Assassin (game)

For other uses, see Assassin (disambiguation).

Assassin

a spoon, a common Assassin weapon
Players	2+
Setup time	1-7 days
Playing time	1–10 weeks
Chance	Little*
Skills	Espionage, Stealth
Target assignments are usually random

Assassin (also called Gotcha,Assassins, Paranoia, Killer, or Elimination) is a game commonly played among close-knit groups of people, such as college campuses and high school communities. Assassin is, essentially, a live-action roleplaying game where a players' goal is to eliminate other players from the game, and to be the last surviving player.

Assassin is a "lifestyle-invading" game. Play is not restricted to a specific time interval, but is integrated into the players' everyday activities. A game will last for an extended period of time, and while the game is in progress, all players are targets of a least one other player, and are targeting at least one other player. The game is intended to induce an atmosphere of paranoia, since an assassination attempt could occur at almost any time.

Rules

Assassin is a game that does not have an official publisher (although a variant has been published under the name Killer ) and thus the rules vary considerably from game to game. There are certain common elements, however. At any given time, each player has a "target" (or possibly more than one) that he or she is trying to kill, and each player is in turn the target of another player (or possibly more than one). Players are assigned their targets by the game's coordinators, but do not know the identity of the players assigned to target them. In larger games, players may not know the identities of any players other than their target or targets.

Elimination

Eliminations (sometimes called kills) are the result of a player completing an objective that results in his or her target being removed from the game. Game rules always enumerate the methods of elimination that are allowed in the game.

There are many different methods of elimination.

Safe zones

A safe zone is a place where a player may not be eliminated. Safe zones are declared by the game's coordinators and are usually picked based on the criterion of maximizing fairness and minimizing disruptiveness. Fairness is maximized by picking safe zones to be places that many players spend most of their time, or places that are common meeting areas for the players of the game (e.g. a dormitory in a game where every player lives in that dormitory). Disruptiveness is minimized by choosing safe zones that correspond to places where formal activities happen. For instance, school classrooms and places where religious services are held are typically declared safe zones.

Witnesses

Some variations restrict assassination attempts made in the presence of witnesses. Eliminations made in the presence of witnesses (or in the presence of a sufficient number of witnesses) may be disallowed or may result in the publication of the player's identity (in games where the players do not generally know each other).

Safeties

Game coordinators can assign certain items to be worn or actions to be performed that result in being safe from elimination. These are called "Safeties." Safeties can be only for a specific day, or can last throughout the duration of the game. Safeties generally add to the fun of the game, because they force players to do odd and attention drawing things in order to be safe. Not only are the actions amusing but usually observers feel compelled to ask why the players are engaged in such odd behaviors, thus advertising the existence of the game to a wider audience.

Other variations

There are numerous other possible rules. Some games have "police forces" or "death squads", often composed of eliminated players, whose job is to track down rule-breakers. Some require each elimination to be made within a time limit, or penalize players for not making elimination attempts. Others allow for non-players or eliminated players to participate, for example as informers or bodyguards.

Methods of elimination

Nerf Ammunition

Assassin variants allow many different types of eliminations.

Direct

In a direct elimination, a player uses an approved weapon to touch his or her target.

Ranged

Many games allow for a ranged direct weapon. The most common ranged weapons are water pistols, NERF weapons, and rubber band guns. Pellet guns and BB guns are generally considered too dangerous, but some people feel that an airsoft gun and/or paintball gun allow for the victim to feel the impact without too much pain. Sometimes non-gun projectiles are used as weapons, for example balled-up socks are used as a ranged weapon. One unique ranged weapon (though how it is ranged remains a mystery) is the ".45 Caliber Banana".

Mêlée

Mêlée weapons are typically a fake stabbing weapon. By contrast, they usually do not take the form of a Flail or Club. Mêlée weapons are usually much more easily concealed than ranged weapons, but require more stealth to employ effectively. Mêlée weapons must be touched to a player's body for him or her to be eliminated. Some common examples of mêlée weapons are cardboard or plastic knives, and spoons. In some variants of Assassin, Sharpie markers are used as mêlée weapons. In the case of weapons like Sharpies, a player must typically make an appreciable mark on player's exposed skin instead of just touching him or her.

Indirect

In an indirect elimination, a player plants a weapon where his or her target will be eliminated by it, or changes his or her target's environment in a specific way, as defined by the variant's rules, that results in an elimination.

Poison

Some variants allow "poison", which can be implemented by adding strong flavors such as Tabasco sauce to the victim's food. Rules might also cover "poison gas" or contact poisons. Food can also be poisoned by the insertion of an upright toothpick, with a "poison" label attached, or a piece of paper being placed underneath the victim's food with the word "poison" written on it. The most popular method of using contact poison is to apply the poison to the target's door handle; consequently some players choose to wear gloves.

Bombs

Some variants allow "bombs", which may be implemented in various ways. Some require the bomb to "go off" in some way, and hence might use alarm clocks or other timers. Another technique is the "car bomb" where the assassin puts a tape or CD in the victim's car audio system. When the victim starts the car and audio, he will hear the assassin saying that he was just "car bombed." Another "car bomb" variant allows one to shoot and kill the person while they are in the car, but in order for this kill to be achieved the assassin must be using the Nerf Rocket Launcher or equivalent. An assassin may also bomb a victim by sending him/her a package in the mail with a dart and/or letter saying, "You're Bombed." The victim is killed as soon as he or she opens the package and reads the note.

Capture

When clipped to a target's clothing, it serves as flag-football like objective

In a capture elimination, a player retrieves some item in the possession of his or her target to eliminate them. Capture eliminations are exactly like tackles in Flag Football. Some common objects used as capture objectives are flags, articles of clothing, and clothespins.

Difficulties

Collusion

In older collegiate universities, sub-university tribal instincts can cause informal team play to emerge, where members of or within a college or several colleges band together in "no-kill" agreements or higher levels of co-operation. The advantages of pooling information on targets include the possibility of joint operations, added tactical information on geography or simply greater ease of identifying targets, e.g. where one member of the "Mafia" personally knows the target of their colleague. Co-operative play enables greater offensive and defensive co-ordination, the latter especially where mafiosi live near to each other and are able to communicate by instant messaging.

These groupings can improve game play by formalizing a learning system where experienced players mentor new ones, and can add a humorous flavor to the game. However, eventually a large group which includes several talented players can exert a stranglehold on the course of the game. Whilst this can be highly amusing and challenging for experienced players, it can strain friendships and is often off-putting for newer players. In extreme cases, the later stages of play can descend into farce where only members of one group are left alive, eliminating the excitement for all others.

Excessive collusion is difficult to control, and is best dealt with by an experienced umpire, who can take emergency measures such as licensing the execution of some of a group's key members. Over time, the process is self-regulating as most communities consist of students, who experience a rapid turnover of membership and will go through lean periods. Some universities prefer to formalize the teamplay system as alluded to earlier.

Security fears

Mounted police in UK

Due to increasing security worries since the World Trade Center attacks, the participants can find themselves restricted in their behavior and choice of weaponry. In the United Kingdom, gun laws were changed by the Anti-social Behavior Act of 2003 to make the carrying of an imitation firearm in a public place illegal. After a couple of low-key incidents involving arrests under the amended Firearms Act of 1968, and possibly other public order legislation, guilds had to re-consider which kind of toy gun could safely be used. This is in addition to tight regulation of the use of imitation "bombs" and suspicious behavior in general.

In the media

Film

The 1985 movie Gotcha! starring Anthony Edwards features a game similar to Assassins, but employing paintball guns.

The game is the subject of the 2005 student film, ASSASSINS, directed by Paul Karpenko at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The rules of the game in the film do not correspond exactly to any determined variation of the game. Players are able to shoot indoors, make alliances and recruit outside help. Certain situations and battles in the film play out more akin to standard action films than the "pretend warfare" of a game of Assassins. Players end up seemingly dead and take the game surprisingly seriously (though this is not uncommon during tense games).

There have been many home videos made by enthusiastic assassins, for example these few by Durham University students.

Television

Assassins has been part of the plot of some episodic television shows. In the CSI: New York episode "Fare Game", the game of Assassins was used as a cover-up for the actual murder of one of the players . During the first season of Felicity, the game is played using Nerf darts. Also, the game was played in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Literature

In Curtis Sittenfeld's novel Prep, the entire third chapter centers around a game of Assassin.

Active games

• University of North Carolina at Asheville Assassins Collective
• http://chsassassinblog.blogspot.com Clovis High School

See also

• Gotcha!
• StreetWars

External links

• Campus Assassins — assasssins game hosting
• Cambridge University Assassins' Guild (UK)
• Durham University Assassins' Society (UK)
• Lancaster University Guild of Assassins (UK)
• Leeds University Union Assassins' Guild (UK)
• MIT Assassins Rules (USA)
• New College of Florida Assassins Rules (USA)
• Wittenberg University Assassin Rules (USA)