Senior Assassin began May 12, 2024, at 12 a.m., and introduced new rules that did not prevent controversies.
The game is a voluntary tradition played among graduating seniors, who register through a google form and submit a $20 payment. Participants take part in rounds of eliminations, “kills”, beginning at midnight on May 12. The first round lasts 2 weeks, ending May 25.
To advance, players must submit both video and selfie evidence of their water gun shot. Survivors move on to round two, which lasts one week, followed by subsequent rounds each lasting a week as well. Every round starts at midnight and ends at noon. If the fourth and final round ends in a tie, it will conclude with a duel. Additional rules can be found on the Senior Assassin Instagram run by Host Sammi Henske ‘25.
“The winner’s prize is 75% of the pot and each of the other two prizes for most kills and favorite kill get 7%, and 15% is the moderator fee; to the host for running the game,” Henske ‘25 said. “Which is the same percentage as they did last year. Right now the pot is above $5000.”
Henske has remained active on the Senior Assassin Instagram, through posting updates, being transparent by posting polls and providing open discussions through a contributory question box for FAQ’s on Instagram stories. Although all these efforts have been made, increasing demands have led to challenges in the process of hosting the game.
“I set up the initial rules using last year as a model, then there was a lot of feedback, questions and concerns regarding the way that the rules were set up, and in order to try to keep meeting everyone’s requests,” Henske said. “I kept adding more rules and taking so many suggestions and just implementing them. It got to the point where it was kind of out of hand, so I decided to just put together a final set of rules, as simple as possible, put that out and basically say there’s gonna be no changes.”
One point of controversy this year revolves around the removal of traditional immunity items and the elimination of defensive shooting. The decision to remove these aspects left participants confused by the changes.
“We’ve always had immunity tools, so I’m confused why we didn’t stick to the original rules. It’s a tradition so you keep the traditional rules. I don’t know why certain rules were changed,” an anonymous source said.
Yet, not all players view the changes negatively. For some, simplifying the rules could bring an increase in pace and intensity.
“I think without any defensive immunity items or defensive shooting, the game is going to end a lot faster, which could be good because people won’t have to sit around in their houses for that much,” Alex Hackett ’25 said.
Henske addressed that the decision to eliminate defensive shooting and immunity items was rooted in practicality and fairness.
“Defensive shooting was removed because it would be too difficult to determine who fired first, which could lead to frequent disputes that I didn’t want to moderate,” Henske said. “And immunity items made eliminations nearly impossible.”
Despite these efforts to streamline the experience, some students feel the execution of this year’s game has been chaotic. Early missteps contributed to a sense of disorder that has yet to be shaken.
“It was a little disorganized, like when the emails were sent out early, and now I feel like it just doesn’t have that energy around it cause there’s been so many complications and it’s been frustrating for everyone. Everyone’s not having fun and [the game] hasn’t even started yet,” Anonymous said.
In trying to please everyone through weeks of navigating conflicting opinions, rule revisions, and technical challenges, Henske determined that simplicity would be the best path forward; not just for the players, but for her own ability to manage the game fairly.
“No matter what I do there are going to be people who disagree with it,” Henske said. “So I’m just trying to make it as simple as possible so everyone can have fun and so I don’t have to moderate fights cause I’m not a judge or a preschool teacher.”
