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Players | 2 or more |
---|---|
Setup time | 1–14 days |
Playing time | 1–10 weeks |
Chance | None |
Skills | Research Stealth Espionage |
Assassin (also Killer) is a live-action game in which players try to eliminate one another using mock weapons, in an effort to become the last surviving player.
Assassin is particularly popular on college campuses; several universities have a dedicated "Assassins' Guild" society, which organizes games for their members. Gameplay occurs at all hours and in all places unless otherwise disallowed by the rules. Since an elimination attempt could occur at any time, successful players are obliged to develop a degree of vigilance.
The Assassin game has several published variants, such as the Steve Jackson book Killer: The Game of Assassination , [1] first published in 1982, [2] and different guilds tend to create their own sets of rules and procedures. As such, the specific style of play is likely to vary between one group and the next.
Game hosts (also called umpires or referees) begin by advertising that a game is being set up and instruct potential players to send in their personal details. Once enough players have signed up, the game host assigns targets to the players. A player is usually told the personal details of their target as collected by the game host. The aim of the game is for players to track down and eliminate their targets until only one player remains. When a player eliminates their target, their victim’s target becomes their new target. Only one assassin can kill a target at a time. If only one player remains, the game is over.
Oxford University plays by a ruleset where the game runs for a week and the players respawn, usually after 12 hours; the aim of the game is to collect as many points from kills as possible. The respawn means events are organised during the game to capture specific points.
Eliminations ("kills") remove a target from the game. What constitutes an elimination depends upon the particular rules set up by the game host. Eliminations might include hitting the target with a nerf gun or striking them with a toy plastic lightsaber.
Some rules establish safe-zones, also known as Out of Bounds. A safe-zone is a place that protects a player from elimination. Safe-zones are declared by game hosts. At a university, safe zones might include classrooms during class periods.
Under some rulesets, the presence of witnesses (or the presence of witnesses above a certain number) will either invalidate the kill or expose the killer to "penalties", like additional assassins being dispatched to target them.
Game hosts might assign certain items to be worn or actions to be performed that protect the wearer or performer from elimination. These items or actions are called safeties. The safety can last for one specific day or for the duration of the game.
Some games have "police forces", sometimes composed of eliminated players, whose job is to track down rule breakers. Some have time limits on eliminations and penalize players who are behind schedule in killing their targets.
Often, in games with a small number of players, the game hosts will designate one player as the "assassin" whose job it is to "kill" all other players without being identified. The assassin wins if they successfully kill all players without being identified and other players win by correctly guessing the assassin before they are killed. However, if a player guesses the wrong player, they are automatically eliminated. Those who are killed are not allowed to tell other players who the assassin is, but this variant is almost never played with a prize for winning to avoid accusations of cheating in this way.
Generally, elimination is carried out using items and methods that cause no actual damage and, in many cases, cannot be mistaken by bystanders or police for real weapons or acts of violence.
In a direct elimination, a player uses a fake weapon to touch their target.
The most common ranged weapons are water pistols, NERF-type weapons, and rubber band guns. Other weapons include tennis balls, balled-up socks, [3] blue pens, or rubber bands fired by hand. Some rule sets simply make "water" a weapon, whether splashed with bare hands, conveyed by water balloon, or fired from a water gun. Basilisk rules count simply looking in the eyes of the target as a successful assassination. Some rule sets require photographic proof that a true sighting occurred.
Melee weapons are typically fake stabbing weapons. Melee weapons are more easily concealed than ranged weapons but require more stealth to employ effectively. Melee weapons must touch a player's body to eliminate them. Common examples of melee weapons are cardboard and plastic knives, plastic lightsabers, spoons, pocket combs, and toothbrushes. Plastic spoons are commonly used to prevent injury from aggressive players. Sharpie markers can be used as melee weapons by marking on a player's exposed skin.
There is a stickers-based variant that has been played a lot at conventions. It allows play in hotels or places which would upset other guests. The game tends to be very quick, often lasting less than 20 minutes. The stickers have words like dead, kill etc. on them. The people involved in the game wear stickers, saying such things as "I am alive". They attempt to kill each other by sticking them to another player's body. Pulling a sticker off its backing is considered 'arming' which allows for accusation in killing circle based games.
In an indirect elimination, a player plants an object where their target will be eliminated by it or changes their target's environment in a specific way, as defined by the variant's rules, that results in an elimination. Some variants allow "poison", which can be implemented by adding strong flavors such as Tabasco sauce to the victim's food or a piece of paper placed underneath the victim's food with the word poison written on it. Another form is the use of a "black spot". If a player opens a paper, sealed with tape, staples or any other of such, and there is a black spot inside, the player is eliminated.
Some variants allow "bombs", which may be implemented in various ways. Some require the bomb to "go off" in some way and hence might use alarm clocks or other timers. One technique may be to "e-bomb" a target by either using an e-mail or instant messenger to send a file to a target in order to kill them. This attachment may be a word document, audio file, or an image that shows that the target is dead and the assassin that killed them. Another technique is the "car bomb", where the assassin puts a tape or CD in the victim's car audio system. When the victim starts the car and audio, they will hear the assassin saying that they were just "car bombed". Another car-bomb variant allows one to shoot and kill the person while they are in the car by striking the car rather than the person inside, if using the Nerf Rocket Launcher or equivalent. An assassin may also bomb a victim by sending them a package in the mail with a dart or letter saying "You're Bombed." The victim is eliminated as soon as they open the package and read the note. In the sticker-based variants, applying a sticker to an object that the target then uses is considered to be a bomb attack.
Other weapons include venomous animals (usually a rubber spider, snake, or lizard placed within the victim's backpack or book) and various manners of simulated traps. If an innocent manages to find a trap or animal before the intended victim, there is no penalty; it simply does not function. For example, if a friend finds a rubber snake in a victim's backpack and reveals it to the victim, the victim does not die, but the killer is still in the game.
In a capture elimination, a player eliminates their target by coming into possession of a specific item. Capture eliminations are exactly like tackles in flag football. Some common objects used as capture objectives are flags, articles of clothing, and clothespins.
Winners typically receive a group-funded prize or are rewarded with a title.
Some games set up a back story to explain why the players are trying to kill each other. Players may act as members of a league of assassins or part of an attack of vampires. Whether a theme is used is dependent upon the preferences of the individual who hosts the game.
On December 5, 1981, Mike Reagan, a California State University student, was shot by campus police officer Sgt. Stephen King after he observed Reagan and fellow game player Julia Gissel holding what looked like M16s. King observed the pair allegedly trying to open several doors. King approached, identified himself as a police officer, and ordered the pair to "freeze". Gissel complied but Reagan turned and went into a shooting stance. King fired three times and critically injured Reagan. The M16s turned out to be wooden models that shot rubber bands and were being used in a version of Assassin. [4]
In 2008, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln placed a one-year ban on the Assassin Game. The administrators of the school placed the ban after the police had been called by a person who observed one student bringing a Nerf gun to class. [5]
Currently, the University of Texas at Dallas and Loyola University New Orleans can call disciplinary proceedings on a student who engages in a game of "assassin, killer, or variations thereof." [6] [7]
On March 31, 2009, in Fife, Washington, a Costco, several car dealerships and small businesses were evacuated when a "bomb" was left by someone playing Assassin. Several local police and fire departments responded as well as the Explosives Disposal team from the Port of Seattle, the FBI and the BATF. The bomb was a box "found in a flower bed, contained a magnet and a beeping motion sensor" with the words "bomb, you're dead" written on it. The "bomb" was defused. The man who left the package later turned himself in to authorities. [8]
On May 12, 2009, an incident involving the Assassin game happened behind a North Hampton, New Hampshire, restaurant, where an employee spotted a man in dark clothing with a gun. He called the police, and the student in question did not resist but simply walked to his car and explained the game to the police. The man turned out to be a high school senior from Exeter, New Hampshire, waiting for another high school student to come out of her job at the restaurant with a water pistol in hand. [9]
In 2016, an assassin game held in Oakville, Ontario led to residents on Calloway Drive and Gooseberry Way's calling Halton Regional Police. [10] The 3 participants wearing ski masks were subsequently released with warning. [11]
In 2017, a group of high school students in Hopkinton, Massachusetts were playing Senior assassin with water guns when they thought they had entered an opponent's garage but it turned out to be the house of a 70-year-old woman. The woman decided not to press charges. [12]
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a person—especially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by grievances, notoriety, financial, military, political or other motives. Many times governments and criminal groups order assassinations to be committed by their accomplices. Acts of assassination have been performed since ancient times. A person who carries out an assassination is called an assassin or hitman.
Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms and bows/crossbows.
Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventional weapons such as knives and firearms with live ammunition. It is often understood that unintended or incidental casualties are risked wherever force is applied, however non-lethal weapons minimise the risk of casualties as much as possible. Non-lethal weapons are used in policing and combat situations to limit the escalation of conflict where employment of lethal force is prohibited or undesirable, where rules of engagement require minimum casualties, or where policy restricts the use of conventional force. However, these weapons occasionally cause serious injuries or death due to allergic reactions, improper use and/or other factors; for this reason the term "less-lethal" has been preferred by some organizations as it describes the risks of death more accurately than the term "non-lethal", which some have argued is a misnomer.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is a 2002 stealth video game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. The game was re-released for Windows through the Steam online distribution service, and a DRM-free version was later made available through GOG.com. It is the second installment in the Hitman video game series and the sequel to Hitman: Codename 47. The single-player story once again follows Agent 47, a genetically enhanced human clone who worked for the International Contract Agency (ICA) as an assassin. Following the events of Codename 47, the former contract killer has retired and started a peaceful life at a church, but after his only friend, Reverend Emilio Vittorio, is kidnapped by unknown assailants, 47 resumes work for the ICA in hopes of tracking him down.
Mafia, also known as Werewolf, is a Russian social deduction game created by Dimitry Davidoff in 1986. The game models a conflict between two groups: an informed minority and an uninformed majority. At the start of the game, each player is secretly assigned a role affiliated with one of these teams. The game has two alternating phases: first, a night-phase, during which those with night-killing-powers may covertly kill other players, and second, a day-phase, in which all surviving players debate and vote to eliminate a suspect. The game continues until a faction achieves its win-condition; for the village, this usually means eliminating the evil minority, while for the minority, this usually means reaching numerical parity with the village and eliminating any rival evil groups.
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an agreement which includes some form of compensation, monetary or otherwise. It is an illegal agreement. Either party may be a person, group, or organization. Contract killing has been associated with organized crime, government conspiracies, dictatorships, and vendettas. For example, in the United States, the Italian- and Jewish-American organized crime gang Murder, Inc. committed hundreds of murders on behalf of the National Crime Syndicate during the 1930s and '40s.
Toy guns are toys which imitate real guns, but are designed for recreational sport or casual play by children. From hand-carved wooden replicas to factory-produced pop guns and cap guns, toy guns come in all sizes, prices and materials such as wood, metal, plastic or any combination thereof. Many newer toy guns are brightly colored and oddly shaped to prevent them from being mistaken for real firearms.
Gun fu, a portmanteau of gun and kung fu, is a style of sophisticated close-quarters gunfight resembling a martial arts combat that combines firearms with hand-to-hand combat and traditional melee weapons in an approximately 50/50 ratio. It can be seen in Hong Kong action cinema, and in American action films influenced by it.
Hitman: Codename 47 is a stealth video game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows in November 2000, and the first entry in the series. In the game, players control Agent 47, a genetically enhanced human clone who is rigorously trained in methods of murder. Upon escaping from his testing facility, 47 is hired by the International Contract Agency (ICA), a global contract killing organization. His missions take him to locations in Asia, Europe, and South America to assassinate wealthy and decadent criminals, at first seeming to share no connections with each other, but who are soon revealed to have all played a role in a larger conspiracy. The gameplay revolves around finding ways to stealthily reach and eliminate each target; to this end, players can make use of various tools, including disguises and suppressed weaponry. However, some levels are more action-focused and do not feature stealth as a possibility, instead playing like a traditional third-person shooter.
Hitman: Blood Money is a 2006 stealth video game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. It was released in May 2006 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360. It is the fourth installment in the Hitman video game series, and the sequel to 2004's Hitman: Contracts. The story follows cloned assassin Agent 47's efforts to bring down the Franchise, a rival contract killing organization that is threatening his employers, the International Contract Agency (ICA), and seeking to obtain the same cloning technology that created 47. Meanwhile, a frame story presents 47's life and various contracts he carried out, as narrated by a former FBI director to a journalist.
Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond novel and film version of The Man with the Golden Gun. Scaramanga is an assassin who kills with his signature weapon, a pistol made of solid gold. In the novel, the character is nicknamed "Pistols" Scaramanga and is also called "Paco". In the film, the character was played by Christopher Lee.
KGBeast is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo, the character first appeared as an adversary of Batman.
Paintball is played with a potentially limitless variety of rules and variations, all of which are specified before the game begins. The most basic of all game rules is that players must attempt to accomplish a goal without being tagged with paintballs. Generally paintball is divided into either its original incarnation woodsball, or the small arena-based and tournament de facto speedball. Amongst these paintball game types, variations of basic rules can be played.
A water fight is a type of mock combat using various water-dispensing devices to soak opponents. Everything from buckets to balloons to water guns and even cupped hands cradling water can be applied in a water fight. There are many different levels of game play used by those engaging in water fights, from quick, casual fights to long, objective-oriented-style water warfare campaigns, and tournament-style games. In most but not all cases, the common objective is to soak one's opponents while trying to remain dry. Water fights are most common in hot summer weather in order to cool off.
Humans vs. Zombies is a live-action game predominantly played at US college campuses. The storyline of the game dictates that players begin as Humans and try to survive a Zombie invasion. The ultimate goal of the game is for either all Humans to be turned into Zombies, or for the humans to survive a set amount of time. Humans can defend themselves using any item that is approved by a moderator and thereby deemed safe and appropriate. The most common equipment includes balled up socks, marshmallows, and foam dart blasters. Humans may throw or launch these items at Zombies, who become stunned once hit. Safe zones are also established so that players can eat and sleep in safety. Zombies, on the other hand, are unarmed and must tag Humans to gain a kill. In some cases, if a kill is not made within a set time period, Zombies "starve" and are removed from the field of play.
A Nerf war is an activity involving Nerf Blasters or other foam-blasting toys. Since foam-firing blasters are relatively safe and cheap, Nerf wars can include participants and battlefields otherwise unsuitable for airsoft and paintball, such as children.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the third major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and the second chapter in the "Ezio Trilogy", as a direct sequel to 2009's Assassin's Creed II. The game was first released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November and December 2010 and was later made available on Microsoft Windows in March and June 2011. A remastered version of Brotherhood, along with Assassins's Creed II and its sequel, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, was released as part of The Ezio Collection compilation for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15, 2016, and for the Nintendo Switch on February 17, 2022.
Hitman is a 2016 stealth video game developed by IO Interactive and published by Square Enix. The game, which has six episodes, is the sixth mainline entry in the Hitman franchise, the first installment of the World of Assassination trilogy, and the successor to Hitman: Absolution (2012). The single-player story follows genetically engineered assassin Agent 47 as he goes on a worldwide adventure and solves a mysterious series of seemingly unconnected assassinations. Hitman features a number of large, open-ended sandboxes that Agent 47 can freely explore. The game presents the player with various assassination opportunities, many of which are unconventional. IO Interactive introduced a "live component" to the game with new content being regularly delivered in downloadable form.
Hitman 2 is a 2018 stealth video game developed by IO Interactive. It is the seventh main installment in the Hitman video game series, the sequel to 2016's Hitman and the second game in the World of Assassination trilogy. The game continues the story arc started in Hitman, following genetically engineered assassin Agent 47 as he searches for the mysterious "Shadow Client" who is trying to destroy Providence, a secretive organization that controls global affairs. It also explores more of 47's mysterious background, which Providence offered to bring to light in exchange for 47's assistance. Like its predecessor, the game is structured around six large sandbox locations that players can freely explore to find opportunities to eliminate their targets. It also included two online multiplayer modes called Sniper Assassin and Ghost Mode, though the game's servers for both modes have since been shut down; Sniper Assassin can still be played single-player.
Senior assassin is a form of the assassin game often played between students in 12th grade during their senior year before graduation. The game rules follow that participating students must "assassinate" or eliminate their target, a fellow participating student, by squirting them with a water gun within a given time period. While rules often vary by school, most games are played bracket-style, with the winner of the game receiving a jackpot prize of all eliminated player's entirety fees. Games are not sanctioned by the school, and are not allowed to take place on private property or school grounds. Despite these precautions, the game has been condemned by some authorities for reasons often revolving around students safety and those unfamiliar with the game, resulting in prior incidents.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)The rules are simple: Draw a target. Track him down and "kill" him with a spork. Take your victim's target for your own. Oh, and make sure the player with your name doesn't get to you first. No safe zones. No time-outs. The game ends when only one player remains.