This Counter-Strike mod is the true origin behind Among Us

A mod based on Counter-Strike was the original Among Us, even if it has been largely fogotten since.

Murder mysteries aren’t new, but their appearance in popular games and streaming is. With Twitch streamers lying and scheming their way out of certain doom, the newly popularized game Among Us has found new life through the streaming community. But despite the game’s reputation as being unique, there was one CS mod that set the foundation for the entire affair.

• Even Summit1g got in on the action, and it didn’t go well

Trouble in Terrorist Town came before Among Us

Trouble in Terrorist town is actually part of Garry’s Mod, a Valve-inspired sandbox where players can take advantage of every model, weapon texture, and script available in the Source Engine. Players have used it to make games, recreate cities, and even assemble some whacky NSFW maps since its release.

In 2004, a mod team took Garry’s Mod to the next level. They came up with the idea of getting together a group of friends in a 3D setting, just like Counter-Strike or Half-Life, while also giving two of those friends the objective to murder the rest without getting caught.

While it had solid gameplay and a great premise, it was the social aspect of the mod that made it an immediate hit. While random lobbies full of strangers still are played today, there wasn’t anything like getting together with friends and watching it all play out. Popular streamer SovietWomble played lengthy sessions of the game back in the day with his clan, ZF. While he’s better known for getting suckered into a CSGO 10-man against OG’s Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt, his adventures in Terrorist Town are a great example of how sometimes the people we play with are more important than the games we play.

Garry’s Mod’s sandbox environment means that almost anything is possible, and Trouble in Terrorist Town brought that creativity to the masses. To this day, most in the Garry’s Mod community consider it to be one of the best mods ever created through the program. While released during the era Counter-Strike: Source, Trouble in Terrorist Town is still actively developed today by its community, who continue to add maps, outfits, and models to the mod.. In fact, one of the CSGO workshop’s most popular items this week is a Terrorist Town map. 

So while fans and streamers have started to drift away from Among Us, they’ll find a similar fix in the older Trouble in Terrorist Town’s social intrigue.