Senior Assassins began Aug. 18 and within week one of gameplay, there were 56 ‘kills’ and 24 eliminations. The teams, not affiliated with PHS, are fighting for their chance to win $2,850, as each player was required to pay a ten dollar entry fee. They are assigned a new team to hunt, and are encouraged to meet a 3-kill quota to avoid a member of their team being placed on ‘bounty,’ meaning that any player is free to shoot them.
Players are also encouraged to wear floaties, as they give the player three ‘lives,’ if worn. Any kills or eliminations made on school campus or at school affiliated events are not permitted. The extended rules of the game are posted on the @phsseniorassassins2024 Instagram account.
Heading into the eighth week of the game, there has been a significant drop in the number of kills; with only twelve in week six, compared to 56 in week one. With only 10 weeks left to win it all, many Titans appear to be giving up.
Teammates Ari Mason and Shayla Haggerty have proven to be prominent hunters, and their team leads with 36 kills so far.
“We have gotten this far already, and it’s too late to give up. Since half of my team is eliminated, I don’t want to let my team down after they also worked so hard,” Haggerty said.
This year, events like MORP, the Poway Rodeo and the homecoming dance have been “safe zones,” preventing any kills from occurring on those nights.
The abundance of safe zones and grace periods have made it difficult for some teams to reach their weekly “kill quota.”
Participants are provided with a three to five minute grace period leaving places like practices, games, places of worship and gyms, as long as they can show a stopwatch that indicates what time they left. Additionally, places like the Carmel Mountain In-N-Out are a safe zone on Friday nights and BJ’s on Tuesday nights.
With so many safe-zones and regulations, some students might find it hard to follow them all, but it crosses a line when you break a real law. Out of malice, one player backed into senior Carolyn Ackerman’s car, resulting in his complete elimination from the game.
“I feel that there’s a point that people need to calm down and realize it isn’t that deep,” Ackerman said.
While being hunted is nerve-wracking enough, the game poses an additional threat to students who are looking to have jobs in the future especially because connecting their social media to the game has raised some concern.
“Like honestly, I don’t want future employers to see this,” senior Marshall Hamon said.