Every year seniors play the game assassins, a water gun battle where teams get their designated target out by squirting them with a water gun and catching it on video, hoping to be the last team standing. There are two people per team and with 30 teams joining this year’s game, the winning team takes home $600.
This year’s assassins is organized through an Instagram account run by McKenna Dei. To assign targets, she uses an online generator, “It’s completely generated by a wheel, I have no role in it,” said Dei. “I put it in an app and I spin the wheel,” which then produces who each team’s target is.
Dei explained that there are certain rules to keep the game safe and organized, “with work, you get five minutes before and after just to make sure that you can get to your job, and so you’re not late to work just because of a water gun battle.” School events and church are also places where targets are off limits.
“It’s all meant for people to have fun,” said Dei.
Nate Bittinger and Andrew Hayes had the first kill of the game, getting out the team of Jared Marsh and Evan Stingle. Bittinger explained how they managed to get their target out the first morning of the game.
“My partner and I were just kind of brainstorming and we were like, the best time we thought to catch someone off guard would be the morning of the first day,” said Bittinger.
To catch Marsh before school, they had to camp outside of his house, “We were out there early, probably around six o’clock,” said Bittinger. They parked down the street and hid behind a tree to catch Marsh walking out to his car before school.
Marsh shared his point of view, “I was texting Nate in the morning because the day before we went and bought water guns together. We went and got Chipotle together. And you know, we ended up making a pact. If he was my target, I’d tell him and if I was his target, he’d tell me.”
Nevertheless, Bittinger and Hayes waited outside Marsh’s house, even petting his dog in the front yard, and then getting him out.
“Being the first team out in less than seven hours really it just wasn’t a good look,” said Evan Stingle, Marsh’s partner.
Many other teams have gotten out since the first kill, and the game is ramping up. Other players share their thoughts on the game.
“I like the competition it provides at the end of the year between each other, and obviously the money…I just wanted to have fun my senior year doing something that’s a tradition between all seniors,” said Abby Heilman.
“We just thought it would be fun. Now there’s a new game going and there’s a lot of people,” said Lance Miller. He expressed that his favorite part of the game is “the thrill of deciding how you’re going to avoid getting yourself assassinated.”
The game will continue until there is only one team standing and will likely end around the beginning of May.
