Strengthening friendships through Senior Assassin game

The class of 2020 left their mark in a unique way: a game called “Senior Assassin.”

Senior Maddie Roop first heard about the game through a Twitter post. 

“I saw that a school in Arizona was doing the game and they posted a video,” Roop said. “I was thinking this would be so cool to incorporate here at U-High because we have such competitive students.” 

In the creation of the game, seniors Roop and Chelsie Price discussed what guidelines would be necessary to be able to play a game with the word “assassin” in its title. They wanted to make sure parents were aware of the game, students would not play on school property and ensure everyone’s safety. To meet all of these standards, a waiver was created and signed by students and parents saying they understood the rules. 

The game involved groups of four who were assigned a “target” group. They had to “kill” at least one member of the opposing team with water guns in the span of three weeks. Roop and Price also went to assistant principal, Steve Evans, to make the school aware. 

The next step in the process of Senior Assassin was to get the students involved, and this proved to be pretty simple. After a few texts in the senior group chat, teams joined and the game started rolling. There were a total of 15 teams and 60 students participating in the class game. 

 “I was immediately interested once Chelsiea and Maddie put it in the group chat,” senior Tim Murphy said. 

Murphy saw the game as a great bonding experience for the class as a whole. Murphy and his team played a large role in creating the culture of this game, initiating many kills and becoming a target for future teams.

Since the first kill, Assassin has been the talk of the school. Teacher Andrew McDowell said that many students in his classes were sharing stories of attempted kills, such as when Elizabeth Parrot and Evie Redell “killed” Viren Desai before Jiu-Jitsu practice. On purge day Andy Ritsema hid in Murphy’s bushes at 5 am before a band competition in hopes to obtain a kill, Murphy shared. Murphy’s dog barked enough to scare off Ritsema and save him from a potential “death.” 

While this game has created many fun, memorable stories, there has also been some tension between players. Roop and Murphy shared that students were taking the game too seriously which made for difficult rulings on whether or not actions taken for a kill have crossed the line. 

To anyone who is taking actions from this game personally, senior John Munn would say, “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” 

Senior Assassin continued until one team was left standing. The winning team received half of the money that was pooled together to play, while the other half will be given to a charity of the team’s choice. The winning team included Andy Ritsema, David Kim, Rachel Kullman, and Elena Rolley. 

“I’m really hoping that future classes will hear about the game and want to play as well,” Roop said. “I want others to see that the game is not only bonding for the class but can also impact the community around us.”