Play Assassin
Assassin has been played at schools and universities across the globe. In essence, every player has a "target" that they attempt to eliminate or "kill," other players using mock weapons. This goes on until only one player is left. It invades lifestyles, as an attack could happen at any time. Be careful, teachers might get mad.
Steps
- Gather players. These are the "Assassins" of the game.
- At least one person needs to be the "moderator" or "umpire." The moderator will not be an assassin, but rather the game's "director." The moderator will keep track of kills, rule-breakers, and help decide resolutions to disputes that may arise.
- Decide on what weapons will be allowed. Commonly used weapons are sharpies, spoons, nerf and water guns, toy swords, cardboard tubes, water balloons, socks, etc. There are also "indirect eliminations," where the assassin can kill their target without necessarily being near them. They could use alarms on wristwatches or kitchen timers as "bombs," which usually have a "blast radius," killing anyone within the explosion. In addition, there could be "poison," where a strong flavour or piece of paper with "poison" written on it is added to the victim's food. Decide on proper targets on body (usually the inside of wrists, back of neck, behind knees)
- Decide on "safe zones." These are areas were "kills" are not permitted. They are usually put into place to minimise disruption. They may include school, places of worship, players' workplaces, etc.
- Assign each assassin a target. This can be done randomly, by pulling names out of a hat. In particularly large games, where players may not know each other well, addresses, phone numbers, etc may be given along with the name of the target.
- For the duration of the game, players attempt to "kill" their target. If they succeed, they acquire their now-dead target's target. This goes on until only one assassin is left.
- At the end of the game, the winner could be decided by the player left, or the player with the most kills.
Tips
- A time limit. Did your last game go on for too long, because nobody was willing to attack? Set a time limit. Make the game go on for a certain number of weeks, or have an "inactivity limit," where if a player doesn't attempt any kills for a certain amount of time, they are automatically killed. Or, you could make it so that if no players attempt any kills for a certain amount of time, the game ends. Any of these will encourage the players to "keep moving."
- Truces may be possible, where players decide to work together.
- Assassin is a game that allows for much variation. They could be any of the below:
- Other than Individual Assassin, where every player gets one target, you could have Team Assassin, where two teams are pitted against each other. Or, you could have more teams, 3, 4, 5...
- Another way to deal with rule-breakers is by placing an "open bounty" on them, meaning they can be killed by any player.
- Some variations use "police," which may be dead players, which are used to hunt down players who break rules.
- To make attacking easier, you can eliminate any player rather then a target.
Warnings
- This game will make you paranoid.
- Be very careful while playing assassin. The very nature of the game makes it look suspicious to anyone who doesn't know you're playing a game. Do not make any weapon look realistic; it may result in you getting the cops called on you, or worse. Use bright colors and objects that have foam around them. These tend to be accepted as non-harmful.
- Avoid causing actual harm to anybody: Don't aim any weapon at anyone's face, and never use anything sharp as a weapon.
- You should never be violent or aggressive while playing this. There is no reason to ever shove anybody in this game.
Things You'll Need
- As many people as you want to play, recommended amount is 3-15, though the game will work with any amount.
- Mock weapons: Super Soakers, Nerf guns, squirt guns,airsoft guns toy knives/swords, water balloons, sharpies. You could manage with only a sharpie, but the more weapons you have, the better your odds.
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