The second that the school bell hits 3:05 p.m., upperclassmen exit school with binkies in their mouths and water guns in arm as they scurry to their cars to make a getaway. Their goal: avoid being seen or sprayed by one of their peers. 

As of March 1, the age-old tradition of Senior Assassin is in full swing, thanks to Troy Stukenberg ‘23 and Will Swicionis ‘23 who organized the game that is not sponsored by LT.

“It’s kind of like a big game of tag on a really in-depth level,” Stukenberg said. “It’s fun [and] you get to go against people that you might’ve never seen before.”

Senior Assassin is a hectic and stressful game that occurs during the spring semester for the graduating class, Stukenberg said. The game occurs as students are given a “target” that they chase around with the goal of spraying them with a water gun to remove them from the game. If a person successfully gets their target, they take that person’s target and the game continues for weeks as more and more students are eliminated.

Social media plays a big role in the game, as the Instagram account @lths.assassin2023 is home to the rules, live kill updates, and changes in gameplay. In the weeks leading up to the game, the account clarified that school and school-sanctioned events (such as sports practice and club meetings) on campus grounds are off-limits. Various local gyms asked for students to not participate on their property, which was a change from last year, Stukenberg said. Binkies are the item of immunity this year and must be in a student’s mouth in order for them to be safe from elimination. However, students are intended to get creative in how they take down their classmates.

“I’m excited to see some freak-out reactions,” Stukenberg said. “I remember last year seeing people in trunks and popping out [of nowhere], and those were pretty funny.”

Sign-up occurred from early February until Feb. 26, in which students had to pay Stukenberg or Swicionis $5 to add to the roughly $1,500 pot. Additional cash prizes will be given out, such as “most kills.” The grand total of players concluded at 402 sign-ups. Last year, the game started in April, however, it didn’t end until July. The organizers wanted to avoid the long game and encourage motivation by moving the start-up one month earlier.

“[I can’t wait to see] our friends and who will be matched up in the end,” Swicionis said. “Knowing the match ups and seeing what will come of it will be pretty cool.”

Strategy is key to remaining in the game, and each player is bound to come up with their own ideas. Maureen Hanner ’23 successfully took out two people within the first 72 hours of the game, and while they’ve been by chance to some degree, networking has been a key component in her wins, she said.

“Both of my kills have been almost completely by opportunity and timing,” Hanner said. “I’m going to continue as long as I can in the game and keep talking to other people to gain information. Networking works in my benefit to get my next target, but I also get to learn a lot about people that I wouldn’t if I wasn’t prying for information.”