To celebrate the success of Among Us, we recently hosted an Among Us Animation Jam with the theme, “The Purple Impostor.”
Among Us devs Innersloth kicked in $3,000 towards prizes and community members @technomantics, @BombsAhoy, @AnonymousAlchemist, @53xy83457, @VoicesByCorey, @Nokonorii joined with NG to toss in additional funds.
The jam resulted in 200 entries, with many of them feeling worthy of a top ten spot. The judging process included the NG staff, @PuffballsUnited, @ForteBass and @Aemu from Innersloth, feedback from @TheNewGroundsPodcast watch party and audience voting. In the end we added several prize tiers but we want all of you to know how impressed we were with so many of the entries that couldn’t make the final list.
Here are the winners!
1st - $1,000
@Doggybag and his crew delivered a quirky entry with great comedic timing and visual humor, where the jokes never fail to get a laugh on repeat viewing. You can feel the fun they had making it, while also getting lost in the clever scenario they’ve set up within the game world.
2nd - $700
@Potatoman and company surprised us with a Pixar-worthy entry about a purple doofus who just can’t catch a break. From the insane production quality up to the special twist on the topic, this short is a staggering reminder of what independents can achieve.
3rd - $530
@Jonarock’s entry with the help of Jaquin and Chris Basso is a jammin’ good time; a short that captures everything unique about the game in an almost TV episode-like format. With four unique musical tracks that tie together a structured story of loveable characters, this easily quotable entry just might have you feeling touched at the very end, even after all the laughs.
4th - $350
@nintenga95 and @MissMoonified have maybe the strongest finish of the jam, complemented by a non-stop barrage of punchy jokes all the way through.
5th - $250
@ChrisShwafer packed a ton of silly moments and sight gags in one of the first big Among Us cartoons to hit the web. This slaps!
6th - $225
@breabrzz crafted an atmospheric piece with an imposing impostor.
7th - $180
@Inkora delivered gruesome horror synced to a song of the same name by Pinomin.
8th - $150
@TheSwimmingMango utilized 3D to great effect, creating mood and suspense with dramatic lighting choices.
9th - $100
@StaggerNight’s short capitalizes on the discussion chaos regularly found in Among Us and spun it around into a relatable conversation falling quickly out of hand. We’ve never thought about cereal this hard in our whole lives but this cartoon makes some excellent points, delivering solid laughs while doing so.
10th - $100
@Kyskke’s entry is a charming romp on The Skeld, tying together numerous canonical elements in a fun way. From the use of security room killings to the kill timer cooldown, this animation offers tons of quick gags with well executed audio and adorable visuals.
11th - $75
@KingShada brought the old school stick fighting vibes but with a beautifully orchestrated Among Us battle. If action and combat are your jam, you won’t want to miss this.
12th - $75
@SailLaser rendered every impostor’s nightmare scenario with gorgeous pixel art. This entry is fresh and entertaining throughout!
13th - $50
@cool-beens weaved an adorable detective tale with cute characters and a surprise twist.
14th - $50
@Jam0Gello served up dessert; a movie filled with delicious cakes and a purple impostor straight from the jam promo banner.
Honorary Mention
We’re giving a special mention to The Purple Impostor Transformation Short by @JaceyKing!
This entry is a technical marvel and an inspiring vision of what a feature-length Among Us film could look like. We’re excited to see whatever JaceyKing makes next and someone should really snatch them up for a major game or film production.
Thank you everyone who made something for the jam; we had so much fun watching your entries, especially during @TheNewgroundsPodcast six hour watch party!
I'll remind everyone that your music should always be credited and either used with permission or provided by a resource that grants open permission. Several entries didn’t follow this rule and it hurt them during the judging process. See our music resource page! Every animator here should get to know some musicians; you’ll make better original work in the present AND build a support network for commercial opportunities in the future.
Jam entries are available in The Purple Impostor collection and you can play them back to back.
You can also browse all of the Among Us movies on NG if you still haven't got your fix!
That concludes the Among Us Jam! This has been a difficult jam to judge due to the sheer volume of impressive entries and individual favorites; I hope no one feels discouraged if they didn’t rank in the final results. We really appreciate so many people turning out for events like this on NG.
On that note, Happy Halloween!
Today is the deadline to enter something in our Halloween Spooktacular, with categories for animation, games, art, music, voice acting and writing.
We’ve received many brilliant entries already this month. Shout-outs to @AntonM and @ClockworkPixel for another consecutive year; these two keep getting better and better and I look forward to their individual entries every Halloween.
It has also been a thrill to see @Bassetfilms and @Gooseworx join the festivities this year and I hope @DannyGoodShirt’s Dr. Good’s Operating Theater collab keeps growing as an annual tradition.
Don’t even get me started on Dead Estate, from @milkbarjack and the team that brought us Bonkers. This Halloween is sooooo good and I’ll miss it when it’s over! There's always @SrPelo's fashionably late entry to look forward to, as well.
Thank you everyone who has contributed to making Newgrounds a fun destination during such a rough year. There is so much to explore here and I wish we could shine an even bigger light on all of it. We’ll keep working to do just that! I recently updated the NG History page to detail events from this year and some of what is to come.
hell yea well done bois
