Since spring break ended, the Class of 2026 seniors have been employing tactics, locations, and power-ups to win Senior Assassin. Once a player pays a $5 dollar fee that contributes to the cash prize, downloads the app Splashin’, and enters the join code, they are ready to play. When the game began, around 40 seniors joined in hope to win the cash prize, fulfill a senior tradition, or just have a good time.
However, progression in the game has been slow, which senior Amara Lajoie attributes to her senior class’s procrastination, current gas prices, and the overall difficulty that comes with eliminating a player.
“No one really wants to drive all the way to Millersburg… or Corvallis every day if their person is always out doing stuff,” she said.
Nevertheless, Lajoie describes her experience in the Senior Assassin game as a fun time.
Senior Skylee Felde agrees that, despite being eliminated during the first week, playing Senior Assassin had been a fun experience. In fact, she said the reason she joined was out of enthusiasm to participate in a long-standing senior tradition.
“I thought it’d be really fun to go around and have to worry about whether my goggles are on or if I can get my target… I just thought it would be something super fun to do as a class because… [one] thing I’ve been looking forward to as a senior is doing more of the things that all the seniors are doing.”
She also laid out the rules of the game. For instance, a person can’t be eliminated if they’re in a safe zone, wearing goggles, or wearing floaties. Usually a person would be assigned a target every week. But if they don’t eliminate their target, they are assigned a new target the following week.”
In addition to the basics, Lajoie mentioned power-ups, which are purchasable temporary abilities that a player can purchase in the Splashin’ app or find at a certain location if the leader assigns the power-ups on the game’s real-life map. Some notable power-ups include invisibility (which hides a person’s location), shield (which grants a person immunity from elimination), and bounty (which allows anyone to eliminate a targeted player).
The purge rounds, a phase of the game in which players can see everyone’s location and eliminate anyone. At one point, the seniors had a purge that lasted for 24 hours.
In fact, Lajoie’s favorite Senior Assassin memory took place during one of the purge rounds.
“One [time] I tr[ied] to get my first person out during one of the purges. I totally failed because I was distracted and her friends told her that I was waiting in the bushes for her,” Lajoie said. “So all they saw was like a bush shaking. And they were like, ‘Oh my gosh, Amara’s trying to get you. And I was like, ‘Well, there’s my first time trying to get someone.’”
While Lajoie hasn’t eliminated anyone yet and there are still around 24 people remaining, both Lajoie and Felde provide words of advice to anyone aspiring to join a future Senior Assassin game. For instance, Lajoie reminds new players to remain conscious of how the game can impact their privacy.
“Just be aware that everyone has your location, too. So if you’re doing personal things, everyone will know that.”
Meanwhile, Felde emphasized that connections are key to eliminating a target.
“…Pla[n] because you can definitely get them, if you talk to their parents… but you have to know people.”
Social media also plays a crucial role in Senior Assassin, which Lajoie cautions new players to not let it become their downfall.
“Be careful what you post,” she explains, “because people can see your story and be like, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re at the park.’ And then they go to the park and [you]’re out.”
Yet in the end, according to Felde, one of the greatest strategies might be just enjoying the experience.
“If I were to recommend doing it,” Felde said, “I would say definitely…[Just] do it with tons of people that you know, get your friends to do it, so you’re not doing it by yourself. And just have fun.”
