As the end of the year approaches, you may have seen seniors in goggles while walking up to school, walking down, out and about, and in almost all locations for an upcoming month or two. Annually, seniors take part in the game of Senior Assassin: a game with floaties, water guns, targets, and a summery yet intense vibe.
Senior Assassin is composed of many, yet simple, rules. To enter the game, a senior must pitch in a set amount of money into the prize pool. Students then would either be paired up with another senior or play alone and be assigned a target, to which they’d aim to get out said target using a water gun. The catch with the goggles is that if a player has their goggles on (or floaties if the player has prescription glasses), they are automatically immune and unable to get out regardless if they get sprayed with the water gun or not. However, there are also purge days, where no equipment keeps a player safe and they’re able to get sprayed at any time of day. Purge days are usually randomly assigned or are on the weekends.
Once a player gets their target out, they are assigned their target’s target. The game cycles on until there is one player standing, the winner of the game, and the money.
At East, seniors play in teams of two with their targets being another team of two. Dedication runs among East students and they’ll utilize extreme hideout spots to eliminate their target.
“My target was a girl in cheer and I waited for her practice to get over to get her out. I hid in a bush and sprayed her when she walked out,” senior Andrew Hill said. “Other people go into their target’s unlocked car and wait for them to get in the car to spray them.”
The game is now running with a very small group of seniors, if it hasn’t ended already. Students who get out often feel pressured with the weight of getting their target and their partner’s target, though they can buy themselves back in.
“If you get only one of your targets but you both stay alive, you aren’t out. You move on to the next round. If one person gets out, like my teammate, I have to get both my target and his target, which is very hard,” Hill said. “Otherwise, we have to buy to get back in using a single use buyback.”
Seniors may also be eliminated in ways other than getting sprayed. If a pair doesn’t eliminate their targets in the time frame given, they fail to move on to the next round.
“[My teammate and I] got out because we couldn’t get our targets out in time,” senior Arianna Woods said. “Instead of using a buyback, we had someone pay us and then we let our targets go.”
While the game is mostly viewed as fun senior-activity, objects used in the game such as the water guns, can be perceived not only as a real gun but a dangerous threat in the dark or in situations where the surrounding members are unaware.
“Overall, [law enforcement] understands that the game is mostly harmless. Like any game, it’s not a problem unless someone takes something a little too far,” East school resource officer Scott Eveland said. “Every year, however, we get a call from the public where they see a player that seems out of place with what appears to be a real weapon, failing to realize it was just a squirt gun, and they call 911 to have us investigate it.”
As of April 2026, very few seniors remain in the game. This year’s winners will claim over $3,300, an absolutely staggering price for a student in high school. Winner(s) plan to use the funds for college, preparing to move out, or for personal use. While the game can be wild at times, it’s a good chance for seniors to have fun during their last year in high school.
