Senior assassin, popularized by TV shows “Gossip Girl” and “iCarly,” is a game played by seniors who must find creative opportunities to shoot their classmates with Nerf guns until a winner is crowned and wins a prize pot. However, the game has considerably shifted into a game that encourages risky and exclusionary behavior. The way senior assassin is currently played, eliminations aren’t exciting, bribery is rampant and illegal strategies earn an easy kill.
Though not hosted or sponsored by Inglemoor, senior assassin has historically been organized by the junior class officers, who use Instagram to track kills, announce targets and communicate with players. Each week, players are given a target to assassinate before the week ends, and must submit video proof of the elimination. NSD property, churches, sports practice and running cars are off limits. Players who don’t achieve eliminations are put on a hit list at the end of the week and must eliminate a fellow hit list member to avoid elimination.
The prize pool from the $10 entrance fee is split into two pools. 80% of this year’s total of $1440 goes to the person who survived until the end, and the remaining 20% goes to the person with the most kills.
Unfortunately, the game has become increasingly uninteresting as bribes and optimal strategies have made the game predictable and more about winning the money than having a fun senior experience. With rumors of elimination bribes reaching upwards of $200, the game has been stripped of creativity and showcases how the game has shifted to be about gain. Bribes make the game unfair and too easy to win, and they make spectating the game uninteresting, as each elimination is just a planned event.
The large prize pool incentivizes getting the fastest and easiest elimination; there needs to be a reason to be more creative than patient. The prize pool should be split again to add another category for creative eliminations. Moderators would review the elimination videos and nominate one or multiple assassins to receive a part of the prize pool. By splitting the prize pool, the number of players willing to give a bribe and take a bribe would decrease. Players who feel like they don’t have a chance of winning might not be willing to take bribes because their next kill might be creative enough to win the money, whereas assassins might not give bribes in hopes of earning a creative elimination.
Outside of bribery, the current rules are too lenient on rule and law breaking. In the past two years, there were two cases where students had tracking devices placed on their cars without their knowledge, a crime in Washington state. Neither incident was reported. There were also cases where players blocked roads or driveways with cars to prevent escape to eliminate their target. Rules don’t mention law-breaking, and moderators have been inconsistent in their judgment of rule-breaking. Some eliminations are judged as illegitimate, but for others the eliminations stood despite being fraudulent. Leaving incidents unreported and rules inconsistent have led to safeguards and general integrity of the game dwindling.
The game needs a clear way to report and contest the actions of other players. Currently, the moderators determine the result of each case based on what they receive over Instagram messages without consulting each other, which could result in misjudgment. A reporting form and clear guidelines to ensure each case is treated fairly and crimes actually get reported, could reduce risk of the games prohibition.
Senior Assassin needs to be more creative, collaborative, and equitable. Adding new rulesets and creative aspects to the game could help bring back the spirit of the game; a senior bonding event of chaos, betrayal, and schemes. Not all eliminations are bribed or illegal. For example, when Rishi Gala was let into his target, Neve Gelatt’s house, instead of getting an easy elimination, his assassin was waiting in ambush. Gala was betrayed by both Gelatt’s brother and his friend who gave him Gelatt’s address, turning the assassin into the assassinated. This is the spirit of the game, but kills like these are rare, overshadowed by the preponderance of boring eliminations. The spirit of senior assassin needs a revival.
