Things are looking a little strange on The Skeld, the spaceship-themed map in multiplayer social deduction game Among Us. Text appears backwards, shadows run in front of moving crewmates rather than behind them, and rooms once found to the left of the Cafeteria are now on the right.
As an April Fools' Day prank, Among Us developer Innersloth temporarily released a "flipped" version of the Skeld map, officially titled "ehT dlekS." The entire layout of the map is flipped, as well as its textures. Although this may seem like a minor change, it can make avoiding the murderous Imposter more difficult, as players have only a single day to get used to the strange layout.
This flipped map first debuted on April 1, 2020, lasting for only 24 hours. Among Us fans enjoyed the idea so much that Innersloth confirmed it would become a yearly prank. The return of "ehT dlekS" in 2021 was revealed via the official Among Us Twitter account, which confirmed the flipped map was a deliberate April Fool's Day celebration and not a glitch or error.
To access "ehT dlekS," players must host or enter an Among Us game on April 1. The map will be flipped as long as the date in the host's time zone is April 1, even if other players are located in different time zones. The other three playable maps are not affected by this prank, including the highly anticipated Airship map, which was officially released on March 31, 2021.
Some players have commented on Twitter that they are unable to play Among Us and experience "ehT dlekS" due to bugs associated with the Airship update. Innersloth has acknowledged these Among Us bugs, including an "infinite loading" glitch which prevents playing the game entirely, but it is still in the process of fixing them. The developer has not commented regarding whether it will respond to this by extending the flipped map's availability.
Among Us is currently available for Android, iOS, PC, and Switch, with an Xbox Series X/S release planned for later in 2021.