At the end of each school year, many Liberty seniors look forward to playing Senior Assassin. Senior Assassin is a long-standing water gun fight that starts in April and typically goes until graduation.
Players are assigned one target player each, and are given their target’s location. Once a player gets their target out, they will inherit the target of the player they just eliminated. Getting a player out requires video evidence of the “assassin” shooting the target with a water gun. Additionally, players are granted immunity if they are wearing a “safety item”, either goggles or floaties.
As the game progresses, players are given challenges and the game gets increasingly more difficult. “Purge days” prevent players from using their safety items, and elimination quotas are put in place to intensify the competition. The winner is the last player standing and will receive a $1,000 prize, funded by a $10 buy-in fee required of all players. Because of the large cash prize, some worry that Senior Assassin may get too competitive.
Ethan Shields (he/him), 12, agrees that the game is competitive, but in a fun way.
“The game is going exactly how I thought it would,” said Shields. “Some people are going to get really into it for $1,000. I know I certainly am.”
To get targets out, assassins may form “alliances” with other players or stakeout their target during the day. Some students, like Omar Ghanima (he/him), 12, have even gotten their families involved in the game.
“I actually have my brother go out to my car before me every morning, pretending to be me, in case my assassin is outside,” said Ghanima. “It’s fun for him, too. I think he’s really looking forward to playing in high school.”
Despite the game’s competitive nature, many players believe Senior Assassin has brought them closer to their classmates. Shields reported being able to meet many new people while playing the game.
“Some of us will be hanging out, and then other people will show up to try to get their target. But, even if they don’t get them out, they stay for a while anyway,” said Shields. “It’s pretty cool how we’re all coming together.”
Hayden Johnsen (he/him), 12, completed the first elimination of the game and has the highest number of eliminations in the game (as of April 25). Johnsen has especially enjoyed the social aspect of the game, as he has gotten to know people he hadn’t interacted with before.
“People have ideas and opinions about other people that might not be correct,” said Johnsen. “Talking to people I wouldn’t otherwise talk to kind of broke down some of the assumptions I had about people.”
Senior Assassin has a reputation for being overly competitive and sometimes hostile. But, at least at Liberty, this game seems to have re-energized the senior class, bringing players together and sparking joy in unlikely places.
