Conifer Students Participate in Senior Assassin Game

The lacrosse game has ended and fans begin walking to their cars. For senior Ella Johnson, though, the game has just begun. Squirt bottle in hand, she sprints to chase senior Abby McCollum down a flight of stairs.

“All these people were looking at us like, ‘what’s going on?’” Johnson said.

Johnson and McCollum are two of the 88 Conifer High School seniors participating in the 2023 Senior Assassin game. The game is not affiliated with the school. For a buy-in fee of $10, players work in teams of two to squirt an assigned target with a squirt bottle or water gun. The last team standing wins a cash prize of $800.

“It’s been very fun, especially for us, because we’re not usually the folks who get out and randomly show up at places,” senior Rhys Hanson said, speaking about him and his partner Autumn Jones. “It’s kind of fun to just show up and spray someone randomly with a spray bottle.”

For many students, Senior Assassin is a way to make memories with friends as senior year draws to a close. The teams have been playing since Jan 29, and the game is scheduled to end by April 23. 

“It’s a $10 buy-in. The worst that happens is you lose out on $10, the best that happens is you win the $800, and somewhere in the middle there’s just a lot of really, really fun times that happen,” Johnson said.

For co-coordinators and Conifer seniors Jackson Davidson and Cora Spencer, the focus is on creating rules that keep the game safe while players have fun. They have changed several rules since last year’s Senior Assassin game, which was the first time Conifer students had participated in the game.

“The rules we really focused on changing were around safety. We wanted to emphasize respecting businesses and homes,” Davidson said.

This year students cannot enter or approach any private property without permission from the target they are attempting to “assassinate.” Additionally, the game cannot be played inside businesses and no physical contact can be made from one team to another. Despite these precautions, the game still faces skepticism from school administration.

“I hate the name. I wish there was a different name, but otherwise, it seems like it’s pretty fun until someone gets hurt, right?” Conifer principal Gregory Manier said. “Then, all of a sudden, it’s going to be a big problem. I just hope that we can keep it fun and that people aren’t looking at their phones while driving and trying to locate people.”

To participate in the game players must agree to be part of a Life 360 Circle, which tracks and displays their location to other game players at all times. This has led to uncomfortable situations for some players.

“I’ve heard stories where people will literally show up to each other’s houses, and while it’s not a safety issue, it would feel unsafe. I would feel creeped out,” senior Finn Stein said.

For other players, though, installing the Life 360 app is just part of the fun. This year’s Senior Assassin game is currently in round four of six. Each round is a two-week timeframe where teams are assigned a new target. At the end of the two weeks if a team is unable to “assassinate” their target they are placed on a bounty list, and can be “assassinated” by any other player.

“The strategy is to get the bounty list kills because the fewer people that are in the game the faster it’s going to go and the more exciting it gets. We are not above sitting in the car for three hours waiting for somebody to get off work,” Johnson said.

Teams killed in round 1-3 had the option to re-join the game by paying an additional $25 fee. Last year this money was added to the prize money for the game, totaling $1149, but this year all money over $800 will be donated to charity.

 “$800 is a lot of money, so it’s nice to have something to fight for that brings the whole class together. I love that,” Johnson said.