that's available from June 15-22. But I can, at the very least, see how Innersloth could very easily create a fun and entertaining detective puzzler within the world of Among Us.
Among Us Story: On Guard Hands-On Preview
This should've been done a long time ago
To clarify, you're not playing as the Guard. You're someone who is strapped into a VR machine that looks like a bean-shaped animus. You're in a simulation tailored to try to find a way to stop Imposters, the biggest threat to MIRA ships and the reason for the majority of MIRA ship failures. It's a premise that works within the world of Among Us and one that allows for countless more 'Among Us Story' games to exist on top of this first one, titled 'On Guard.'
Once you're in the simulation, the Guard's metaphors take over, and you go through a quick setup of the game's story. You find the ship's Cook murdered in the kitchen, you're blamed for his death and just before your crewmates shove you out the airlock, the lights go out, and you make a narrow escape.
After that, you start investigating the murder, first by trying to get a closer look at the Cook's body, which is now locked in the Medbay. Since it's both the start of the game and a demo with the purpose of showing you only the core elements of what playing On Guard will be, there's no real challenge to getting into the Medbay.
There are ways you can mess up if you're not paying attention, but how you find your way to gaining Medbay access is practically laid out for you. To show you how the game's detective systems work, the kinds of mini-games you'll be asked to do, followed by the tone of the dialogue and the storytelling.
Recognizable actions like swiping a keycard are back, but as the demo showcases, you'll also be asked to do things like, make a cup of coffee so you can pour that coffee on a panel in the ship's reactor, so the Engineer has to try and fix it. Since the Engineer wasn't at the meeting where your crewmates tried to kill you, if you can lock them in the reactor room, you now have a chance to corner them into a conversation.
From that conversation, you may have someone who is starting to believe your innocence, and get a map to navigate the vents and land in the middle of the Medbay, so you can examine the Cook's body. Before you get to do so, the demo ends, but you've seen everything you need. Getting into the Medbay is the main goal, but along the way, you've seen how the game works at its simplest.
It's a very straight showcase of what you'll get with Among Us Story: On Guard, but all the options locked to you in the demo are a clear reminder of how the full game will open up more and give you a bit more agency with how you experience the story.
It is also something I feel I can finally get behind from the world of Among Us that isn't tossing it on to play with friends or family on the odd occasion. I'm admittedly a mark for the puns and word-play humour this demo is chock-full of, and with the right amount of engaging gameplay mixed with increasingly humorous and dramatic scenarios, Innersloth has a clear path to a whole new avenue for the franchise.
Brimming with surprise potential
Perhaps my expectations are just set a little too low, but I don't expect 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.
I'm not expecting any kind of great detective tale or complex characters, or a huge amount of depth in the gameplay. I'm not expecting a lot, and I think if Among Us Story: On Guard meets even my low expectations, it'll be a fun time. But the other side of that coin for me is the fact that there's so much potential here for something surprisingly great.
Would I change my tune about On Guard if the full game featured deep detective mechanics and a story that went further than a bunch of silly puns and caricatures? I probably would, and I'd be very happy to. Do I think that's likely? No, not really.
I've written a lot of previews in my time in media, and if I've learned anything, it would be that it's easy to be swept up in a game's potential when you're only seeing a small slice. On Guard's demo is well-structured in that it shows you everything you need to see about the game at its most basic level without giving too much away. I hope the full game is as tightly wound as this demo, but that's not something we'll know until the game is out.
What's certain is that a full eight to ten-hour experience with this game has the potential to be an entertaining time, if nothing else.
The Among Us Story: On Guard demo is available to play on Steam from now until June 22, 2026, as part of Steam Next Fest.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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