Another generation of Barstow seniors has started another game of Assassins and introduced another set of water-gun wielding menaces to parents, parking lots, and Life360 users alike.
The game is simple. Take out your target quickly, efficiently, and quietly. Form alliances with your fellow seniors. Watch your back. And while the game may seem innocent, it presents the seniors with the daunting task of tracking down their peers, and eliminating them from the competition, all completely off of school property.
The rules rarely change year to year; seniors are given the name of another senior who they are assigned to “assassinate” (shoot with a water gun). If a student is assassinated, they are eliminated until the next week, where they can buy their way back into the game if they desire. However, the buy-ins end once the number of seniors left un-assassinated dwindles down to ten.
Class officers Selena Spurrier (‘22), Brooke Dryden (‘22), and Zoe Greenwood (‘22), are organizing this year’s expensive iteration. Fees for entrance begin at $10, and increased buy-in payment is based on the amount of times the player gets out, ranging all the way up to $60. “Barstow assassins will kill my bank account, but it’s worth it,” says senior Caroline Fry (‘22). “Stalking people is a great way to bond, and it’s worth the five dollars that it takes to legally shoot someone with a water gun.”
Seniors can attack their targets everywhere except for places of work, worship, or school, leading to some ingenious forms of tracking. “When we went to my target’s house to try to assassinate him, his mom answered and showed us his location on Life360,” stated Luke Whitfill (‘22).
“Assassins is a great way to connect with others, because people form alliances with and against each other,” Whitfill (‘22) continues.
Ironically, seniors playing assasins often get misrecognized as criminals, both through fault of their own and simple suspicion from the people living near their target’s house. This often initiates police involvement, an unfortunate damper on the fun of the game. So far, only three Barstow seniors have had the police called on them directly, an occurrence which happened only after they had spent an extensive period of time trailing their target’s car, and waiting outside of their house.
Seniors should keep this in mind as they tail their targets. Stay vigilant seniors!
